The Unconquerable

The Unconquerable is a short story traditionally credited to Thomas Hardy, though its true authorship has long been the subject of controversy. The story of two friends’ rivalry over a young lady was written around 1910/11 but was never published during Hardy’s lifetime.

Plot

Philip Fadelle and Roger Wingate had been close friends since boyhood. This friendship continued well into adulthood, even when the scholarly Fadelle and the roguish politician Wingate realized they both had intentions toward the same young woman, Gertrude Norton. Temporarily waylaid on the day that he intended to propose marriage to Gertrude, Fadelle arrives at her house only to find that she had accepted the same proposal from Wingate just hours before.

Fadelle maintains his friendship with the married couple throughout the ensuing years, and is thusly distraught when five years after the marriage Wingate is fatally struck down by a sudden illness. He learns from Gertrude that Wingate’s dying wish was to have Fadelle write a commemorative biography about Wingate’s political and business successes. Seeing an opportunity to ingratiate himself to Gertrude – for whom he still has deep yearnings – Wingate constructs a glorious re-telling of his friend’s career.