I've known perfectly that you knew I took trouble for you; and that knowledge has been for me, and I seemed to see it was for you,as if there was something - I don't know what to call it! - between us.

A young girl working in a Mayfair post office is privy to the brief yet substantial messages telegraphed by wealthy,fashionable people to their similar friends. As she reads, she develops her own particular intimacy with various scandals, amours, and intrigues. Her mind captive in the cage of her workplace, and with only the prospect of a rather dull marriage to look forward to, she surrenders to her powerful imagination, her chosen entertainment being the sporadic visits of the dashing Captain Everard, and the 'extravagance,selfishness, immorality, and crimes' of the idle rich.

In this novella, Henry James, an American in London, creates an unremarkable yet beguiling heroine to elaborate the gaze of one observing the rituals of her elders and betters. The poignant and revealing result is a very modern story of communication and misunderstanding, technology and codes, and the professional and personal dilemmas that arise in the space between wishful thinking and settling for one's lot in life.

Foreword by Libby Purves

In the Cage

Biographical note