One of his five best stories is what Nobel Prize winner John Galsworthy called The apple tree, a short novel published in 1916.

It is a beautifully written Romantic story, that begins when Frank Ashurst and his wife Stella stop for a rest in the countryside near Torquay, and a wayside grave triggers a flashback to a hiking trek Frank made as a young man through the area.

Twenty-six years earlier, Ashurst and a friend wandered when Ashurst hurt himself and was taken in by some common people at a farm to recover. During his stay he fell in love with the daughter of the family, called Megan. It is only with the greatest hesitation that Megan, betrothed to a loutish local boy, opens her heart to Ashley, who willfully seduces her to kiss under the apple tree. When he leaves, he promises Megan that he will be back to marry her.

However, in Torquay he meets Stella who is also very beautiful, and besides, Stella is of a much better social standing than Megan. The story portrays his struggle to break his promise, rationalizing his decision, and eventually marrying Stella. With deep regret, he gives up his first love, Megan. His second love, while not as passionate, develops naturally, and the class difference between Megan and Stella makes him realize, a marriage with Megan would have been foolish.

At the time, Ashurst could well imagine how unhappy Megan would have been, waiting for his return in vain. The discovery of the wayside grave drives home the shock and deep regret of abandoning his first love. He asks an old man about the grave, and hears how heartbroken Megan waited and finally killed herself over grief.

The apple tree is not merely a beautiful and tragic story. Clearly, Ashurst's marriage with Stella is far from ideal, and part of his regret for his first love, Megan, is that he might have been happier with her. Ashurst's regret is not just about what he lost: he feels guilty of breaking Megan's heart, and in now further burdened by her suicide. But while Ashurst's love for Megan seemed pure enough, there were constant reminders of their inequality. Much of the love affair was initiated by Ashurst, who in all matters seemed more knowledgeable, more mature. Their love was not as pure as it seemed, instead it was tinged by Ashurst's intellectual deliberations, his pity for Megan and his aristocratic condescension. After all, it was but a bit of play. More than about love, The apple tree is a novella about class. ( )