I Forbid the Banns!

This issue of "I Forbid the Banns!" by Frank Frankfort Moore, a serialized novel, concerns a dialogue-driven romantic comedy set aboard the steamship Carnarvon Castle. The narrative follows gentlemen passengers—including the philosophically inclined Cyril Southcote, the pragmatic Captain Waring, and Julian Charlton—as they debate matters of love and fate. Southcote propounds the theory that romantic attraction is inevitable, using the metaphor of flying fish plunging helplessly back to sea. The text develops character sketches, establishing Southcote as an intellectually vain but charming man, son of a decorated general, who fancies himself brilliant though without tangible achievement. The work emphasizes wit, philosophical banter, and social observation typical of fin-de-siècle British fiction, with plot developments centered on romantic misadventure and the contrasting personalities aboard ship.