A Pair of Patient Lovers is a collection of shorts stories written by William Dean Howells, the Dean of American literature. Stories are set mostly in small towns of New England province and deal with local themes and ordinary people. Table of Contents: A Pair of Patient Lovers The Pursuit of the Piano A Difficult Case The Magic of a Voice A Circle in the Water "I have often had to criticize life for a certain caprice with which she treats the elements of drama, and mars the finest conditions of tragedy with a touch of farce. No one who witnessed the marriage of Arthur Glendenning and Edith Bentley had any belief that she would survive it twenty-four hours; they themselves were wholly without hope in the moment which for happier lovers is all hope." – From "A Pair of Patient Lovers"