"How Vainly Men Themselves Amaze."

An eighteen-year-old on holiday with his parents is both plaything of a seductive married woman and admirer of her nanny, a lovely girl his own age. The title comes from the first line of the poem "The Garden" by Andrew Marvell. Another work of Bates's later years, "The Simple Life," features a similar relationship. In Woman's Own (March 12, 1966, with the title "Sands of Time"), The Wild Cherry Tree (1968), H.E. Bates (1975).

ID: 
b307
Title: 
"How Vainly Men Themselves Amaze."
Genre: 
Story
Page Count: 
29
Word Count: 
ca. 6400
Publisher: 
Woman's Own
Year of Publication: 
1966
Topic: 
Love Triangle