Henry James (1843–1916) was an American author regarded as a key transitional fi gure between literary realism and literary
modernism. In the novel «Watch and Ward» wealthy and leisured Roger Lawrence adopts twelve-year-old Nora Lambert after her father kills himself in the hotel room next to Lawrence’s.
Roger had refused fi nancial assistance to the man, and he feels remorse. Nora is not a pretty child but she soon starts to develop, as does Roger’s idea of eventually marrying her.