It was shortly after he had called off his disastrous incursion into the theatre that Henry James wrote The Spoils of Poynton. The 'international situation' was then a thing of the past and both characters and setting are English.
This swiftly-moving story records a contest between a widow and her only son for the priceless treasures housed at Poynton Park. The central figure in the drama is Fleda Vetch, the young companion of Mrs Gereth: she is in love with Owen Gereth and genuinely appreciates the contents of Poynton for themselves. But she scrupulously stands aside when he gets engaged to the coarse and insensitive Mona, who demands the return of furniture which Mrs Gereth has unscrupulously removed.
Opening with some of the triviality of drawing-room comedy, the novel deepens into a perceptive study of good and evil and culminates in an unexpected piece of poetic justice.