A short story about the universe

The Egoist by George Meredith recounts the story of self-absorbed Sir Willoughby Patterne and his attempts at marriage; jilted by his first bride-to-be, he vacillates between the sentimental Laetitia Dale and the strong-willed Clara Middleton. More importantly, the novel follows Clara's attempts to escape from her engagement to Sir Willoughby, who desires women to serve as a mirror for him and consequently cannot understand why she would not want to marry him. Thus, The Egoist dramatizes the difficulty contingent upon being a woman in Victorian society, when women's bodies and minds are trafficked between fathers and husbands to cement male bonds

The Egyptian Cross Mystery has been characterized as “Ellery Queen’s weirdest adventure.” The shuddery, breathless plot plus Ellery Queen’s brilliantly logical solution mark the peak of Mr. Queen’s new famous “analytico-deductive” method. Ellery Queen has pitted his brain against many murdered but nowhere in his career has be applied his diamond-keen with to a murder as eerie and as puzzling as the crime which open The Egyptian Cross Mystery