ClassicNovels

Aurora Floyd guide

M. E. Braddon, 1863 · Begin reading

Summary

Aurora Floyd, the beloved daughter of wealthy widower Archibald Floyd, seeks love and happiness while concealing a troubling period of her past. Her mother, Eliza, died soon after Aurora’s birth, leaving Archibald devoted to his daughter. When Aurora returns from fourteen months away, she looks worn and assures her father that an unnamed man is dead. She avoids explaining her absence and secretly sends her diamond bracelet to someone identified as J. C.

Two honourable men, Talbot Bulstrode and John Mellish, fall in love with Aurora. Talbot is uneasy about her unconventional interests and mysterious behaviour, but she accepts his proposal and declares her love. Their engagement deteriorates when she gives money to a man whose identity she refuses to explain. After learning that Constance Trevyllian is visiting Talbot’s mother, Aurora predicts that he will receive a letter. The letter arrives, and an interview with Aurora ends in Talbot breaking their engagement because he cannot trust her without an explanation of her past.

Aurora falls dangerously ill. Her father and relatives nurse her, and John remains devoted to her despite knowing that she may never return his love. During a subsequent visit to Normandy, Aurora tells John that Talbot abandoned her because she would not account for a missing year. John offers his trust without demanding disclosure. She gradually accepts his love, and they marry.

At Mellish Park, John’s devotion helps Aurora recover from her attachment to Talbot, and she becomes happy and genuinely in love with her husband. Their household nevertheless contains threats. John whips and dismisses Stephen Hargraves, who leaves vowing revenge against Aurora. An unidentified enemy also remains within the house. Meanwhile, John seeks an assistant for his ailing horse trainer, and Mr. Pastern undertakes to contact a former employee.

The supplied summaries stop at chapter 13. They do not reveal Aurora’s secret, the novel’s climax, or the final outcomes for its main characters.

The ending

The novel’s ending is not included in the supplied material. At the last supplied chapter, Aurora and John are happily married, Archibald has supported their union, and Talbot is separated from Aurora. Stephen Hargraves threatens revenge, while the proposed appointment of a trainer’s assistant remains unresolved.

Characters

Also appearing

  • Stephen Floyd
  • Captain Prodder
  • George Floyd
  • Miss O'Neil
  • Sir John Walter Raleigh Bulstrode
  • Mr. Joseph Green
  • Miss Drummond
  • Joe Millings, the East Riding smasher
  • Saunders
  • Conyers
  • Richard Gunter

Chapter by chapter

Chapter 1: How a Rich Banker Married an Actress

Archibald Floyd marries Eliza, who wins over poor neighbours and improves their homes through gifts and kindness. Eliza gives birth to a daughter while Archibald delights in their life together. Eliza dies suddenly a year after their marriage, leaving Archibald a widower with a baby.

Chapter 2: Aurora

Mrs. Alexander Floyd helps Archibald through his grief, and his daughter Aurora becomes the centre of his life. Aurora returns after fourteen months away looking pale and worn, and finds that her father has also changed. Archibald asks whether an unnamed man is dead, and Aurora says he is.

Chapter 3: What Became of the Diamond Bracelet

Aurora recovers much of her health but avoids discussing Paris, while Archibald arranges a ball for her nineteenth birthday. After the ball, Aurora takes out a note from a man who approached her in Cockspur Street and packs the diamond bracelet her father gave her. She secretly posts the bracelet to J. C., care of Joseph Green at the Bell Inn in Doncaster.

Chapter 4: After the Ball

Talbot Bulstrode brings Francis Maldon to visit the Floyd family after Aurora's birthday ball. Archibald welcomes further visits after the family's return, while Talbot watches Aurora caress his horses. Talbot remains troubled by Aurora's tastes and mysterious behaviour but thinks her affection for animals suggests a generous nature.

Chapter 5: John Mellish

Archibald hires a house at Brighton and seeks a governess and companion to guide Aurora's education and behaviour. Mrs. Alexander Floyd sorts the many applications and interviews six candidates. The chapter closes by presenting Talbot Bulstrode and John Mellish as honourable men despite their faults.

Chapter 6: Rejected and Accepted

After dinner with the Floyds, John Mellish tells Talbot that he loves Aurora, prompting Talbot to resolve to propose himself. Aurora eventually reverses an earlier refusal and tells Talbot that she loves him. After she leaves, Talbot finds her sporting newspaper and reads that an English jockey named Conyers has been killed in Germany.

Chapter 7: Aurora's Strange Pensioner

Archibald Floyd welcomes Aurora Floyd's engagement to Talbot Bulstrode and brings the family home to Felden Woods for Christmas. Talbot's happiness is disturbed when Aurora gives five pounds to a man and refuses to explain how she knows him. Aurora insists on her freedom to act but asks Talbot to trust that she would not risk his love.

Chapter 8: Poor John Mellish Comes Back Again

John Mellish tires of Paris and leaves, still unhappy over Aurora Floyd's rejection of him. Aurora becomes frightened when Talbot Bulstrode tells her that Constance Trevyllian is visiting his mother, and she predicts that he will receive a letter. Aurora locks herself in her room and refuses to admit Lucy Floyd, leaving Talbot alarmed.

Chapter 9: How Talbot Bulstrode Spent His Christmas

Talbot Bulstrode waits anxiously for Aurora Floyd and receives the letter from his mother that Aurora predicted. After an interview with Aurora, Talbot breaks with her and prepares to leave Felden Woods. He walks away through the snowy park, grieving for Aurora and unable to trust her.

Chapter 10: Fighting the Battle

Aurora Floyd develops a severe fever after Talbot Bulstrode leaves, and Archibald Floyd watches over her while Lucy Floyd and Mrs. Alexander help nurse her. John Mellish asks Archibald to let him renew his courtship despite the possibility that Aurora will never love him. Archibald gives his permission and support, while Aurora and Talbot continue struggling with their separation.

Chapter 11: At the Château D'arques

John Mellish wins Archibald Floyd's affection through his devoted care and accompanies the family on their trip to Normandy. Aurora Floyd tells John that Talbot Bulstrode left her because she refused to explain a missing year of her life, but John renews his proposal and declares his trust. Aurora agrees to let their relationship develop and promises never to give John cause to regret trusting her.

Chapter 12: Steeve Hargraves, the "Softy."

Aurora Floyd returns to Felden Woods engaged to John Mellish, and preparations begin for their November wedding. After their marriage, John whips Stephen Hargraves and dismisses him from Mellish Park, giving him far more money than his wages require. Stephen leaves threatening revenge against Aurora, who now has an enemy outside her home as well as one within it.

Chapter 13: The Spring Meeting

Lucy Floyd visits Mellish Park and is surprised to find Aurora happy and in love with her husband, John Mellish. John's trust and devotion have helped Aurora recover from her broken attachment to Talbot Bulstrode. John asks Mr. Pastern to recommend an assistant for his ailing trainer, and Pastern promises to find a former employee's letter and write to him.

Storylines

  • Andrew and Alexander are to earn banking partnerships by preserving unblemished names; they eventually succeed to management.

  • Stephen plans to sell his interest in the bank and completes the sale.

  • County families and Floyd relations seek to discover how Archibald's marriage came about.

  • County families attack Eliza's origins and character and humiliate her socially; their recognition of the couple's happiness mortifies them without establishing that their hostility ends.

  • After seeing how deeply gossip hurts Archibald, Eliza decides to withhold further malicious reports from him.

  • Archibald falls in love with Eliza, courts her and marries her; their happy marriage ends with her sudden death.

    • Eliza's death ends the marriage, leaving Archibald in profound grief.

  • Archibald initially conceals his love for Eliza; her fellow actors discover it and disclose it to her.

  • Eliza seeks a career as an actress, requests a debut as Lady Macbeth and rises from walk-on work to tragic leading roles.

    • The retrospective account establishes that Eliza ended her stage career with a farewell performance in Lancashire.

  • Archibald's lavish spending exceeds Eliza's understanding of his means; she objects to his extravagance before discovering the magnificence of her new home.

  • Archibald desperately wishes to keep Eliza alive, offering all his wealth in prayer; her sudden death defeats that wish.

    • Eliza dies, definitively defeating Archibald's wish to keep her alive.

  • Archibald intends to take Eliza to the Continent or London for the season; her death prevents their future travel together.

    • Eliza's death makes their intended travel together impossible.

  • Eliza's sudden death leaves Archibald a widower and Aurora without her living mother.

    • Bereavement leaves Archibald torpid and withdrawn from business. He makes Aurora his reason to live, and her later absence brings severe dejection; his appearance shows the effects of grief.

  • Eliza wins affection and trust among her poor neighbours.

  • Eliza uses gifts to encourage churchgoing, domestic care, moderation and reconciliation among her neighbours, with several reported changes in conduct.

  • Mrs. Alexander earns Archibald's special affection by recognizing that speaking of Eliza comforts him and by showing him compassion.

  • Archibald makes Aurora his reason to endure life and indulges her throughout her upbringing; their closeness later gives way to estrangement, separation and an emotionally charged reunion.

    • Archibald continues to lavish attention and gifts on Aurora, arranging her birthday entertainment and giving her a diamond bracelet.
    • Talbot observes unusually anxious reciprocal affection between father and daughter; Archibald watches Aurora closely and becomes thoroughly happy when her spirits recover.
    • Archibald welcomes Aurora's choice; she refuses to settle in Cornwall during his lifetime and vows to protect him from Harrison's harassment.
    • Archibald devotes himself to Aurora's recovery, while her delirium returns to seeking his forgiveness; he subsequently learns the cause of her separation and respects her silence.

  • Aurora's sporting interests conflict with the education and accomplishments expected of her; her governess despairs, while Archibald grieves but cannot bring himself to restrain her.

    • Aurora's persistent racing interests provoke Talbot's horror, pity and condemnation, extending the conflict with expectations of a young woman's accomplishments into her social reception.
    • Aurora says racing talk annoys her father and asks Talbot to stop, extending the established friction over her sporting interests.
    • Aurora reluctantly accepts supervision, while her purposeless mornings shock Talbot and her sporting reading horrifies Powell.
    • Aurora's practical knowledge and sporting accomplishments now earn the county gentlemen's admiration, giving her interests social recognition.

  • Archibald and Aurora become estranged. His anxiety over her return precedes a private interview, after which her governess leaves and he dismisses her groom; the cause of the rupture remains undisclosed.

    • Aurora establishes that Archibald knows the circumstances of her departure from school and missing year, and that her conduct deeply hurt him; the circumstances remain undisclosed.

  • Archibald places Aurora at the Lespards' finishing school in Paris to complete her education; she subsequently returns home, without these events establishing whether she completed it.

    • The aftermath of Aurora's Paris schooling includes impaired health followed by near recovery, damage to the Lespards' local reputation and Aurora's explicit hatred of them. Lucy stops questioning her and attributes her aversion to dislike of tuition; completion of her education remains unestablished.
    • The reported disappearance from the finishing school, confirmed by Aurora, establishes that her schooling was interrupted by her departure.

  • Archibald and Aurora share knowledge concerning an unnamed man whose identity and connection to them remain withheld; Aurora confirms to her father that the man is dead.

  • Lucy refrains from pressing Aurora about Paris, then becomes alarmed by her despair and suspects she is unhappy; Aurora withdraws into privacy.

    • Aurora remains conspicuously abstracted during the visit before recovering joyous sociability and enlivening the dinner party; the cause of her earlier distress remains unexplained.
    • Aurora's wish to escape abroad gives Lucy further evidence of her discontent.
    • Lucy again tries to reach Aurora in distress, now at Talbot's request, but Aurora excludes her and insists on solitude.
    • Lucy attends Aurora through delirium, hears unfamiliar names and racing terms, and helps propose arrangements for her convalescence.

  • Archibald arranges a birthday ball to present Aurora to his acquaintances; Mrs. Alexander supervises the preparations, and the guests assemble.

  • Aurora receives a private communication and an address from a dog dealer who recognizes her. She conceals a written message and privately posts her birthday bracelet to J. C., care of Joseph Green at the Bell Inn, Doncaster; the connection and reason remain undisclosed.

    • Aurora's connection with the dog dealer resurfaces in a private conversation, an unspecified past business reported through a newspaper, and Boxer's recognition of her. Her account to Talbot leaves the underlying connection undisclosed.

  • Aurora resents the dog dealer's familiar intrusion and feels disgust and loathing toward him, yet assents to sending something to the address he supplies.

    • Harrison forcibly stops the carriage and solicits money. Aurora threatens retaliation if he troubles her father, pays him and promises further support conditional on his staying away; Boxer's faithfulness briefly softens her feeling toward him.

  • Talbot is initially dazzled by Aurora's beauty, but assumes she seeks his social position and comes to regard her with horror and pity after discovering her racing interests.

    • Talbot interprets Aurora's abstraction as disdain and attributes her father's anxiety to racing, yet becomes increasingly attracted to her. Reports of her kindness and the animals' affection prompt a tentative reassessment toward goodness and generosity, alongside renewed pity.
    • Talbot remains disapproving of Aurora's habits but falls increasingly in love with her, initially without recognizing it.
    • Talbot declares his love and proposes. After refusing him, Aurora accepts his renewed suit and declares that she loves him dearly.
    • Talbot embraces the engagement, takes pleasure in Aurora's affection and charity, and accepts her assurance after their dispute.

  • Aurora urgently seeks the result of Thunderbolt's run in the Leger, but her inquiries obtain no answer.

  • Talbot condemns Aurora and urges Maldon against marrying her; Maldon challenges his superior and defends her.

  • Aurora undertakes to send her father's diamond bracelet to J. C. and carries out the dispatch by registering and posting the parcel.

  • Talbot resolves to sell his commission and conditionally plans to marry a woman who loves him and settle at Bulstrode.

    • Talbot completes the sale of his commission and leaves the army; his intended marriage and settlement remain unfulfilled.
    • Talbot has sold his commission and left the army; his marriage intention takes concrete form in Aurora's acceptance.
    • His conditional marriage intention becomes a specific engagement with wedding and residence arrangements; these events do not establish the sale of his commission.

  • Talbot identifies Lucy with his ideal of womanhood and considers her suitable as a country gentleman's wife, without any established courtship or reciprocal attachment.

    • Shared pursuits bring Talbot and Lucy closer, leading Powell to mistake Lucy for his attraction. Lucy recognizes his love for Aurora, while Talbot considers whether honour obliges him to propose to Lucy.
    • His contemplated marriage to Lucy is displaced by his declared love for Aurora and their accepted marriage proposal.

  • Talbot's growing attraction to Aurora conflicts with his disapproval of her and his preferred ideal of a wife.

    • Talbot's love grows despite his disapproval and resistance; Mellish's appearance turns his indecision into jealous determination to pursue Aurora.
    • Talbot rebukes his suspicions and pursues Aurora despite his resistance to marrying her. Her acceptance brings joy, but the racing newspaper immediately renews his disquiet.
    • Talbot relinquishes resistance to loving Aurora, who suppresses her sporting tastes for him, but her dealings with Harrison renew his discomfort and disapproval.
    • Despite briefly renewing his trust, Talbot resolves the conflict between attachment and disapproval by ending the engagement; grief and lost hope persist.

  • Talbot plans to question Aurora about the race and possible losses; his inquiry encounters her request to stop discussing racing.

  • Archibald invites the officers to visit repeatedly and maintain their acquaintance after the Brighton trip.

    • Talbot renews contact at Brighton, accepts the invitation to visit Archibald and becomes a regular visitor.

  • Archibald plans to take Aurora and Lucy to Brighton.

    • Archibald secures temporary accommodation and takes Aurora and Lucy to Brighton.

  • Archibald seeks an accomplished governess and companion for Aurora; Mrs. Alexander selects Mrs. Powell, whose supervision Aurora reluctantly accepts.

    • Aurora proposes extending Powell's service beyond the wedding as a guide to her married household.

  • Aurora wishes to escape abroad, astonishing Lucy and renewing Talbot's bewilderment at her bitterness.

  • Lucy has feelings for Talbot that make Powell's description of his attentions painful, while Lucy recognizes that he loves Aurora and has no romantic interest in herself.

    • Talbot's revelations deepen Lucy's concealed sorrow. She anticipates his proposal and later feels joy mixed with pity when she infers its rejection; he fails to understand the deeper meaning of her sympathy.
    • Lucy becomes markedly pale and may hope to die before the wedding; Aurora and Talbot accept a bodily explanation without recognizing her emotional suffering.
    • Lucy's defence of Talbot leads John to infer her hopeless attachment and tell Talbot. Talbot briefly considers that he has misled her, then dismisses John's claim.
    • Lucy regains happiness, renews contact with Talbot and learns his speech by heart; Aurora's marriage to another man increases Lucy's gratitude and affection toward her.

  • Talbot worries that his visits compromise him and alternates between believing honour requires him to propose to Lucy and denying that his attentions imply a preference.

    • Talbot's acknowledged engagement and wedding plans with Aurora settle his earlier uncertainty about whom his attentions oblige him to marry.
    • John reopens the question of Talbot's obligations to Lucy. Talbot briefly fears that his attentions misled her, but by morning rejects the claim and ceases worrying.

  • Talbot perceives Mellish as a rival for Aurora, becomes jealous and fearful of his appeal, and is driven to pursue her.

    • Mellish's courtship intensifies Talbot's jealousy, but confirmation that Aurora rejected Mellish removes the immediate rivalry and leads Talbot to express goodwill toward him.

  • Mellish enters the Floyds' social circle, wins the ladies' favour and establishes easy familiarity with Aurora; Archibald invites him to dinner.

    • Mellish rides with Aurora, escorts her to dinner and wins Archibald's favour, but Aurora rejects his attempt to turn their familiarity into marriage.
    • Archibald welcomes John to Felden and persuades him to remain for the holiday party; Lucy introduces him to her mother, who responds warmly.
    • John's devoted attendance wins household support, Aurora brightens at his arrival in Leamington, and Archibald explicitly supports his renewed suit.
    • Archibald develops a warm attachment to John and approves his becoming Aurora's husband.
    • John's marriage wins delighted approval and strengthens his standing among Aurora's family and associates.

  • Mellish seeks to marry Aurora, declaring that he otherwise expects to remain a bachelor; she rejects his proposal despite his promise of control over a racing stud.

    • Aurora chooses Talbot, while Mellish's grief drives him from home to Paris; the apparent resemblance of another woman offers no lasting consolation.
    • John remains devoted to Aurora and returns to her vicinity, but discovers her engagement to Talbot. His despair later eases during the festivities without any change to her rejection.
    • Despite Aurora's earlier rejection and uncertainty about reciprocation, John renews his pursuit patiently with her father's permission.
    • John renews his proposal despite Aurora's undisclosed past. Aurora reappraises his devotion and permits time for their relationship, but gives no definite acceptance.
    • Aurora accepts John and marries him, fulfilling his goal.

  • Aurora's reason for refusing Talbot remains undisclosed: she denies a prior attachment and her father's higher ambitions as explanations, then later reverses her refusal.

  • Talbot repeatedly plans to leave Brighton but postpones departure, eventually arranging a farewell visit to Archibald before a later train.

  • After Aurora rejects him, Mellish plans an immediate return to Yorkshire.

    • Mellish returns to Mellish Park as planned, then finds it intolerable and leaves for Paris.

  • Aurora and Talbot are engaged, with Archibald's approval; Aurora admires Talbot and seeks to please him.

    • Their engagement is evident to John, and Talbot expresses intense devotion and fear of losing Aurora. Her subsequent distress and withdrawal interrupt their intimacy without ending the engagement.
    • Talbot ends the engagement after Aurora withholds her history and cannot affirm her father's approval of her conduct.

  • Aurora and Lady Bulstrode begin an affectionate correspondence as prospective daughter and mother, though Lady Bulstrode forms an inaccurate impression of Aurora's character.

    • Lady Bulstrode warns Talbot against the compromising engagement after hearing Constance's account; the subsequent breakup ends the prospect underlying their correspondence.

  • Aurora and Talbot plan a May wedding, a honeymoon in Switzerland and at Bulstrode Castle, and married life divided between London and Felden until Talbot inherits.

    • The broken engagement prevents the planned wedding, honeymoon and married life.

  • Talbot intends to enter Parliament if elected by the Cornish borough.

    • Talbot enters Parliament.

  • Aurora offers to retain Powell as a household guide after her marriage, removing Powell's expectation of dismissal.

    • Aurora's plan to retain Powell in her married household loses its intended setting when Talbot ends the engagement.
    • Powell is retained at Mellish Park and assigned household administration, fulfilling the substance of Aurora's offer under her marriage to John.

  • Aurora undertakes to send Harrison moderate remittances through a correspondence address while requiring him to stay away from Felden and leave her father untroubled.

  • Harrison seeks financial support from Aurora, obtains sovereigns and secures her promise of moderate periodic remittances.

  • Aurora wishes to buy Boxer, whose recognition distresses her, but Harrison refuses to sell him.

  • Talbot demands an account of Aurora's connection with Harrison; Aurora resists his authority over her gifts and seeks to end the questioning, before responding painfully to his tender reproach and assuring him of her devotion.

    • Talbot abandons further questioning about Harrison and concedes the dispute to Aurora; her connection with Harrison remains unexplained.

  • John accuses Talbot of treachery in courting Aurora and of having incurred an obligation to Lucy through his attentions; Talbot's attempts to address John's distress leave John feeling unfairly treated.

    • Learning that Talbot rejected Aurora renews John's anger into an intention to chastise him; Aurora supplies the missing context and asks him to recognize Talbot's justification.

  • John confides his rejected love to Lucy, infers her unrequited love for Talbot from her defence of him, and finds comfort in their shared suffering and admiration for her endurance.

  • News of Constance Trevyllian's expected visit to Bulstrode Castle precipitates Aurora's distress. She questions the timing of Lady Bulstrode's letters and implies that Talbot will soon learn an undisclosed trouble, without revealing its nature.

    • Constance's visit produces the anticipated warning: Talbot learns of Aurora's disappearance and missing year. Aurora confirms the account and her dread of this confrontation, but conceals the underlying circumstances.
    • Constance is established as the source from whom Talbot learned of Aurora's flight, clarifying the connection between her expected visit and Aurora's earlier alarm.

  • Talbot seeks help for Aurora's apparent illness and Lucy undertakes to discover what is wrong, but Aurora demands solitude and refuses Lucy admission to her locked room.

    • Aurora's grave illness is discovered and treated; she leaves her sick chamber, becomes fit to travel, and regains strength during convalescence.

  • Aurora confirms that she left school and spent a year elsewhere, but withholds her reason and whereabouts. Archibald knows the circumstances; Aurora says her conduct deeply hurt him.

    • Aurora's delirium exposes unfamiliar names and racing terms to Lucy, adding unexplained clues without disclosing the circumstances of her missing year.
    • Aurora tells John about the missing year while withholding its circumstances. John explicitly trusts her despite that secrecy.
    • Talbot's knowledge of Aurora's flight is traced to Constance, while the reason for her departure and her whereabouts remain undisclosed.

  • Talbot requires an explanation of Aurora's missing year or assurance of her father's approval; Aurora seeks his trust while refusing disclosure and cannot give the assurance. Talbot ends their engagement.

    • Talbot maintains his rejection of an innocent explanation and tells his mother of the rupture; Archibald learns its cause, while Aurora acknowledges the pain and both former lovers struggle with their attachment.

  • Talbot plans to leave Felden and write from London presenting the broken engagement as Aurora's dismissal of him over a trivial disagreement; Aurora agrees to spare her father pain.

    • Talbot's letter reaches Archibald and presents the ended engagement as apparently Aurora's wish, carrying out the agreed account.

  • Talbot arranges an immediate departure through Beckenham and London to Cornwall, instructing Philman to follow with his clothes, and leaves Felden unobserved.

    • Talbot is subsequently at his family's castle in Cornwall, establishing completion of his departure from Felden and onward journey.

  • Archibald seeks Aurora's recovery from a dangerous fever, obtaining intensive medical care; her recovery gradually restores his hope.

    • Aurora's returning colour shows partial physical recovery, and she recognizes that she has survived her grief; Archibald tentatively believes she is at peace.
    • Aurora survives her illness and resumes riding with renewed spirits, providing further evidence of recovery.

  • Aurora and Talbot each struggle to sever their continuing emotional attachment after their separation; Talbot's concern and desire to return contend with his suspicion and self-justification.

    • Aurora recognizes her survival of the separation and thinks of Talbot as a future husband to someone else. These events do not establish that Talbot has overcome his attachment.
    • Aurora overcomes her consuming attachment to Talbot, but her marriage provokes his rage and mortification, undermines his belief that she loved him and drives him to seek occupation in parliamentary work.
    • Aurora's romantic love for Talbot has ended and become pity, but Talbot remains jealous and curious about her marriage, falsely interpreting her indifference as proof that she never loved him.

  • Talbot resolves to seek a distant government appointment and leave England, but cannot pursue departure while Aurora may be dying.

  • Talbot vows to abstain from voluntary communication with Aurora despite his desire to return to her.

    • After Aurora and Archibald recognize him, Talbot voluntarily approaches their party, breaking his intended abstention from communication.

  • Lucy and Powell propose a bay-windowed chamber for Aurora's convalescence, but Aurora refuses ever to enter it again.

  • On medical advice, Archibald arranges Aurora's convalescence at a rented cottage near Leamington and takes her there.

  • Archibald seeks to understand Aurora's broken engagement; after learning its cause, he respects her wish for silence.

  • John undertakes a patient renewal of his courtship, with Archibald's permission and support, accepting that Aurora may never reciprocate and intending to leave if disappointed.

    • John sustains his courtship through companionship and care, renews his proposal with Archibald's approval and agrees to wait for Aurora's answer.
    • John's patient courtship wins Aurora's grateful affection, acceptance and marriage.

  • Archibald takes Aurora and Powell on a Normandy tour to aid Aurora's recovery; John joins them, arranges a courier and accompanies them through the homeward journey.

    • The travellers return to Felden, completing the recovery tour.

  • Aurora accepts John's habitual care, comes to regard his devotion as deserving requital and agrees to give their relationship time, promising not to betray his trust without yet accepting marriage.

    • Aurora's willingness to give John time develops into grateful affection and marriage.

  • On learning that Talbot ended the engagement, John intends to find and chastise him; Aurora then explains the grounds for Talbot's refusal.

  • Aurora and John plan to marry at November's end, winter in Paris and return to England in spring; Archibald intends to join them in Paris. Their marriage takes place, but the proposed Paris stay is not established.

  • Local unmarried women condemn Aurora's marriage to John as evidence of fickleness and disparage her through her mother's reputation.

  • Aurora enters Mellish Park as John's wife, receives a warm welcome from his servants and becomes the object of his promise to Archibald to be a good husband.

    • Aurora loves John with gratitude, devotion and exclusive fidelity; he trusts her completely. Lucy discovers their happiness, and Archibald feels reassured about his daughter's safety.

  • Talbot throws himself into parliamentary preparation to occupy his mind after learning of Aurora's marriage.

  • Aurora vaguely recognizes Powell's lack of affection but dismisses her concern while Powell enjoys her secure position in the new household.

  • Aurora's instinctive fear and dislike of Hargraves become open violence when she discovers him kicking her injured dog; John intervenes, subsequently strikes Hargraves himself and dismisses him permanently.

  • John is horrified by Aurora's violent fury and ashamed of her exposure to disgrace or ridicule, although he protects her and punishes Hargraves.

  • After being beaten and dismissed, Hargraves vows to harm Aurora when an opportunity arises.

  • John seeks a victory for his bay filly, taking precautions against interference and promising the jockey bonuses; the filly is defeated.

  • John invites Talbot and Hunter to dinner and Talbot to stay a week at Mellish Park; Talbot attempts to decline.

  • Talbot secretly dislikes Constance for disclosing Aurora's flight.

  • Talbot seeks to discover Aurora's married circumstances and accepts Hunter's invitation to Yorkshire partly to satisfy this concealed curiosity.

  • John seeks a younger, honest and capable assistant for his ailing trainer; Pastern proposes a former stable lad and promises to retrieve his application and write to John.

Places

Beckenham, Lancashire, Liverpool, The Potteries, Isle of Wight, Ryde, The best hotel in Ryde, London, Fulham, Paris, Charing Cross, Eton, Horse Guards, Cockspur Street, Windsor, Cornwall, Bulstrode Castle, Doncaster, Camelford, Croydon, Inkermann, Switzerland, Felden, Brighton, Shoreham, Yorkshire, Dyke Road, Mellish Park, Sussex, Old Ship Hotel, Cairo, The Old Ship, Cliftonville, Prussia, Galignani's, Café de Paris, Maison Dorée, Trois Frères, Bois de Boulogne, Baker Street, Grayhound Inn, Bulstrode church, Leamington, Normandy, Dieppe, Château d'Arques, York, Knavesmire