ClassicNovels

Charles Rex guide

Ethel M. Dell, 1922 · Begin reading

Summary

Charles Saltash, a restless aristocrat with a dubious reputation, shelters Toby, a frightened young servant fleeing mistreatment at Valrosa. Toby begs to remain aboard his yacht and becomes devoted to him. When the yacht sinks, Saltash jumps into the sea with Toby secured beside him. After their rescue, he discovers that Toby is a girl. He protects her identity by presenting her as Captain Larpent’s daughter, Antoinette, and places her with Jake and Maud Bolton.

Under Maud’s care, Toby finds affection, useful work and the possibility of a different life. Jake promises protection if she deals honestly with him. Her unwavering belief in Saltash moves him, but he considers himself unfit to marry her and encourages a match with Maud’s brother, Bunny Brian. Bunny, whose recklessness Jake has already challenged, courts Toby with a mixture of tenderness and immaturity. Toby accepts his proposal despite uncertainty about him and a deeper attachment to Saltash.

Sheila Melrose recognizes Toby from Valrosa and raises doubts about her past. Saltash intervenes, assuring Bunny that Toby has seen wrongdoing without losing her innocence. Bunny accepts his assurance. Yet Saltash then abandons his attempt to give Toby to another man: on the castle ramparts, he asks her to marry him, and she accepts joyfully. They marry and go to Paris. Jake follows, verifies the marriage and challenges Saltash to prove that he can love Toby selflessly and permanently.

Marriage does not immediately overcome Toby’s fear or Saltash’s difficulty expressing love. In Paris, the arrival of the performer Rozelle Daubeni terrifies Toby. During a performance, Rozelle sees her, cries out “Toinette” and collapses. Larpent explains that the dying Rozelle summoned him after twenty years apart. Saltash sends him away with the yacht, assuring him that Toby is safe as his wife.

Toby nevertheless flees Paris and takes refuge with Jake, who brings her home to Maud. She believes Saltash never loved her and expects him to divorce her. Larpent tells her that Saltash’s love is real and discusses forgiveness with her. Jake persuades the embittered Bunny to treat Toby kindly and leave Saltash alone. Bunny, meanwhile, turns his thoughts affectionately toward Sheila and resolves not to repeat his mistake.

The final crisis comes from Saltash’s belief that Toby does not love him. He tells Maud that he will not hold Toby against her will and would release her to Bunny, though not to Spentoli. Preparing to leave on his yacht, he meets Toby on the castle walls. They finally understand and openly acknowledge their mutual love. Saltash explains that her faith in him made him try to become worthy of it. Husband and wife reconcile and prepare to depart together. Jake and Maud remain together as Toby’s loyal protectors; Bunny looks toward Sheila, though no marriage between them is established. Larpent has affirmed his forgiveness of Rozelle and supported Toby’s marriage; Rozelle is described as dying, but her death is not explicitly reported.

The ending

Saltash prepares to sail away because he believes Toby does not love him, while Toby believes he never loved her and expects divorce. They reconcile on the castle walls, acknowledge their love, and Saltash explains that her trust inspired him to become worthy of her. They remain married and prepare to leave together.

Characters

Also appearing

  • Parker
  • Murray
  • God
  • Sam Vickers
  • Mrs. Lovelace
  • Madame Beaumonde
  • Sir Philip Cressady

Chapter by chapter

Chapter 1

Saltash tells Captain Larpent that he wants to leave port and go to sea. He intervenes when Antonio mistreats Toby and tries to examine the frightened boy. Toby escapes, and Antonio declares that he will have no more of him.

Chapter 2

Saltash wanders through the fête, dismissing Sheila Melrose's attachment to him and kissing local girls. He returns to his yacht, which leaves Valrosa under Captain Larpent's command. In his cabin, Saltash discovers a frightened boy in hotel livery.

Chapter 3

Toby asks Saltash to let him stay aboard and work for his keep. Saltash accepts him, requires obedience, and takes him to a place to sleep. Toby promises devoted service, while Saltash wonders what he will do with his unexpected companion.

Chapter 4

Saltash introduces Toby to Captain Larpent, who examines his injured eye and orders bed rest. Saltash cares for the exhausted boy and gives him his own berth. Toby sleeps peacefully while Saltash spends an uncomfortable night on the couch.

Chapter 5

Toby recovers and happily serves Saltash, who teaches him games and then catches him cheating. Faced with losing his place, Toby declares that he would follow Saltash even to hell. Saltash agrees to keep him, and Toby goes to bed reassured.

Chapter 6

As the yacht approaches England, Saltash discusses Toby's future and makes him share a drink. The yacht begins sinking, and Saltash secures Toby in a life buoy while Larpent ties them together. Holding Toby's hand, Saltash jumps with him into the sea.

Chapter 7

Saltash survives the sinking of The Night Moth, and Dr. Hurst reports that Captain Larpent is unconscious but likely to recover. Toby is revealed to be a girl, and Saltash tells her to maintain the story that she is Larpent's daughter. Saltash calls her Mignonette and leaves after reassuring her that he understands her.

Chapter 1

Saltash attends the Graydown races and spends the afternoon with Bunny Brian, who defends him against Jake Bolton's doubts. Prince Charlie wins his first race, and Saltash and Bunny congratulate Jake together. After Saltash leaves, Bunny insists on remaining his friend, and Jake says he does not blame him.

Chapter 2

Jake takes their sleeping baby to the nursery and returns to comfort Maud. Maud asks Jake to let her speak privately with Saltash about the rumour that a woman was aboard his yacht. Jake agrees to let her try to help Saltash and assures her that he trusts her judgment.

Chapter 3

Saltash visits the Boltons for dinner and talks about his travels and the wreck. He asks Jake to shelter a girl who has nobody to look after her except him. Jake accepts Saltash's word about her and agrees to take her if Maud consents.

Chapter 4

Alone with Maud, Saltash says the female passenger was a frightened child whom he and Larpent rescued, and identifies her as Larpent's daughter. Saltash also arranges for Bunny to help Bishop at the Agency, though Jake doubts whether Saltash will sustain his interest. Jake takes the exhausted Maud upstairs, where they reaffirm their love.

Chapter 5

Jake keeps Maud in bed with a severe headache, manages the household, and arranges for a nursery governess after speaking to Saltash. Later, Maud overhears Bunny explaining to the newcomer that swearing is unacceptable in their house. Bunny offers to help her remember, and Maud watches the girl jump over a rose bush.

Chapter 6

Maud welcomes Antoinette Larpent, called Toby, and invites her to tea. Toby firmly persuades Bunny to leave them alone and tells Maud that managing men requires sticking to a decision. Her frankness and shy appeal bring her and Maud closer.

Chapter 7

Jake confronts Bunny about his conduct and asks him to give up racing for a year. Bunny tries to bargain, but his heavy loss that afternoon undermines his case and he finally agrees. They leave together as friends, with Bunny feeling that his sacrifice matters to Jake.

Chapter 8

Jake finds Toby playing with his children and assures her that his earlier anger was directed at Bunny. Toby comes to trust Jake and says that Saltash sent her to someone safe, while Jake promises to protect her if she behaves honestly. Her reverence for Saltash leaves Jake astonished.

Chapter 9

Saltash visits Maud and asks how Toby is settling in. Maud agrees to keep Toby longer, and Toby openly declares that Saltash could make her believe in God. Maud supports Toby's faith in him, leaving Saltash visibly moved as Toby kisses his hand.

Chapter 10

Toby attends church with Jake and later listens while Maud plays the piano. Maud discovers her distress and assures her that she can build a future by doing her best in the present. Toby resolves to work hard and change her ways, and Maud promises to help her.

Chapter 11

Saltash returns to the Castle for dinner, and Bunny tells him that Toby has changed under Maud's care. Toby and Captain Larpent greet each other awkwardly, and Saltash eases the meeting by introducing Larpent to the others. Jake expresses confidence in Saltash, whose grateful reply ends Bunny's brief resentment.

Chapter 12

Bunny takes Toby away from the company and leads her through Saltash's private room toward the battlements. Toby angrily dislikes the room, then repeatedly hides from Bunny and confuses him with her laughter. Bunny loses his temper and grabs Toby when she emerges to open the turret door for him.

Chapter 13

Bunny holds Toby and forcibly kisses her while she struggles and demands release. Toby later reveals that she escaped him by walking along a narrow outer ledge and throwing her voice. Bunny fears for her safety, but Toby refuses to promise she will stop and leaves him unsettled by her remarks about Saltash.

Chapter 1

Larpent challenges Saltash about the situation he has put him in and doubts that Toby will marry Bunny. Saltash insists on the match, while Larpent argues that Toby would come to Saltash if he encouraged her. Saltash admits breaking his promise to keep Toby with him and declares that he will not let her ruin herself by marrying him.

Chapter 2

Bunny prepares to play in a polo match that Maud has promised to attend with Toby. Bunny presses Toby to meet him privately the following evening while walking Chops near the larch copse. Toby agrees to come but warns that she will leave if she dislikes the meeting.

Chapter 3

Bunny excels at polo while Maud talks with General Melrose and Sheila, whose mention of Valrosa disturbs Toby. Saltash discusses his new yacht with Sheila and says he no longer hopes to possess the blue bird of happiness. Saltash privately urges Toby to accept happiness when it comes, and she joins the applause for Bunny as Saltash leaves.

Chapter 4

Toby stops Chops from attacking a snared hare and works to free it when Bunny arrives and offers help. Bunny tells Toby that Maud once gave Saltash up, leaving Toby puzzled and troubled. Bunny tenderly kisses Toby, and she returns his affection and says she may soon become engaged to him.

Chapter 5

Toby returns from a risky ride alone, and Jake and Maud question her behaviour. Toby tells Jake she doubts Bunny's maturity and discusses Saltash's former love for Maud. Jake accepts Toby's possible marriage to Bunny if she wants it, and promises to stand by her.

Chapter 6

Saltash gathers his guests for the christening of The Blue Moon, with Maud, Jake, Toby and Bunny aboard. Toby seems frightened during the celebrations and urges Bunny to take her to congratulate Saltash. Saltash wishes them luck together and moves away, leaving Toby and Bunny silent.

Chapter 7

Bunny rows Toby away from the yacht's noisy celebrations and asks her to marry him. Toby hesitates, while Bunny promises to put her happiness first. Toby finally agrees and asks him to be good to her, which he solemnly promises.

Chapter 8

Sheila tells Saltash that she seems to remember seeing Toby dressed as a boy, and Saltash attributes the resemblance to a painting. When Bunny and Toby return, Saltash publicly blesses their engagement and leads them towards Captain Larpent. Maud worries that Toby does not love Bunny, while Jake hopes that love will grow.

Chapter 9

Toby seems calmer after her engagement and spends time happily with Bunny, while Saltash goes away on his yacht. After Sheila's warning, Bunny questions Toby, who says Sheila considers her unsuitable for marriage. Toby turns his questions aside with affection, leaving Bunny relieved at first but later aware that she has avoided explaining herself.

Chapter 10

Bunny wonders whether he should delay marrying Toby and unexpectedly meets Saltash, whose yacht has returned with engine trouble. Saltash offers help to move the marriage arrangements forward and assures Bunny that Toby will cooperate. Bunny accepts his help but goes home uneasy about Saltash's motives and wishes Jake were available to advise him.

Chapter 11

Bunny waits for General Melrose and Sheila while resenting Sheila's doubts about his engagement to Toby. Toby returns in boyish riding clothes, and Sheila's puzzled response prompts Saltash to intervene. Bunny grows angry at Toby's defiance and walks behind her with Sheila in silence.

Chapter 12

Saltash quietly tells Toby to change into girlish clothes, and she returns in white with Molly and Eileen. Bunny leaves with Sheila while Saltash prepares to depart. Saltash warns Toby that Sheila recognizes her and may expose her past, and tells her to avoid Bunny until he has spoken to him.

Chapter 13

Saltash finds Bunny visibly distressed after speaking with Sheila and offers to explain. Bunny initially rejects him but listens as Saltash insists that Toby has witnessed evil without losing her innocence. Bunny accepts Saltash's assurance, apologizes, and shakes his hand.

Chapter 14

Saltash leaves his solitary dinner and climbs to the ramparts in a restless, unhappy mood. Saltash asks Toby to marry him, and she accepts with complete devotion. He promises that she will be his queen, and Toby calls him her king before he gently releases her.

Chapter 1

Toby waits in a Paris hotel three days after marrying Saltash and eagerly welcomes his return. Jake arrives and insists on speaking to Saltash alone, treating him with open hostility. Saltash sends Toby into the adjoining room after she anxiously asks whether he will keep her and he reminds her that she is his wife.

Chapter 2

Jake demands proof of Saltash's marriage to Toby, and Saltash produces an envelope to establish it. Jake challenges Saltash to prove that he can give Toby lasting, selfless love. Jake leaves without seeing Toby, and Saltash briefly celebrates his victory before returning to her.

Chapter 3

Saltash gives Toby pearls and insists that she accept them as his wife. Toby says he does not make the most of life, and their teasing leaves her close to tears. Saltash breaks the spare picnic cup so they must share one, telling Toby that a wife is different.

Chapter 4

Saltash insists that Toby appear publicly as his wife despite her distress at hearing that Rozelle Daubeni is coming to the hotel. Rozelle arrives with Larpent and throws a rose toward Saltash, which Spentoli catches. Saltash tells Spentoli that Rozelle's companion is Larpent, the captain of his yacht.

Chapter 5

Saltash promises Toby that they will soon leave Paris on his yacht, and they watch Rozelle's performance from the gallery. A sudden light exposes Toby, and Rozelle sees her, cries out the name Toinette three times, and collapses. Larpent carries Rozelle from the stage.

Chapter 6

Larpent tells Saltash that he came because the dying Rozelle wanted him after twenty years apart. Saltash tells Larpent to take the yacht to Fairharbour and assures him that Toby is safe as his wife. Larpent congratulates Saltash and calls the marriage proof of love, leaving Saltash questioning what love is.

Chapter 7

Jake prepares to leave Paris, troubled by Toby's dependence on Saltash, and Toby takes refuge with him on the train. Jake protects her from an Italian man and comforts her as her hysterical laughter gives way to sobbing. Toby cannot explain her trouble, and Jake promises to take care of her and bring her home to Maud.

Chapter 8

Jake tells Bunny that he has brought Toby home and informed Saltash, whom he confirms is her husband. Jake challenges Bunny's bitterness toward Toby, and Bunny agrees to reassure her and leave Saltash alone. After Jake leaves, Bunny tenderly rereads Sheila's letter and resolves not to repeat his mistake.

Chapter 9

Toby sits on the beach with Eileen, Molly and Betty when Captain Larpent comes to talk to her. Larpent says he forgave the woman they discuss, and Toby says she must try to forgive her too. When Toby insists that Saltash never loved her, Larpent tells her his love is real and leaves her to consider his words.

Chapter 10

Maud tells Saltash that Toby cries every night and expects him to divorce her. Saltash refuses to release Toby for Spentoli but says he will let her go to Bunny because he will not keep her against her will. Maud leaves promising to give Bunny and Toby his message, while Saltash doubts that his love has served any purpose.

Chapter 11

Saltash walks the castle walls, planning to leave on his yacht because he believes Toby does not love him. Saltash and Toby are reconciled, and he explains that her trust made him try to deserve her faith in him. They end together, openly showing their love and ready to leave together.

Storylines

  • Charles and Larpent plan to put to sea tomorrow, with Larpent preparing the yacht while Charles spends another evening ashore; Charles leaves departure conditional on tonight's opportunities.

    • Charles returns aboard, expresses readiness for the open sea, and the yacht departs Valrosa, carrying out the conditional departure plan.

  • Larpent wants to leave the Mediterranean sunshine and fashionable company of which he has become thoroughly tired.

    • The yacht leaves Valrosa and its fashionable company; departure from the Mediterranean itself is not established.

  • Bored with familiar pleasures, Charles seeks fresh amusement during his evening ashore at Valrosa.

    • Charles recognizes his satiety but obtains renewed excitement through the night's revelry; by his return aboard, Valrosa has lost its enchantment.

  • Charles learns that Larpent loved once, about twenty years ago, and does not know whether the woman is still alive.

    • Larpent identifies his lost love as his wife Rozelle, recounts their separation and reports her death.

  • Charles intervenes against Antonio's beating of Toby and suspects that Antonio has injured the child, placing his intervention against Antonio's continued threats and demands.

    • Charles confirms Toby's injury and extends his intervention into continuing protection by promising not to return him and deciding to keep him.
    • Charles's concern about Toby's injuries leads to examination and treatment; touching the injured eye causes acute pain. The confrontation with Antonio remains unsettled.

  • Charles's first encounter with Toby begins with his interrupting the beating, but Toby recoils and escapes after Charles grips and partially lifts him.

    • Their frightening first encounter develops into an accepted protection and service relationship: Charles reassures, feeds and houses Toby, while Toby expresses gratitude and promises obedience and service.
    • Toby increasingly accepts Charles's authority and physical reassurance. Charles offers a fresh start, tends him through the storm and gives up his berth and comfortable rest to protect him.
    • Their growing ease and companionship suffer a rupture when Charles flogs Toby, but affection returns and Charles assures Toby of a lasting place.

  • Antonio violently mistreats Toby, threatens further violence, and decides to end Toby's trial employment after Toby flees.

    • The severe bruise confirms the harm Antonio inflicted. Toby has left the hotel, and Charles promises not to send him back and accepts responsibility for him, providing an escape from Antonio without establishing that Antonio's threats have ended.

  • Charles deliberately displays to Sheila the conduct she should expect from him, and she responds with open disgust.

    • Sheila concludes that Charles was never earnest and never intended her to believe otherwise, while retaining her adverse judgment of him.

  • Charles resolves never to return to Valrosa and intends to avoid seeing it again.

  • Charles discovers a frightened young person concealed in his cabin, opening an unexpected encounter whose purpose remains unknown.

    • The concealed person's identity and purpose become clear: Toby boarded hoping to ask to stay and work for Charles, mistakenly expecting to ask before departure. Charles agrees to keep him.

  • Toby seeks to earn his place in Charles's service through obedience and good work, repay his kindness, and avoid causing him trouble.

    • Toby tries to earn his place by cleaning and rising to serve despite his condition. His collapse prevents service, while his renewed promise and eventual submission advance the obedience Charles now requires.
    • Toby's cheating compromises his effort to earn his place, but he continues preparing Charles's clothes, promises not to repeat the misconduct, and pledges lifelong service.
    • Toby recognizes that swearing may jeopardize her placement and actively seeks Bunny's help in correcting it.
    • Toby obeys Charles's instruction by cutting short her account of the drowning.
    • Toby apologizes for causing trouble and asks for correction, accepting honesty as a condition of Jake's protection.
    • Toby renews her determination to work hard and learn proper conduct.

  • At Charles's insistence, Toby promises never to jump overboard or attempt similar self-harm, even if Charles mistreats him.

    • Toby's implied intention to kill herself secretly if rejected undermines her earlier promise against self-harm.
    • Toby's intention to find her own unspecified way out if Charles refuses release raises a possible threat to her earlier promise against self-harm, without establishing what she intends.
    • Toby violates her undertaking against similar self-harm by exposing herself to a fatal fall and threatening to jump.

  • Charles and Toby agree to present Toby's boarding as authorized by Charles, concealing that he came aboard without prior permission.

  • Toby intends to pay for the hotel livery he took with his first earnings.

  • Charles undertakes Toby's training and personal care; Charles and Larpent arrange rest, treatment and re-examination for his injuries.

    • Toby emerges from confinement in improving health and receives instruction. Charles's punitive approach brings shame and criticism, after which he commits to giving Toby a chance to live honestly and keeping him.
    • Charles extends his undertaking of Toby's care into a plan for her respectability and future provision in England.
    • Charles pursues a household placement for Toby and renews his commitment to care for her; Jake conditionally accepts.
    • Charles secures Maud's offer to care for Toby and commits to sending her tomorrow.

  • Toby's identity remains uncertain: Charles questions his claimed surname, and Toby realizes Charles may know more about him than he has disclosed.

    • Toby learns Charles already knew she was female, and Charles learns her name is Antoinette and chooses to call her Mignonette; her surname and origins remain unsettled.
    • Toby supplies Sheila with a biographical account involving schooling in Geneva and joining her father at Valrosa; her actual identity remains uncertain.
    • Sheila connects Toby's familiar appearance with someone previously seen dressed as a boy. Toby redirects her attention to the christening before the identification is pursued.
    • Charles has noticed Toby's resemblance to the model in The Victim and learns that the model came from a circus and escaped Spentoli; the possible identification remains unconfirmed.
    • Larpent's account identifies Toby as his and Rozelle's daughter and discloses her concealed history.

  • Charles discovers Toby cheating at cards and flogs him, but stops in shame; Toby promises not to repeat the conduct, and they reconcile.

  • Charles repairs his rudeness to Larpent and responds warmly to his unwelcome criticism.

  • Charles abandons the intended voyage to Jamaica and resolves to return to England.

    • The English shore comes into sight, bringing the planned return close to completion without establishing that they have landed.
    • Charles reaffirms his decision to return home and requests an early landing; the liner turns back to Southampton.
    • Charles is back in England, appearing at Graydown and returning to Burchester Castle.

  • Larpent's criticism makes Charles confront whether his example will corrupt Toby and whether he should entrust Toby's care to someone else.

  • Toby seeks a permanent place with Charles and fears being sent away.

    • Toby commits her future exclusively to Charles, makes rejection a condition for her threatened disappearance, and fears separation during the sinking.
    • Charles assures Toby of his protection and makes arrangements to keep her under his care through landing.
    • Toby declares that she has come to stay permanently; Charles agrees to keep her by marrying her, and she accepts.

  • Charles commits to keeping Toby with him for better or worse.

    • Charles gives his commitment practical force by planning Toby's future, carrying her to safety, refusing to hand her over, and entering the sea tied to her after promising they will go together.
    • Charles renews his protection of Toby after her sex is discovered and commits to managing the identity under which she will land.
    • Charles acknowledges his sworn commitment to keep Toby with him and that he broke it by making her leave his company.
    • Charles renews his commitment to keeping Toby with him through their agreed marriage.
    • Charles renews his promise to keep Toby with him and undertakes to face Jake.
    • Charles renews his determination to keep Toby, risks himself to rescue her and explicitly accepts her.

  • Charles intends to make Toby respectable and provide for her future in England.

    • Charles seeks a suitable home and work helping with children for Toby, gaining Jake's acceptance subject to Maud's consent.
    • A place for Toby with Maud becomes an agreed immediate arrangement.
    • Charles secures a conditional nursery governess placement for Toby, giving concrete form to his intention to provide a respectable future.
    • Charles gives his intention to establish Toby respectably a concrete social form, but her fear introduces resistance.
    • Charles identifies marriage to Bunny as his intended provision for Toby's future, also seeking to redirect her attachment to himself.
    • Charles undertakes to provide Toby with an honoured position as his wife.

  • Toby entrusts herself and her future exclusively to Charles, while learning that his apparent advantages leave him unhappy and unfulfilled.

    • Toby repeatedly asks for Charles during her distress; his assurance of protection elicits her pledge to live or die for him.
    • Their reunion reveals mutual emotional investment. Toby chooses Charles over further riding, wants to leave with him and believes he could lead her to belief in God; her trust shocks and moves him.
    • Toby now accepts Maud's continuing support, extending her trust beyond her previously exclusive reliance on Charles.
    • Larpent explicitly recognizes Toby's devotion to Charles; Charles acknowledges her attachment and recalls that she sought his protection despite distrusting him.
    • Charles's account of his lost hope of happiness is followed by private encouragement that Toby's own happiness is approaching and should be held fast.
    • Toby's absorbed gaze at Charles deeply moves Bunny; she subsequently seeks Charles's company when she wants to leave the crowd.
    • Charles recognizes his enduring attachment and rejoices at finding Toby; their reciprocal affection culminates in her entrusting herself to him through engagement.
    • Toby declares her happiness but reveals expectations of neglect and fears Charles is bored with her. His reassurance steadies her, and she commits to staying and helping him face Jake.
    • Their marriage brings generosity and shared pleasure, but Toby doubts that Charles loves her and openly challenges how he lives; he subsequently insists on sharing one cup with her as his wife.
    • Toby explains her longstanding love and trust, entrusts her rescue to Charles and learns that her trust has changed his beliefs and conduct.

  • The yacht's catastrophic sinking endangers Charles, Toby and Larpent; Charles carries the injured Toby out and enters the sea secured to her, but their survival remains uncertain.

    • Charles, Toby, Larpent and the entire yacht crew survive the sinking. Larpent helped free Charles and Toby before their rescue; his concussion leaves him unconscious but expected to recover.

  • Hurst's discovery that Toby is female and his suspicion threaten Charles's efforts to protect her through an invented explanation.

  • Charles presents Toby as Larpent's daughter and plans to secure Larpent's cooperation; Toby must adopt the identity and keep out of sight until landing.

    • Charles presents Antoinette to Jake as Larpent's daughter, and Jake accepts his account as truthful.
    • Charles extends the invented identity to Maud, who agrees to receive Toby as Larpent's nineteen-year-old daughter.
    • Toby is introduced to Maud as Antoinette Larpent and sustains the assumed daughter identity when questioned about her father.
    • Toby maintains the paternal explanation in her account to Sheila, and Charles reinforces it by reporting her supposed father's approval of the new yacht.
    • Charles discloses the invented parentage to Bunny, who provisionally accepts his explanation; the identity is no longer concealed from Bunny.
    • The supposed father-daughter relationship used to protect Toby proves to be her actual parentage, which Charles now learns.

  • Charles and Jake have ended their enmity and become friends, though Jake retains reservations about Charles's company and influence on Bunny.

    • Jake confirms that Charles's invitation has his consent and agrees to let Maud offer Charles help without interference or resentment.
    • Charles promises not to corrupt Bunny, Jake permits the proposed employment, and their friendship gains an explicit extension of trust to Charles's account of Toby.
    • The account of Charles's earlier attempt to damage Jake's prospects establishes his subsequent shame and loss of malice, clarifying the change behind their reconciliation.
    • Jake shows qualified deference and concedes Charles's argument, but still challenges his capacity to love Toby selflessly; Charles privately regards the encounter as a cynical triumph.

  • Bunny warmly welcomes Charles after fearing him dead, defends him against gossip, and promises not to quarrel with Jake on his behalf.

    • Bunny accepts Charles's prospective employment and commits to trying to meet his expectations.
    • Charles's caressing address to Toby briefly turns Bunny against him, but Charles's acknowledgment of Jake extinguishes that resentment.

  • Charles's reputation complicates his acceptance into Jake and Maud's family circle: Bunny defends him, Maud reserves judgment, and Jake questions his company, although a dinner invitation opens the way to a visit.

    • Maud initially interprets Bunny's role in the invitation as an affront to Jake, but receives Jake's correction and moves toward investigating the rumour directly and offering Charles help.
    • Charles joins the family dinner, addresses concerns about his influence and Toby's safety, and gains Jake's trust and conditional agreement to receive her.
    • Maud abandons the yacht rumor and receives Charles's forgiveness, but uncertainty about his motives and disagreement with Jake persist. Charles fears that escorting Toby would prejudice her reception.
    • Jake accepts Toby on explicit conditions, while Maud's faith in Charles renews and deepens.

  • Charles will dine with Jake and Maud at eight, accepting the opening to visit their family despite Jake's reservations.

    • Charles's acceptance is confirmed to Maud, Jake affirms his consent to the invitation, and he prepares to dress before Charles arrives; the dinner has not yet occurred.
    • Charles arrives and dines with Jake, Maud and Bunny.

  • Maud commits to having the baby sleep in the nursery unless he is ill, and Jake undertakes to settle him there despite her wistfulness at their separation.

  • Jake and Maud's marriage is marked by his deep love and unconditional confidence in her judgment, including her decision to approach Charles privately.

    • Jake explains his marriage in terms of agreement and makes accepting Toby dependent on consulting Maud and obtaining her consent.
    • Jake assumes practical responsibility during Maud's illness, and she feels relief in leaving matters to him.

  • Maud intends to speak privately with Charles to test the yacht rumour and offer help; Jake promises not to interfere or resent her intervention.

    • Maud speaks privately with Charles, rejects the rumor after hearing his account, and offers concrete help by receiving the girl.

  • Charles proposes employing Bunny as bailiff at Burchester Castle while retaining Bishop, lodging Bunny with the Bishops near Jake and Maud, and introducing him to Fairharbour's polo club; Jake agrees not to obstruct the employment.

    • Bunny learns of and accepts the prospective work; Charles commits to discussing it on Sunday, and Maud learns that it involves helping Bishop at the Agency.
    • Bunny now plans to leave his present position to join Charles, moving the proposed employment toward implementation.
    • Bunny has taken up the job, enjoys estate work and has formed a warm relationship with Bishop.
    • Bunny gains polo-club membership and selection for a match, while estate work develops his self-reliance and resourcefulness.

  • Charles seeks to help someone as a response to his exhaustion and boredom.

  • Charles asks Jake and Maud to house Toby temporarily while she helps with their children, promising to care for her if Larpent remains unwell after a trial month; Jake accepts subject to Maud's consent and proposes consulting her.

    • Maud agrees to receive Toby tomorrow and asks Charles to bring her personally. Charles promises a telephone call and proposes a separate visit; Maud learns that Jake has already been consulted and intends to consult him herself.
    • Jake arranges a conditional trial as nursery governess, Charles accepts the conditions, and Toby arrives; her suitability remains to be established.
    • Maud welcomes Toby personally, promises to show her her room, and establishes the trust needed for her stay in the household.
    • Toby is playing with the children and gains Jake's personal commitment to her care, strengthening her place in the household.
    • Maud agrees to continue caring for Toby while Larpent recovers. Charles anticipates his convalescence at the Castle and refuses Toby's request to leave with him immediately.

  • Charles tells Maud that losing her ended his true happiness; her appeal to selfless love partly moves him, while his fervent farewell and familiar musical charm leave her uncertain about his motives.

    • Maud's uncertainty about Charles gives way to renewed and deeper trust.
    • Charles tells Bunny that Maud remains uniquely important to him despite other women and that marriage seems unlikely.
    • Charles discloses that he attempted to win Maud away from Jake, clarifying the purpose behind his earlier approach.

  • Jake and Maud disagree over how to understand Charles; both withdraw from the argument without settling their differences.

  • Jake takes charge of Maud's recovery, appointing Eileen to guard her rest and securing Maud's promise to remain upstairs until tea.

  • Eileen wants lessons and asks to be treated as old enough to begin them.

  • Toby's habitual swearing clashes with the household's standards and makes her fear being sent back in disgrace; Maud overhears it with dismay.

    • Toby remains embarrassed by her tendency to swear, but her implicit appeal for pardon meets sympathetic understanding from Maud.
    • Toby's challenge to Jake's authority unsettles Eileen, but Toby apologizes for her language before the children and secures Jake's help in correcting her conduct.
    • Toby's language problems remain a subject of household discipline and are reported to Charles; her offer to eat separately disarms Jake's severity without establishing that the problem is resolved.

  • Bunny begins helping Toby adjust to the household, and his practical support restores her cheer.

    • Bunny and Toby share a racing outing and gambling losses, adopt familiar address, and develop a playful rapport in which Bunny accepts her commanding manner with amusement.
    • Toby rejects Bunny's invitation to continue riding so she can stay with Charles, hurting and embarrassing Bunny, who leaves.
    • Bunny recognizes Toby's beauty, notices her nervousness and feels impelled to protect her.
    • Their shared adventure deepens their familiarity, while Bunny revises his view of Toby as merely a child. His concern becomes anger at her evasions, complicating their friendly rapport.
    • Their companionship develops into freely reciprocated intimacy, Bunny's declared love and a stronger wish to protect Toby.

  • Bunny agrees to warn Toby with a kick when she is about to swear, and Toby welcomes his help.

  • Maud's initial recoil gives way to compassion; her welcome reassures Toby, and they form an enduring bond of sympathetic understanding.

    • Maud responds to Toby's despair with comfort, confidentiality and a promise of lasting help; Toby gains confidence in her support and embraces her.
    • Maud worries about Toby's absence, feels relief on seeing her return, and longs to comfort her when her trembling smile evokes pity.

  • Charles instructs Toby never to discuss or dwell on her near drowning, and she obeys by stopping her account to Maud.

  • Toby describes her supposed relationship with Larpent as distant and mutually unloving, disclaiming anxiety for him.

    • Toby reinforces her account of distance from Larpent by telling Maud she hardly knows him.
    • Larpent's affectionate greeting reassures Toby, complicating her earlier account of their mutually unloving relationship; Bunny also notices Larpent's embarrassment.
    • Larpent's account establishes their actual kinship and his commitment to protect Toby, although no mutual reconciliation is shown.
    • The disclosure of Toby's parentage and their mutual welcome replace the previously distant, supposedly unloving father-daughter relationship.

  • Bunny's heavy racing losses bring him into conflict with Jake, who intervenes; after resistance and bargaining, Bunny accepts Jake's requested restraint.

  • Jake and Bunny restore their affectionate rapport after a coercive confrontation, and Bunny's affection for Jake moves him to accept a substantial personal sacrifice.

  • Bunny unconditionally promises Jake to give up racing for a year; Jake treats the sacrifice as a personal favour and pledges future reciprocation.

    • Bunny puts his promise into practice by abandoning racing; completion of the promised year is not established.

  • Jake seeks to prevent Bunny from encouraging what Jake believes is Toby's deep propensity for gambling, inferred from his own observation.

    • Jake addresses the paddock encounter directly with Toby, who interprets his gambling objection as an age restriction; her claim that Charles forbids cheating astonishes him.

  • Jake and Toby establish an informal friendship; Toby trusts his dependability, and Jake recognizes her vulnerability and need for refuge.

    • Jake's refusal to retaliate and his forgiveness restore trust after Toby strikes him; he declares his love for her and assures her of continuing support.
    • Jake's compassion becomes practical care: he patiently calms Toby's terrified sobbing and promises to look after her.

  • Jake undertakes to protect and guide Toby, treating her kindly and correcting her misconduct, on condition that she acts honestly.

    • Jake exercises his undertaking to correct and guide Toby, reprimanding her and insisting on church attendance despite her refusal.
    • Jake intervenes over Toby's dangerous riding, corrects her without retaliation, receives her promise of obedience and renews his support alongside her pledge of honesty.
    • Jake intervenes when Toby takes the children into a high tree, brings them down by ladder, and gives Toby a comparatively mild reprimand.
    • Jake continues protecting Toby by resolving to reclaim her if the marriage is false and, once satisfied it is genuine, appealing for her decent treatment and lasting love.
    • Jake intervenes to separate Toby from her companion, comforts her, and renews his undertaking to protect her.

  • Jake promises to see Toby ride the next day, and Toby plans to borrow breeches for the occasion.

  • Toby reveals that she ordinarily rides in tights and obtains Jake's promise to keep that disclosure secret.

  • Jake promises not to discuss Toby with anyone, including Charles.

  • Toby refuses church and professes atheism, while Jake insists she attend regardless of her beliefs; the dispute leaves her crying.

    • Toby attends church and offers to go again if Jake wishes, settling the immediate dispute without establishing a change in her beliefs.

  • Charles proposes bringing Toby into society after Larpent's convalescence, with Maud as hostess, Jake as escort and a Court presentation; Toby fears the prospect and asks him to abandon the party.

    • Toby appears at the Castle gathering and Maud meets Larpent, bringing the proposed social introduction forward, though Toby remains nervous.

  • Toby wants to leave with Charles until she has learned to behave, but he refuses to take her away now.

    • Charles now agrees to take Toby away with him and marry her.

  • Toby asks Maud to keep her distress from Jake; Maud promises confidentiality, while recognizing that Toby is withholding more and suspecting an unexplained past connected with Charles.

    • Maud observes Toby's marked distress when Sheila mentions Valrosa, giving her further reason for anxiety about Toby's unexplained past.
    • Maud continues to respect Toby's undisclosed troubles and decides to await a voluntary confidence.

  • Toby resolves to work hard, put her past behind her and learn proper social conduct; Maud promises continuing help.

    • Bunny reports that Toby's clothes and appearance have changed under Maud's influence, providing evidence of her adjustment.
    • Toby reports abandoning jumping rosebushes and continuing to learn respectable conduct.
    • Toby assumes more household responsibilities and appears increasingly settled, with diminished fear and no further angry outbursts.
    • Toby renews her promise to behave well and abandon improper expressions.

  • Bunny wants eventually to own an estate, encouraged by his enjoyment of estate work.

    • Charles offers Bunny eventual ownership of Burchester Castle, creating a concrete prospect of an estate, but Bunny rejects the proposed succession and resists accepting the gift.

  • Bunny and Bishop develop mutual fondness as Bunny settles into estate work.

  • Charles asks Bunny to receive the guests if he is late and explain his absence by his visit to town and midday return.

  • Charles undertakes to attend personally to Larpent.

  • Larpent promises discretion after Bunny tells him about the unrepeated gambling adventure involving Toby.

  • Charles plans to buy Larpent another boat after the insurance negotiations.

    • Charles has purchased a replacement yacht and reports Larpent's approval, though these events do not establish that he has given Larpent a boat.

  • Toby's furious response to Charles's private music-room and its perfume remains unexplained.

  • Bunny and Toby's playful chase turns into a confrontation when her continued evasion frightens and angers him; he finally seizes her.

    • The confrontation escalates into forced kissing before Toby gains release; later mutual affection ends the immediate quarrel, and her explanation of the hiding place and promises address the flight that provoked it.

  • Bunny pursues Toby romantically, initially forcing physical intimacy; she later freely reciprocates his affection without agreeing to an engagement, while he declares his love and develops protective concern.

    • Toby becomes increasingly receptive to Bunny and agrees to a private meeting, delighting him.
    • Bunny's pressure initially meets resistance, but he promises restraint and makes a later kiss conditional on Toby's willingness. She accepts his comfort, recognizes his humanity, and freely initiates a kiss.
    • Bunny accompanies Toby away from the group, responds to her apparent fear, and stands hand in hand with her before Charles.
    • Toby finds comfort with Bunny and accepts his proposal; they become engaged, and he solemnly promises to be good to her.
    • Bunny's serious affection is confirmed to Sheila; he and Toby return together and receive Charles's public blessing as a couple.
    • Regular walks sustain their courtship; Toby says she prefers marriage to a London season and offers greater affection, while Bunny's kisses relieve her dread.
    • Toby leaves Bunny a note refusing to return and becomes engaged to Charles.
    • Bunny accepts Toby's marriage, recognizes that his own courtship was mistaken, and relinquishes both his romantic attachment and his grievance.

  • Bunny seriously intends to marry Toby, but she seeks their former companionship without romantic commitment, citing her greater experience, unworthiness, troubling knowledge acquired abroad and Jake's anticipated opposition.

    • Charles supports the marriage Bunny wants, but Larpent identifies Toby's devotion to Charles as an obstacle and doubts her prospects with Bunny.
    • Toby moves from resisting romantic commitment to tentatively contemplating an engagement soon, delighting Bunny; no engagement is yet agreed.
    • The question of Bunny causes Toby acute distress, but Jake removes her anticipated obstacle of his opposition by conditionally approving their marriage; her own willingness remains unsettled.
    • Toby accepts marriage, overcoming her refusal of commitment, but Bunny infers that she loves Charles more than him and lets her know he has guessed.
    • Bunny begins discussing practical marriage arrangements, but Toby warns that she is unsuitable, refuses to explain, and leaves him aware that the obstacle remains.
    • Toby has promised marriage when Bishop's retirement releases the house. Bunny now questions the fairness of proceeding, although Charles's encouragement restores some confidence.
    • Toby ends the prospect of marriage to Bunny by refusing to return and accepting Charles.

  • Bunny perceives a private source of Toby's distress that he cannot reach; her disclosures about her past and resistance to marriage leave its substance unexplained.

    • Toby discloses that her distress concerns Bunny, and her knowledge of Maud's former love for Charles becomes explicit, but the full source of her distress remains undisclosed.
    • Bunny suspects that something has frightened Toby, but its cause remains unknown to him.
    • Bunny identifies Toby's stronger attachment to Charles as a source of her distress and communicates his understanding to her; the other secrets of her past remain unexplained.
    • Toby connects her warning to Sheila's supposed judgment of her suitability for marriage but withholds its basis. Bunny briefly accepts it as teasing, then recognizes her evasion.
    • The undisclosed truth behind Toby's distress now risks reaching Bunny through Sheila or Charles, and Toby fears its disclosure.
    • Bunny learns Charles's account of Toby's rescue and assumed parentage, reveals his belief that she has loved Charles, and accepts her sexual innocence. He still intends to seek the whole truth from Toby.
    • Toby's concealed history of captivity, recapture and escape is disclosed to Charles; Bunny is not shown learning it.

  • Toby refuses a present engagement but offers to reconsider after six months of Bunny's constancy; Bunny remains determined and offers private meetings without engagement.

    • Toby maintains the six-month interval before settling Bunny's pursuit but accepts a limited private meeting without an engagement.
    • Toby's suggestion that they might become engaged soon opens the possibility of shortening her previously proposed six-month wait, without making a definite promise.
    • Bunny renews his proposal, and Toby accepts a present engagement instead of postponing her decision for six months.

  • Toby promises Bunny never to run away from him again and, after revealing her dangerous ledge hiding place, promises not to repeat the escapade.

    • Toby repeats the dangerous ledge escapade she promised Bunny she would not repeat.

  • Larpent seeks Charles's help to escape the arrangement imposed on him.

  • Charles intends Toby to marry Bunny, offers his blessing, and explains that the marriage is meant to counter her attachment to himself.

    • Bunny tells Toby that Charles wants them to marry, and she subsequently accepts Bunny's proposal, advancing Charles's intended match.
    • Charles publicly blesses Toby's union with Bunny and takes steps to inform Larpent.
    • Charles presses for a prompt wedding and offers housing, inheritance and practical assistance to bring the marriage about.
    • Bunny challenges Charles's reason for promoting the marriage, suspects evasion, identifies Toby's love for Charles as an obstacle, and refuses further benefits from him.
    • Charles abandons his intention that Toby marry Bunny and undertakes to marry her himself.

  • Larpent urges Charles to marry Toby, recognizing her devotion to Charles and doubting her prospects with Bunny; Charles commits to preventing her from marrying him because he believes she would suffer.

    • Jake declares absolute opposition to Toby marrying Charles, adding his prohibition to the unresolved question of that marriage.
    • Bunny independently infers Toby's stronger love for Charles and believes Charles will not marry; Toby's engagement advances the alternative match without establishing that her attachment to Charles has changed.
    • Charles reports that Larpent now favours an early wedding to Bunny and declares that he himself will never marry or have a blood heir.
    • Charles reverses his determination to prevent Toby from marrying him and promises her an honoured, free position as his wife.

  • Maud promises Jake to bring Bunny back with her from the polo match.

  • Bunny arranges a private meeting with Toby at seven tomorrow by the larch-copse gate in Burchester Woods. Toby agrees to bring Chops and stay briefly, reserving the right never to return if she dislikes it.

    • Their arranged private meeting takes place, although Bishop delays Bunny; Toby and Bunny leave the gate together for the lake.

  • Toby's distress at the mention of Valrosa remains unexplained; Maud notices her reaction, while Toby offers Sheila an account of a brief visit after schooling in Geneva.

  • Charles intends to hold a reception aboard his replacement yacht and have Maud christen it The Blue Moon, unless a better name is proposed.

    • Charles's wish for Maud to christen the yacht reaches her, an invitation fixes a luncheon for tomorrow at Fairharbour, and Jake agrees to accompany her.
    • The guests assemble aboard the replacement yacht, Maud formally christens it The Blue Moon, and it sails with the party aboard.

  • An unidentified man watches Toby and Bunny leave their meeting place; his identity and purpose remain undisclosed.

  • Recognizing Toby's distress, Bunny promises to avoid doing anything she dislikes and to spare her pressure in his courtship.

    • Bunny's restraint and insistence on an explanation frighten Toby and conflict with his promise to spare her pressure.

  • Jake agrees to accompany Maud to Charles's yacht luncheon despite initially declining because of preparations for Goodwood.

    • Jake attends the yacht gathering and explains that he is supporting his wife's leading role in the ceremony.

  • Jake seeks to prevent Toby from riding Knuckle-Duster again; she resists and strikes his hand, then seeks forgiveness and promises obedience.

  • Toby promises to take Eileen and Molly out after bathing.

  • Toby promises not to disobey Jake or do things he dislikes.

  • Toby commits not to marry Bunny without Jake's permission; Jake permits the marriage if she wants it and it will make both happy.

  • Toby pledges to act honestly whatever she decides, and Jake promises to stand by her.

  • Charles plans to take his guests across the bay after the christening and hold a nighttime water fête; the yacht departs with the guests aboard.

    • The guests, including the returning Toby and Bunny, board the yacht for the continuing festivities.

  • Toby intends to change into riding clothes and escape the gathering after the ceremony, while Bunny seeks to leave it with her.

    • Toby and Bunny have spent time away together and return to the yacht; these events do not establish that Toby changed into riding clothes.

  • Jake invites Sheila to visit Eileen and the General to see the stud; Sheila expresses willingness to accept.

    • Sheila raises Bunny's overdue promise to show the horses, and he makes a definite invitation for her and her father to visit tomorrow.
    • Sheila and the General visit Graydown and tour the stables with Bunny, carrying out the stud visit.

  • Sheila deliberately snubs Charles, but subsequently accepts his offer of good fellowship after he withdraws his teasing proposal to introduce her to Rozelle and condemns Rozelle.

  • Charles plans supper at The Anchor, with Maud leading the way.

  • Charles proposes taking Toby and Bunny to inform Larpent of their union and leads them toward him.

  • Maud resolves to leave Toby undisturbed about her private troubles unless Toby seeks her confidence.

  • Sheila and her father begin planning their departure for Scotland.

  • Bunny invites Sheila and her father to tea with Maud tomorrow at about three, promising to attend and inform Maud.

    • The invited visitors arrive and tour the stables; Sheila accepts Bunny's invitation to proceed to the house for tea.
    • The invited visitors and Bunny are present at Maud's tea gathering, after which Sheila announces departure and Bunny undertakes to fetch the car.

  • Sheila's doubts about Toby's suitability for country life and recommendation of a London season anger Bunny; Toby alleges that Sheila considers her unsuitable for marriage and wants to prevent their union.

    • Sheila's argument about Toby's limited experience has become Bunny's own concern about whether an immediate marriage is fair, and he brings it to Charles.
    • Bunny becomes convinced that Sheila disapproves of his engagement and resents her interference. Her company temporarily restores his good humour, but the contrast between her and Toby later provokes intense anger.

  • Bunny restrains Toby and demands an explanation of her warning about marrying her; Toby refuses further disclosure and diverts him with affection, but his concern returns.

    • Bunny plans to seek Toby's full account himself. Charles's assurance settles his demand for proof of her innocence from Charles, but does not settle his questions about her past.
    • Toby's disclosure to Charles explains the threatening past and supposed killing behind her withheld warning, although Bunny does not receive this explanation.

  • Bunny doubts whether marrying Toby before she has wider experience is fair and considers waiting; Charles urges an early wedding.

  • Bunny confides in Charles and feels grateful for his help, but subsequently suspects an objectionable concealed motive and struggles to preserve his habitual trust.

    • Bunny repudiates Charles, then provisionally accepts his account and believes his assurance of Toby's innocence. They reconcile, but Bunny's suspicion that Charles conceals his motive for promoting the marriage remains.
    • Learning that Charles married Toby provokes fury and the suspicion that Charles acted to defeat him.

  • Charles offers Bunny the Dower House and eventual inheritance of Burchester Castle, conditional on his retaining his employment; Bunny resists accepting and insists Charles should have his own heir.

    • Bunny declares that he will accept nothing further from Charles; their subsequent reconciliation does not explicitly reverse this refusal.

  • Charles proposes inspecting the Dower House with Bunny the following day.

  • Charles offers to arrange practical support for the wedding, act as best man and speak to Larpent that night; he directs Bunny to consult the parson the following day and intends to resume travelling after the wedding.

    • Bunny's refusal of further assistance obstructs Charles's proposed support for the wedding.
    • The proposed arrangements for Bunny's wedding are superseded by Toby's refusal to return and Charles's plan to marry her.
    • Larpent learns of Charles's marriage to Toby and approves it, superseding the earlier arrangements for her marriage to Bunny.

  • Bunny intends to see Toby after the visitors leave and tell her about Charles's help.

    • Charles's instruction that Toby avoid Bunny until he has spoken to him obstructs Bunny's intended private meeting with her after the visitors leave.
    • Toby leaves without waiting to see Bunny, preventing their intended conversation.

  • Bunny's criticism of Toby's jumping angers her; his subsequent anger and her provocation strain their encounter, though he restrains his response.

  • Toby evokes an unidentified recognition in Sheila; Toby notices her scrutiny, becomes uneasy and seeks to cover her riding clothes.

    • Charles believes Sheila recognizes Toby and may already be exposing her; Toby learns of his suspicion and is terrified that Bunny may be told the truth.
    • Sheila's earlier sight of Toby working as a hotel page at Valrosa supplies the source of her recognition.

  • Charles directs Toby to wear her most girlish clothing; each understands his unspoken purpose.

  • Charles instructs Toby to avoid Bunny until he has spoken to him, undertakes to tell Bunny the truth if necessary, and pledges to stand by Toby and put matters right.

    • Charles speaks to Bunny, explains Toby's history and invented parentage, and secures his acceptance of her innocence and an apology, carrying forward his undertaking to protect her and put matters right.
    • Charles reports believing he had made Bunny understand how to treat Toby, though success is uncertain; he now acts on his pledge to stand by her by proposing marriage.
    • Charles reaffirms that he will stand by Toby and takes responsibility for the confrontation with Jake, sending her into the adjoining room before their private interview.
    • Charles learns Toby's account and feelings, stands by her and rescues her; no disclosure to Bunny is recorded.

  • Sheila agrees to write to Bunny after leaving.

    • Bunny reads Sheila's letter, fulfilling her promise to write.

  • Bunny intends to ask Toby for the whole truth about her past.

    • Toby departs without seeing Bunny and declares that she will not return, obstructing his intended inquiry.

  • Toby vows to disappear without troubling Charles when she can no longer meet his needs.

    • Toby has left Charles intending permanent separation because she believes she cannot fulfil her role as his wife.
    • Toby explains her flight as an attempt to free Charles and renews her threat to disappear, but abandons resistance when she accepts his love.

  • Charles and Toby agree to marry; Charles intends to order a coach and elope to town before gossip spreads.

    • Charles and Toby have married, and Toby has become Lady Saltash.
    • Charles confirms that he and Toby married four days earlier.

  • Charles promises Toby freedom of speech and action and an honoured place as his wife.

    • Marriage establishes Toby's formal position as Charles's wife and Lady Saltash; his broader promises about her freedom remain untested.
    • Charles's physical restraint and demand for Toby's withheld words make her afraid, obstructing his promise of freedom of speech and action, although he releases her and she eventually speaks.
    • Charles refuses Toby's proposed withdrawal and demands her public appearance; her resistance collapses under his look into renewed unconditional obedience, leaving his promise of freedom unfulfilled.

  • Toby wants Charles to take her sightseeing in Paris, where fear previously restricted her excursions.

    • Charles takes Toby shopping in Paris and then to Fontainebleau forest; she overcomes her shopping shyness and enjoys their excursion.

  • Jake demands a private reckoning with Charles and vows to prevent his departure until his undisclosed purpose is fulfilled; Toby fears separation from Charles and initially insists on remaining beside him.

    • Jake's reckoning concerns the genuineness of the marriage. Charles offers proof, Jake accepts the marriage without inspecting it, and he leaves after conceding Charles's argument.

  • Jake seeks to secure decent treatment for Toby in her marriage and challenges Charles to prove capable of lasting, selfless love.

    • Jake abandons his attempt to deliver Toby from Charles's control, with Charles having retained her despite his intervention; decent treatment within the marriage remains unsecured.
    • Jake has told Charles that Bunny would be a better husband to Toby, and Charles now conditionally offers to relinquish her to Bunny. Whether Charles can provide lasting, selfless love remains unsettled.
    • Charles acts to save Toby and explains his effort to deserve her trust, providing evidence toward Jake's demand for selfless love.

  • Toby distinguishes being Charles's wife from being the woman he loves and tries to return his pearls; Charles insists she wear them, leaving her doubt about his love unsettled.

    • Toby doubts whether leaving accords with Charles's wishes, seeks closeness through helping him dress, and hopes the yacht will restore their intimacy; her uncertainty about his love persists.
    • Larpent directly challenges Toby's doubt by asserting that Charles truly loves her; her request for clarification leaves the question unsettled.
    • Toby suffers intensely over their estrangement, while Charles interprets her flight as the failure of his attempt to win her trust. His painful resignation leaves their attachment and her doubts about his love unsettled.
    • Despite a final recurrence of doubt, Toby accepts that Charles truly loves her and understands his earlier restraint.

  • Toby becomes visibly unwell during Charles's discussion of Spentoli and urgently wants to leave; the reason for her reaction remains undisclosed.

    • Toby explicitly identifies Spentoli as someone she fears and asks for protection. Charles's recognition of her resemblance to his model, followed by his account of the model's escape and threatened retaliation, supplies a possible explanation without confirming Toby's identity as that model.
    • The disclosure of Spentoli's captivity and attempted enslavement of Toby explains her fear and distress at his presence.

  • Charles demands that Toby repeat a muttered criticism and prevents her withdrawing her hand; she resists, becomes afraid, and eventually admits saying he does not make the most of life. His insistence that they share one cup follows without explicitly settling the disagreement.

  • Toby seeks to avoid the public gathering after learning Rozelle is expected, but Charles refuses private dining and requires her to appear publicly as his wife; she submits despite her distress.

    • Toby attends the gathering and performance despite her distress. Charles postpones her requested departure until after another dance, and her desire to escape becomes urgent.

  • Charles postpones his proposed introduction of Spentoli to Toby, promising Spentoli an introduction at an unspecified later date.

  • Charles promises to protect Toby after she declares her fear of Spentoli and refuses an introduction.

    • When Toby notices Spentoli watching her, Charles checks her incipient panic with assured directions and accompanies her into the lift.
    • Charles learns the concrete danger behind Toby's fear of Spentoli and directs Larpent to move the yacht to Fairharbour.
    • Charles describes his protection of Toby against the world as a free gift, reaffirming the protective commitment despite her flight.
    • Charles learns the history underlying Toby's fear of Spentoli and accepts her after her disclosure.

  • Spentoli declares an intention to retaliate against the escaped circus model, whom he says he took from her circus and who later attacked him and fled his studio.

    • Larpent identifies Toby as the escaped model and supplies the history of coercion, recapture and stabbing behind Spentoli's account; his threat remains unsettled.

  • Larpent appears as Rozelle's escort; Charles suggests to Spentoli that Larpent may be her longstanding lover, without establishing that relationship as fact.

    • Toby identifies Larpent as Rozelle's companion. Charles denies prior knowledge, while the nature of their relationship remains unestablished.
    • Their connection is established as an estranged marriage: Rozelle sought reconciliation, but her death prevents it.

  • Rozelle directs a gesture of favour toward Charles, but Spentoli catches and keeps her rose and displays intense adoration; Charles's mockery briefly angers him.

  • Charles commits to leaving Paris very soon and returning to the yacht, answering Toby's request to leave.

  • Rozelle apparently recognizes Toby as Toinette and reacts with agony; their connection and the cause of her reaction remain unexplained.

    • Rozelle is revealed as Toby's mother, and Larpent reports that she died after seeing her daughter when Spentoli switched on the light.
    • Larpent's account identifies Rozelle as Toby's mother and explains their previously concealed connection.

  • Larpent undertakes to find and protect Toby, his daughter, fulfilling his promise to Rozelle.

    • Larpent has found Toby, insists on conveying Rozelle's message, offers help and is welcomed as her father; his continuing protective undertaking remains open.

  • Charles orders Larpent to return to The Blue Moon, take her to Fairharbour and await further orders.

  • Jake intercepts Toby travelling with an Italian companion, interprets her distress as evidence of wrongdoing, and expels the companion from the departing train, securing her immediate safety.

    • The account confirms that Toby fled with Spentoli and that Jake protected her, injuring Spentoli in the intervention; Toby feels profound gratitude for her rescue.

  • Jake intends to take Toby home to Maud, postponing further explanation until they arrive; Toby wishes she could return with him.

    • Jake has brought Toby back to the locality and informed Charles; he now intends to return to Maud and convey Bunny's reassurance to Toby.
    • Toby's return to her former childcare work through Jake establishes that his intended return of her to Maud's household has been accomplished.

  • Bunny's affection turns toward Sheila; Jake encourages the possibility of marriage, and reading her letter evokes tender affection.

  • Bunny resolves never to repeat his mistake in love, having recognized his insufficient love and pressure on Toby.

  • Bunny defers visiting Maud and Toby but asks that Toby be reassured that he relinquishes his grievance; Jake undertakes to relay the reassurance.

  • Jake promises Bunny not to interfere with Charles.

  • Toby seeks a divorce and permanent separation from Charles, believing she cannot fulfil the role of his wife; she intends to find another, unspecified way out if he refuses to release her.

    • Toby expects rejection and divorce, but Charles refuses to release her on Spentoli's account. His conditional willingness to release her to Bunny does not grant the permanent separation she seeks.
    • Her demand for release gives way to mutual acceptance once she believes Charles loves her.

  • Toby resolves to keep her undisclosed history from Charles.

    • Toby abandons concealment and tells Charles about Spentoli, her attempted killing and her reasons for fleeing.

  • Toby welcomes Larpent as her father, and his expressed preference for her and paternal affection establish a reciprocated bond.

  • Learning that Larpent has forgiven Rozelle, Toby resolves to try to forgive her mother too.

  • Maud undertakes to help Charles and tries to dissuade him from giving up Toby.

    • Maud persuades Toby to tell Charles her feelings, enabling the reconciliation and ending his attempt to give her up.

  • Charles invites Bunny to visit and offers to answer his questions about Toby's past and parentage; Maud promises to convey Charles's message to Bunny and Toby.

    • Charles sends his message, and Maud's intervention brings Toby to disclose the truth; Bunny's proposed visit remains unrecorded.

  • Charles plans to sail around the world alone in his new yacht.

    • Charles initially renews his intention to sail away, but their reconciliation supersedes his plan to travel alone.

  • Charles commits to releasing Toby so she can marry Bunny if they go away together.

    • The proposed release for marriage to Bunny loses its purpose when Charles learns Toby never loved Bunny and the spouses reconcile.

  • Toby threatens to jump from the castle ledge unless Charles releases her; his declaration of love ends her resistance, and he rescues her when she cannot return unaided.

  • Charles proposes that he and Toby go together to the Blue Moon.

Places

The Mediterranean, Valrosa, Gibraltar, England, Southampton, Burchester, The Castle, Burchester Castle, Fairharbour, Training field, Burchester Park, Burchester Woods, Graydown Stables, Geneva, London, Anchor Hotel, Canada, The Anchor, Goodwood, The Club, Doncaster, Casino Hotel, Fairharbour Bay, Paris, Scotland, The Dower House, California, Calais