Mary Meeke

"Gabrielli." Independence: a Novel. 4 vols.

London: Lane and Newman, 1802.

 

Synopsis of Independence

This Gothic novel is full of deception and identity confusion. It is based on the life of Egbert Irwan, the son of a British Marquis, who knows nothing of his status as a Lord until adulthood. The setting of the novel changes often, with significant action taking place in Germany, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and England.

The first of the four volumes provides background information on the most significant female character, Phillipa de Woldemar. Her father left her to be raised by her uncle, the Baron de Rhinfelt of Luxembourg, after her mother died. The Baron is an extremely wealthy and esteemed ex-soldier. Earlier in his life he had been married for a short time before his wife died. The only product of the brief marriage was one daughter, Clare. Clare is jealous of Phillipa's beauty. The Baron moves Phillipa to a castle in Germany so she will not be in the way of his less beautiful daughter, Clare, when it comes to getting married. He orders that Phillipa discover she is richer than Clare. Her uncle plans to secretly transfer her fortune to Clare. He thinks his niece is unaware of her fortune and plans to marry her off to a man of inferior rank. Egbert Irwan, an expert horseman, actor and musician comes to perform in Luxembourg. Here the story backtracks in order to explain the origin of Irwan to the reader.

Egbert Irwan was raised at a school for orphans in France. His mother asks that he be raised to be a Catholic clergyman. Egbert is an excellent scholar and excels at the school. Because he challenges the authority of the principal often, he is finally put in a cell at the school. He escapes one night to watch a performance of the famous Balp Company. Irwan yearns to perform with the company. He secretly begs Balp to train him. Because Balp sees potential in the eager boy, he agrees. Egbert secretly leaves the school to travel with Balp's company. The school is baffled by his disappearance. He becomes an expert equestrian and performer. Now the reader is taken back to the point where Irwan is performing near the residence of the Baron de Rhinfelt in the Netherlands.

The Baron is enraged when Clare begins to like the vagabond stroller but he also sees Irwan as a possible way to increase his daughter's rank. He plots to get him to marry Phillipa. The Baron and his mistress, Mrs. Wallis, try to convince Egbert to marry the gorgeous Phillipa. They lie to him, saying she is the Baron's daughter. Irwan becomes suspicious when the Baron advises him to take on a low title of nobility because if Phillipa loves him as he is, he should not need to act of a higher rank. When the Governor of the city learns of the scheme, he tells Egbert to do as the Baron says in order to catch him red-handed. Egnert and Phillipa are married and the Baron rejoices. He thinks he now owns his niece's property. He does not know that Egbert has talked to the Governor and that the marriage is not official. The Governor tells the Baron he will not go public with the crime of which he suspects the Baron if the dowry of Phillipa may be written over to him. The Baron agrees to save his reputation. Mrs. Wallis is still determined to get back at Irwan for ruining the Baron's reputation, since news of his crime has leaked out. She develops a plan and visits a friend and corrupt politician, Mr. Emeri, in England. Egbert is tricked as he teaches a new pupil equestrian skills: this new pupil is actually Clare in disguise. She gets Egbert to go with her to the residence of Emeri, where he is thrown into a cell. Frustrated for falling for the scheme, Egbert manages to escape and deliberately acts as a ghost to scare Clare and Mrs. Wallis to get his revenge for their duplicity. They are scared, their carriage wrecks, and Mrs. Wallis is injured. Clare returns to mainland Europe alone as Mrs. Wallis is too injured to travel. Mrs. Wallis learns that Egbert is still alive and after talking with him, she gains his forgiveness. As Mrs. Wallis nears death, she requests to talk with the Principal of a school at which she had left her son. The Principal travels to meet with her. She tells him she was the woman who left her son at the school and that she wants him to notify her son of a secret inheritance. Wallis is shocked when the Principal tells her that her son is Egbert Irwan. She cannot believe she almost murdered her son. She tells the Principal of her life at the beginning of Volume Three.

Mrs. Wallis, we learn, was born into a wealthy family in England. Various unfortunate circumstances plunged the family into poverty. She married a nobleman from her neighborhood, Lord Ernest Cornwall. She did not love this future Marquis of Daventry but was forced to marry him anyway. While she was a young woman at the time, Cornwall was 56 years old and a tyrant. She and Cornwall had a child, Egbert. Lord Cornwall divorced her, however, because she had been complaining about his oppressive nature to the man she truly loved. Mrs. Wallis subsequently converted to Catholicism and later traveled to the home of her ex-husband in order to get her son back. Late one night she learned that her ex-husband was gone from home. She sneaked in and took away her child. The child was then left at the school where he was raised, in Douai, France. Mrs. Wallis left her son at the school because she thought having him educated to be a clergyman would make her peace with heaven. To spite the child's Presbyterian father, she further requested that her son be raised as a Catholic.

After concluding her life story, Wallis tells the school Principal to inform the Marquis that his son is still alive. She dies soon thereafter. The Principal travels to England and tells the Marquis of his son's existence. The Marquis is appalled to learn that his son is a common stroller. He decides to send his chaplain, Mildmay, with the Principal to bring his son to him. His plan is for his son to forget his present occupation and take on his title as Lord Aberdore. The Principal and Mildmay proceed to meet Egbert, and the Principal tells his former pupil of his mother's death and that his father is alive and wishes to meet him. Mildmay tells Egbert of his noble birth and real name, Ernest Cornwall. Irwan is shocked after believing himself a commoner his entire life. He desires to meet his father and leaves Balp's Company. As Mildmay and Egbert travel by ship to England, the captain of their ship turns out to be a smuggler. In any case, they reach England safely. At the estate of the Marquis, preparations are occurring for his son's arrival. Egbert's cousin, Augustus, is informed that he is no longer heir to the Marquis. He is disgusted. Egbert's uncle, Sir Charles Otley, lives close to the Marquis and enters the novel now. Since Egbert arrives via horse, the Marquis is shocked and mistakes his son for a servant. Egbert settles in. He is hurt but agrees to obey his father's order to never talk of his past life, for this would disgrace the family name. Egbert starts to regret taking on his title and is bored with his idle life. He enjoys the company of his less superficial Uncle Charles more than that of his father. He meets a wealthy Indian family, the Fanshaws, one day. Egbert is angered when he learns that Mrs. Fanshaw has failed to hold up her end of a bargain with a poor man from town. After giving money to his poor friend, Egbert devises a plan of revenge. Because he knows about Mrs. Fanshaw's love for exotic animals, he captures two sparrows and a starling and paints them bright colors. He also knows of a rare dog of Mrs. Cornwall which recently died. He has it unearthed and skinned. With a needle and thread, he puts the coat on a mutt puppy. Egbert's poor friend swindles Mrs. Fanshaw into buying these specimens which he says are from the Sandwich Islands. She gets a dose of her own medicine when a vet discovers the scam.

To the dismay of his father, Egbert begins participating in fox hunting. Augustus always accompanies Egbert and reports his actions to the Marquis. This is so that the Marquis can make sure his son is behaving properly in mixed society. Egbert challenges a fellow hunter to a backwards horse race and wins easily. The Marquis learns of his son's racing and threatens to disown him if he acts this way again. In response, Egbert says he will obey his own free will. Both are furious as Egbert says he no longer wants his title. The Marquis disowns his son and reveals to him the secret that Wallis, the very lady trying to kill him, was his mother. Egbert is horrified. His uncle informs him of his mother's having been forced to marry the Marquis. Egbert plans to return to Balp's Company. His Uncle Charles dies, and Egbert leaves England abruptly.

The Marquis is troubled by his son's departure. He plans to take a vacation to continental Europe. His actual motive is to find his son. His trip begins. He constantly hears of his famous son's performances. Augustus is suspicious that his uncle is trying to reclaim his son, which angers him, since he is the current heir. Augustus attends one of his cousin's performances and drops a cloak on the stage in an attempt to kill Egbert. His attempt fails. The company of the Marquis is traveling across Belgium when the horses are scared and the carriages run off the road. A stranger comes out of nowhere and mounts the horses to get them to stop. The Marquis realizes the stranger that saved their lives was his son. The Marquis now feels that he is obligated to reinstate his son's title if his son apologizes. At the site where they are staying, Phillipa and her governess happen to be staying as well. Augustus becomes smitten with Phillipa. Madame Dauberval, Phillipa's governess, is worried about her charge's future and is trying to get Phillipa married off before she becomes an old maid. Augustus does not know of Phillipa's previous marriage to Egbert. They marry. Phillipa does not love him but approves of his high rank. The Marquis exposes to Augustus the fact that Phillipa has already been married before. Before Augustus can show his dismay at his bride's dishonesty, the Marquis tells Phillipa that Augustus is not even to be his heir. She is as livid, and they both suffer from their deception.

In the last section of the novel, the traveling group of the Marquis comes across a young boy in a park whom they take back to his home. He turns out to be the grandson of the Marquis. Egbert and his father come face to face. The Marquis expresses regret for his past prideful actions. He is forgiven by his son. The Marquis learns of Egbert's marriage to Leopoldina de Sultzbach, the daughter of the governor of Baron Rhinfelt's region. Egbert and Leopoldina had been engaged after he saved her from a dancing bear that got free and attacked her. Egbert eventually agrees to move his family to England and reclaim his title as Lord Aberdore.

-Prepared by Stephen P. Sizemore, University of Nebraska, December 2002