Jane West

[anon.] A Gossip's Story, and a Legendary Tale. 2 vols.

London: T. Longman, 1796; 4th ed., London: Longman and Rees, 1799

 

Synopsis of A Gossip's Story (4th ed.)

The story is told from the perspective of Mrs. Prudentia Homespun, a single woman living in the town of Danbury, and a member of a group of women who meet weekly to gossip about their neighbors. Mrs. Homespun relates the story of Mr. Dudley and his two daughters, who have just moved to Danbury. An educated man, Mr. Dudley has lived the past few years, since his wife's death, in Barbados with his eldest daughter Louisa. The younger daughter, Marianne, had been living since her mother's death with her maternal grandmother Mrs. Alderson. Mrs. Alderson has recently passed away, which brings Mr. Dudley and Louisa back to England so that Mr. Dudley can look after Marianne and help her manage the fortune she has acquired from her grandmother's death. This is all very interesting to the club of gossips because it is rumored that Mr. Dudley and Louisa have no fortune and are forced to rely on the benevolence of Marianne.

It is immediately noticeable that although Louisa and Marianne are sisters, they have been raised very differently and have acquired quite dissimilar personality traits. While Louisa is intelligent and rational, Marianne is very naive and focuses on her emotions. It is at this point in the story that Mr. Pelham comes to stay with the Dudleys. He is Marianne's suitor, whom she met while staying with her friend Eliza. He is rich and of good character, and has admitted his love for her.

At the same time Mr. Pelham's cousin, Sir William, returns from the West Indies and comes to stay with the Dudleys. He is arrogant, has an unpleasant countenance, and takes an immediate liking to Louisa. Louisa regards Sir William as pompous, but eventually decides to marry him because she feels it is her duty to obey her father's wishes. Mr. Dudley thinks this match will be satisfactory because he has informed Sir William already that Louisa has no fortune of her own and this has not deterred Sir William from wanting to marry her. Mr. Dudley urges the match because he loves Louisa and doesn't want to see her struggling without money in the future. Louisa is devastated by all this, and realizes, while contemplating her future, that she actually loves Mr. Pelham. She knows he is in love with her sister, however, so she shares her secret with no one.

At this point Marianne has decided that Mr. Pelham doesn't love her as much as he originally did, and explains to her father that she doesn't want to marry if passion and romance can't last within marriage. Mr. Dudley explains that romantic love is the first thing to disappear, and that character and friendship are what hold together a marriage, but encourages Marianne not to marry if she doesn't feel that she should. She declines Mr. Pelham's marriage offer, and remarks to her maid Mrs. Patty, that she hates all men. Mrs. Patty knows Mr. Dudley is in a poor financial situation and thinks he has talked Marianne out of marriage so that she will continue to support him and Louisa, so she explains this theory to Marianne as a means to convince her to marry Mr. Pelham. The story, however, has the opposite effect on Marianne, who resolves never to marry so that she can always support her beloved father and sister.

At a dinner party at the home of the Dudleys, Louisa begins reading the "Legendary Tale" mentioned in the title. It is a 45 page poem which details the experiences of Edgar, a poor peasant. Edgar aids Rodolpho, the earl of Norfolk, in slaying six ruffians who have attacked the earl. The earl is to be married the next day to Albina, a girl whose father he saved from imprisonment and death. Through a twist of fate, this is the same Albina that Edgar is in love with, but had to leave because her father didn't approve of him. The earl has promised Edgar anything he wants as a reward for his help against the ruffians, but Edgar doesn't want to spoil Rodolpho's happiness by asking for Albina. It is discovered in time, however, that she is Edgar's love, so the earl gives both Albina and a gift of land to Edgar to show his appreciation of Edgar's help and friendship.

The original story picks back up after this tale and Mr. Dudley and Louisa both receive letters. Mr. Dudley's letter details his poor financial situation, explaining that a friend of his has stolen most of his money and the ship's carrying the rest of his fortune back to England have been captured. Louisa's letter is from Mary Morton, whose daughter has had two illegitimate children with Sir William, who refuses to support them. Mr. Dudley confronts Sir William with the information and because he doesn't deny it Mr. Dudley and Louisa decide that she will not marry him due to his lack of character.

Marianne goes riding one day and is rescued by the handsome young Clermont when her horse is spooked by Clermont's father's carriage. The father and son come for a visit the next day to check on Marianne's health after the incident and it is discovered that Clermont has the same romantic ideals and notions that Marianne has. Marianne vows, however, to live in misery, and to have nothing more than a platonic relationship with Clermont, in order to forever support her father and sister.

She changes her mind, not much later, though, because she and Clermont are passionately in love, and they are married less than a month later, although Mr. Dudley thinks less of Clermont's character than he did of Mr. Pelham's. Clermont and Marianne continue to live in the Dudley home because it belongs to Marianne, and Mr. Dudley and Louisa move to a very small estate that was left to Louisa by her grandmother.

The Clermonts live in marital bliss for a short time, and soon begin experiencing discord. Lady Clermont, Marianne's husband's mother, dislikes her own husband and is a miserable woman who hates Marianne because she is young and happy and beautiful, so out of spite she tries to turn her son against his wife. On top of this, Marianne's friend Eliza comes for a visit, creating more problems for the couple. Eliza thinks Marianne should leave Clermont because she holds the same romantic notions as Marianne and sees the passion leaving the marriage. Clermont demands that Marianne end her friendship with the meddling Eliza and Marianne is crushed.

Mr. Dudley is forced to go to London to take care of his finances. There he runs into, and stays with, Mr. Pelham. Although Mr. Dudley's friend Tonnereau has turned out to indeed be a crook, and has already spent all of the money he stole from Dudley, one of Mr. Dudley's missing ships, which they had believed to have all been captured, has managed to reach a neutral port in Spanish America. Thanks to a letter from Mr. Pelham to his friend, who happens to be the Spanish Ambassador, Mr. Dudley needs only to go to Spain to retrieve the remainder of his wealth.

Marianne and her husband visit Lord Clermont, who is sick. While there, Lady Clermont tries to convince Marianne that Clermont is having an affair. Marianne asks Clermont's friend Aubrey to find out for her, and the community mistakenly starts believing that Aubrey and Marianne are having an affair.

Mr. Dudley writes home and requests that Louisa accompany him to Spain to collect his fortune because his health is failing. She arrives unexpectedly in the middle of the night so she can surprise her father, but is surprised herself when she finds him incredibly ill. The doctor and Mr. Dudley believe he is going to die, but decide to try a risky surgery in hopes that it might help. Louisa goes to the library to be alone, and prays out loud for her father's life, on her knees, while weeping. Pelham is in the reading closet in the library and witnesses the whole scene. He realizes that even while he was in love with Marianne, he recognized Louisa's virtues, and he now feels that his former infatuation with Marianne pales in comparison to what he feels toward Louisa.

Mr. Dudley, worried that he may not survive surgery, calls Pelham into his room and requests that he procure his belongings from the Spanish government in order to provide for Louisa. Pelham admits to Mr. Dudley that he is love with Louisa and asks for her hand in marriage. Mr. Dudley then calls Louisa into his room and asks if marriage to Pelham would be acceptable. She admits that she has long been in love with Pelham, so Mr. Dudley gives Pelham his consent. Mr. Dudley dies and Louisa is determined to spend 12 months mourning for him before she marries. Pelham writes to her for the duration of the 12 months, at the end of which they marry.

With this resolution the story itself is ended, but Mrs. Homespun provides an update on the lives of each of the novel's characters as they stand three years later: Lord Clermont has died and Lady Clermont lives her final days alone and miserable. Clermont and Marianne's relationship has never recovered the passion they once felt toward each other. No one will marry Sir William, so he takes up again with Miss Milton, even though neither has true feelings toward the other. Pelham and Louisa have a 20-month-old baby boy and still possess a steady love for each other, based on an appreciation of the virtue and character of their spouse.

- Prepared by Kristen A. Elias, University of Nebraska, December 2002.