[anon.]. A Tale of the Times

London:  T. Longman and O. Rees, 1799; 2nd ed., 1799.

 

Synopsis of A Tale of the Times

The novel starts with the framing of the story. The narrator is an older lady, who travels with her maid and her cat. She tells us that she supposes as readers we would like to know the particulars of her journey: where she went, who she dined with, how many miles she traveled a day, but instead she would like to relate us the story of lady Monteith.

The second chapter begins with the preparations for the marriage of Geraldine Powerscourt with James earl of Monteith. Geraldine, the heroine of the novel is described as "at the age of seventeen an enchanting beauty; polite, sensible, accomplished, affable, and generous; the idol of her father, the delight of her friends and dependants, the envy of the neighbourhood, and the object to which every man of fortune in the country secretly aspired." However after this basic introduction of the novel's main character, the narrator goes back in time to tell the history of the two families, how the earl came to fall in love with Geraldine, and the path they went down leading to their marriage. While pieces of the love story are interesting, if you like love stories, the majority of these flashbacks are irrelevant to the novel. However conflict is raised through this point between the families, as both are very proud of their lineage. In an attempt to keep his family name going, Sir William proposes a plan to marry his daughter to his nephew, Henry. Henry, however, politely refuses this proposal. When Lord Monteith makes another proposal, devastated at the failure of his plan, Sir William consents and they are married.

The rest of the first volume is devoted to Geraldine, now countess of Monteith returning with her husband to London. As their marriage continues, they find their happiness declining.

The second volume begins with Lord and lady Monteith returning to his castle from London. They are there for quite some time, and mostly happy, when the death of lady Monteith's dear friend Lucy's mother takes her back to her father's home. After some time was spent there, they returned to the castle in Scotland, which seemed to be their favorite residence.

Some time passes from on page to the next, and lord Monteith is called to London on business. This time Geraldine decides to accompany him, but not long after arriving she is called back when her eldest daughter falls ill. This is the first time their children are brought into the story, though they are mentioned in passing a couple of times before. When she arrives, the narrator informs us that she has three daughters, and no sons, but this is all that is mentioned of them for some time.

The next three chapters drift away from lord and lady Monteith, and back to London, and the preparations for the marriage of lord Monteith's sister, lady Arabella to lord Fitzosborne, who plays a more significant role in the novel later. The chapter following that introduces Fitzosborne to lady Monteith when he comes to Scotland to call on lord Monteith. As lord Monteith is otherwise engaged upon his arrival, the two have a long and somewhat deep conversation on topics varying from music to his upcoming marriage. The chapter continues with the narrator suggesting that their may be more to Fitzosborne's character and designs. It finally ends with the death of lady Madelina, lord Monteith's aunt.
The book continues with lady Monteith and Fitzosborne meeting more and more. As his marriage to Arabella approaches, the narrator tells us of his plans to destroy the honor lady Monteith. But she, seeing Fitzosborne as an intellectual equal and someone to discuss literature with, is unprepared for this attack. The attack began at the end of the chapter when Fitzosborne related to lord Monteith a suspicious conversation his wife was having with sir Vernon, in which he believed sir Richard may be falling for her, gaining his confidence.

Late in the second volume, she attends a ball with Fitzosborne, and before going is asked by her husband to dance with no one by him. At one point in the night, they disappear into the orangery to look at the stars, and upon being discovered, accusations are made until lady Monteith can take them no more and retires for the night.

She returns home with Fitzosborne, who asks if he can sit up with her until lord Monteith returns home. She initially refuses, but they begin talking. During their conversation, lady Monteith began to doubt whether Fitzosborne's intentions were good, but with his manipulative ways, he convinced her once again to trust him.

The volume ends with lady Monteith returning to her father's house for a visit. While there, her father receives a letter that he shares with her. The letter, informing her of her husband's infidelity, causes her to fall ill. Her husband is summoned and comes as quickly as possible.

The third and final volume begins with the arrival of lord Monteith and Fitzosborne at Powerscourt. Upon finding out that his wife is still alive, lord Monteith rushes to meet her in a fit of tears over what he has done, but is stopped and calmed by Fitzosborne. When he regains his composure, he visits her and she smiles and congratulates him on the birth of their son. But when she sees the guilt in his eyes, she breaks down and begs him to leave, no longer desiring to live for any reason other than her children.

Fitzosborne continues his schemes by convincing lord Monteith to return to London and placing a letter from the woman he committed his act of infidelity with in a place were lady Monteith would find it. While all this was going on, her family and friends were beginning to doubt Fitzosborne, and upon sensing this, he convinced her to return to Scotland. Sensing her uneasiness, her friend Lucy went with her. Soon after, her cousin Henry joined them as well. With Henry's help, Lucy worked to persuade lord Monteith that Fitzosborne was not to be trusted. Knowing this, Fitzosborne used his schemes to remove them from the castle.

The climax of the story comes when Fitzosborne informs lady Monteith that lord Monteith had set off to London with a young lady who is a neighbor of the couple. Fitzosborne convinces Geraldine that they have many debts and that the authorities are coming for them, and lord Monteith set off to avoid them, planning to leave the country. He then convinces lady Monteith to leave with him, for the safety of her children is at stake.

The truth was that lord Monteith had been invited by some neighbors to go hunting, and had left a note for his wife, but Fitzosborne, having found out first, made up the whole thing, having planned from the beginning to run away with Geraldine.

Once in London, Fitzosborne leaves her alone, but having been seen willingly traveling with him his enough to condemn her. Henry comes to London and takes her back to her father. Upon her arrival she finds him very ill, and after forgiving her he dies.

A couple months later, Fitzosborne sends a letter to Geraldine, apologizing for what he has done and offering to marry her to save her reputation. But seeing him as the villain he truly is, she declines.

The next letter she receives concerns the legalities of what she has done and the charges being brought against her. In the letter, lord Monteith questions her defense and asks about the legitimacy of his son. On receipt of this letter, Geraldine falls very ill, and in her reply promises his son is legitimate and asks him not to worry about the legalities as she will die soon anyway. With this last statement, she makes one final request to see her children again before she dies.

Meanwhile, lord Monteith, with the help of the servant's stories and Henry, discovers that Geraldine truly is innocent, and falls more in love with her than ever. With her daughters, he rushes to her, and shortly after their arrival she dies.

The author concludes the story by conveying the fates of the remaining characters, and closes with a few pages addressed to the reader concerning the morals she expected them to learn while reading the novel.

-- Prepared by Rebecca Mousel, University of Nebraska, April 2006.
© Rebecca Mousel, 2006.