Volume II starts where Volume I left off, with George back at the Vavasor ancestral home as agreed with his sister Kate. But pride prevents him from apologising to his grandfather, and as Mrs Greenow refuses to loan George the money to pay his election expenses he is back where he started from, persuading Kate to ask Alice for the money. After some prevarication Kate finally gives in and asks Alice for £1000 to be paid into George's account immediately. (That's about £150k in today's money). Alice obliged, although as we know (and she doesn't) the money actually comes from John Grey.
George may have thought that he had several months before he need be troubled by the election, but the fates conspire against him when the current Chelsea member's father unfortunately dies, the member is advanced to the House of Lords and an election called in the Chelsea district even though there are only a few months of the current session of parliament left and a further election required later in the year.
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George takes his seat in the House of Commons
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George stands and is successful, but not before he has had to make another call for funds (£1500) from Alice. John Grey once again obliges, even though his solicitor Mr Tombe thinks he is "carrying a love-affair rather too far". John Grey sets a limit of £5000, and by the time George has won the seat his expenses stand at £3800, with the whole thing "to be repeated over again in six months time!"
In the meantime Plantagenet Palliser has returned to the House of Commons although he is still not yet Chancellor of the Exchequer. He appears to be biding his time. It is interesting to note that at this time politics was not divided along strict party lines but was more factional, with different factions existing within each of the main parties. We had left Glencora supposedly safe at Matching Priory, but it transpires the rogue Burgo Fitzgerald had followed her to Matching such that Glencora took herself up to London and the supposed safety provided by her husband.
Of course Plantagenet has his mind on other matters, as demonstrated by their first meeting following her return to London, when he gives her a jolly good one hour dissertation on the workings of the British Constitution. Unfortunately Glencora yawns, leaving her contemplating what might have been had she ignored advice and run off with Burgo, "Would it not even be better to be beaten by him than to have politics explained to her at one o'clock at night by such a husband as Plantagenet Palliser? The British Constitution, indeed!"
"When a woman knows that she is guarded by a watch-dog, she is bound to deceive her Cerberus, if it be possible, and is usually not ill-disposed to deceive also the owner of Cerberus. Lady Glencora felt that Mrs. Marsham was her Cerberus, and she was heartily resolved that if she was to be kept in the proper line at all, she would not be so kept by Mrs. Marsham."
As well as Mr Bott, Glencora also has Mrs Marsham, an old friend of the family, watching over her. The tension is building nicely. Trollope adds to the tension by having George visit Alice at her house in Queen Anne Street. Although Alice is pleased with George's success, after all, to the best of her knowledge, she has funded it, she is still cold toward him when it comes to any sign of affection. George confesses to being confused by her attitude, possibly understandably so, and ultimately he storms out, but not before flinging the ring he has brought for her into the fire. Although Alice rescues the ring from the hearth she finds that it is damaged and has lost a diamond.
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George flings the ring in the fire
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We have another diversion to Norfolk, with Mr Cheesacre on his knees proposing to Mrs Greenow, but the widow will have none of it. Mrs Greenow has not made up her mind about Captain Bellfield however, and their story is put in abeyance as we turn back to goings on up in London.
Next we turn to Glencora and the jeopardy she will face if she attends Burgo's aunt's (Lady Monk) party, which are apparently all the rage during the London season.
We now enter into a most exciting part of the novel, a real page turner (who ever thought we would use that term for a “stuffy” Trollope story) as Glencora totters on the edge of social disgrace before being “rescued” by Plantagenet who has been tipped off by Mrs Marsham that Glencora is waltzing with Burgo. (We later learn that the waltzing went on for a couple of hours, which I suppose it must have done if all this coming and going in carriages is to be accounted for).
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Plantagenet takes Glencora home
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While we wait to hear the fall out from that piece of excitement we then follow George who, after some loose talk from his agent and the unfortunate Mr Tombe, is able to confront John Grey in his London lodgings to ask why he is loaning him money on Alice’s behalf. Fists fly, John Grey ends up with a bloody nose and throws George down the stairs from where he is ejected by John’s landlord. Later the landlord offers to have Vavasor “polished off”, but to his credit John declines this offer.
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John ejects George from his lodgings
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John realises that if his dealings in this affair were to become public his actions may not appear to be entirely honourable, while George returns to the Houses of Parliament to muse on his future. The action then turns to Westmoreland, where Kate is nursing their fast fading Grandfather.
Will this be the break George needs?
Unfortunately not. It is evident that Grandfather Vavasor has decided to change his will, which previously favoured George, and while we know that the old man realises that if he leaves the estate to either Kate or Alice it will still end up with George, we do not know who the new heir is to be. Kate does her best to make the old man's last days comfortable, she writes to ask her aunt to come to Vavasor Hall and tells George what is happening and hints that she fears he has been disinherited.
While we had been at Lady Monk’s soirée, we meet the married lady that Plantagenet had made a play for as described in the “Small House at Allington” which is part of the Barchester series of Trollope Novels. His action was unsuccessful, depending on how you look at it, and I’d have to say such an attempt feels out of character with the Plantagenet we meet in the Palliser novels. Perhaps Trollope introduced the character in one book and then decided to develop his family in another direction in this series of novels.
The
lady in question is the Marchioness of Hartletop. In the Barchester novels we
will know her as Griselda Grantly, daughter of Archdeacon Grantly. Trollope
describes Lady Hartletop as a miracle of a woman.
The day after the party we have a key scene between Glencora and Plantagenet where she confesses her love for Burgo and admits to Plantagenet that she doesn’t love him and feels that he doesn’t love her. Plantagenet responds well and insists that he does love her and makes a promise to her that they will go on a grand tour of Europe as the ultimate cure for all their woes. Plantagenet insists Alice will accompany them.
No sooner has Plantagenet made this promise to Glencora than the Duke of St Bungay turns up to offer him the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer, the position he has been striving toward all this time. Now I honestly thought Trollope would engineer a way for Plantagenet to take the position and postpone the trip, but no, the current Chancellor remains in place and the trip to Europe is to go ahead.
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"There are things worse than death"
Plantagenet and the Duke of St Bungay
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Now back to Westmoreland where the old squire’s will is about to be read. Interestingly this is an all male affair as, although Kate and Mrs Greenow (granddaughter and daughter respectively) are in the Hall, only George and John Vavasor (grandson and son respectively) attend the simple funeral and are in the room to hear the solicitor, Mr Gogram, read the will.
This doesn’t go well for George and while we suspected the old squire had disinherited him it was a tense read though several pages to get to the bottom who would inherit the hall. The new will leaves the property in trust to the descendants of George or, if George fails to have a son, Kate. In the meantime Kate is to receive £500 a year and John Vavasor is to have use of the Hall until a new heir comes of age.
George challenges the will and insults the competence of Mr Gogram, but the solicitor holds firm and George storms out of the room and heads out on the moors with his sister Kate. He accuses Kate of colluding with their grandfather to cheat him out of his inheritance and tries to persuade Kate to say that their grandfather wasn't in his right mind when he changed his will. Kate insists this is not true and in his rage George pushes her to the ground. George storms off and doesn't realise that his action has broken his sister's arm.
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In his rage George pushes his sister to the ground and storms off
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George does not return to the Hall but made his way back to London via the Inn at Shap (Tebay Services was not an option in those days of course). The next we hear of George he is once again pressurising Alice for money. He does this via four "bills", for £500 each, which Alice has to authorise in the presence of George's confidential clerk, Mr Levy (George realises it is best he does not call at the house.)
"The truth is, Mr Vavasor, that bills with Ladies' names on them, - ladies who are no way connected with business, - ain't just the paper that people like."
While his plan had been to use the notes as ready money, this is not as straightforward as George imagined but ultimately he is able to get his way with much cursing and murderous thoughts and open his campaign for re-election. Mr Bott encourages George to get behind Mr Palliser as the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, not realising that Plantagenet has already turned down the job.
Alice's father is horrified by what she has done, insisting that George will ruin her. John Vavasor consults John Grey and the latter once again agrees to bail Alice out, joking that if he never marries he won't miss the money. John Vavasor insists this won't do and John Grey agrees that when he is finally certain she won't marry him he will take back his money. That seems a little bit like blackmail but we'll have to wait and see what transpires. John Vavasor invites John Grey to dine at Queen Anne Street with him and Alice. While he is there John Grey learns of Alice's plans to tour Europe with the Pallisers.
Before she sets out with the Pallisers Alice takes the chance to visit Vavasor Hall to see how Kate is getting on with her broken arm. While she is there their Aunt, Mrs Greenow, has a visit from Captain Bellfield who she finally agrees to marry, very much on her terms of course. Mr Cheesacre turns up as well, seemingly attempting to save Mrs Greenow from marrying Bellfield, but all is settled amicably, Cheesacre returns to Norfolk to try his matrimonial luck elsewhere, Mrs Greenow says she will take Vavasor Hall and will marry Bellfield at Vavasor Church. Trollope assures us she has been lucky in her choice.
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"Captain Bellfield of Vavasor Hall, Westmoreland. It don't sound badly"
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Alice returns to London, we have one more attempt by Lady Monk and Burgo Fitzgerald to tempt Glencora to leave Plantagenet, but Alice is on hand to make sure that common sense and decency prevails and Burgo is sent away, but not before he has stolen a final kiss from Glencora.
All is now set for the trip to Europe.
Despite Plantagenet postponing his ambitions to take Glencora away from the temptations of life in London and England, she doesn't seem to thank him for it and in my opinion behaves quite petulantly on the trip. The logistics of the trip must have been quite extraordinary, as they appear to have half a dozen servants on tow including the coachman who is to drive the Palliser's carriage which goes along for the ride as well. At one point Glencora suggests she needs her own horses present to pull her carriage and just as Plantagenet is organising this she confesses she was only joking.
Part way through the trip John Grey turns up, having followed Alice across Europe which nowadays would be seen as a bit creepy but perhaps Plantagenet was happy for a bit of English male company because John soon becomes an unofficial fourth member of the trip. Glencora puts gentle pressure on Alice to accept John Grey as her suitor but Alice continues the self flagellation and while she accepts him as a member of their party it goes no further.
Alice receives a letter from Kate to say that George has lost his seat at the election and is nowhere to be found in London. Kate is in London with Mrs Greenow and Captain Bellfield busying themselves with wedding preparations. We later learn that following his election defeat George had taken it upon himself to take a pop shot at John while the latter was enjoying his bacon and eggs. George misses, somehow forgetting that he has a revolver and could take another few shots to finish John off, and then leaves London for a new life in America and leaving behind his sister, his mistress and a string of unpaid debts.
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"You are a coward, and a liar, and a blackguard."
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I'm assuming this was all necessary to demonstrate to the audience what an all round bad egg George was, such that while the reader may ponder if they can forgive Alice, there is no way that we can forgive George. Personally I think we'll miss him, he played his pantomime villain part well and kept the story moving along when Trollope ran out of other ideas.
The European tour is cut short when Glencora realises she is expecting Plantagenet's heir and Plantagenet anxiously sets about wrapping her in cotton wool for the return to England. On the morning of their departure Alice and John go for a final walk around a church yard overlooking Lucerne so that he can propose to her once again.
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"Because Nethercoats is not so pretty as Lucerne."
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Following a bit of prevarication from Alice, she agrees to be his wife and they will be married in the autumn at Matching Priory before Glencora takes herself off to give birth to the future Duke. (Trollope actually describes Glencora’s period of giving birth as “her troubles” which demonstrates what a hazardous process this still was in Victorian England).
On their way back to England they stop at Baden-Baden where they just happen to bump into Burgo who is gambling his life away. Although Burgo refuses Plantagenet's assistance, Plantagenet makes arrangements for Burgo at his hotel (where Burgo has run up a large bill) and on his return to London squared things up with Sir Cosmo Monk and that is where we say goodbye to Burgo.
On the way back Plantagenet convinces John Grey to take up a future in politics which obviously pleases Alice, who on her return to London has a quick visit home to say hello to her father and then it is off to Cheltenham where Lady Macleod is ill. After Cheltenham it is on to Vavasor Hall for the wedding of Mrs Greenow and Captain Bellfield.
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How Cheesy was hooked by Charlie Fairstairs
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Captain Bellfield has made up with Farmer Cheesacre who is to be his best man. Mrs Greenow works her magic and gets Farmer Cheesacre to propose to Charlie Fairstairs and so another wedding is in the offing.
And finally we have reached the final two Chapters of the book. Chapter 79, Diamonds are diamonds, deals with Alice and John's wedding at Matching Priory where she is attended by six bridesmaids (even though AI would only produce 5 for me! Interestingly, the illustration in the novel, by Miss E. Taylor of St. Leonards, only shows five bridesmaids as well).
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Alice and her six bridesmaids at Matching
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And in the final chapter, Chapter 80 “The story is finished within the Halls of the Duke of Omnium”, a new heir is born to the Palliser household, Glencora continues to find her way in the family while the Greys return from another trip around Europe for John Grey to be handed the Silverbridge constituency on the basis that he’s a jolly nice fellow. Of course Alice is delighted that he has taken up a position in public life.
The novel feels to run out of steam towards the end but there was a lot of loose ends to tie up and consequently the story lacked energy once the jeopardy posed by George, Burgo and, to a lesser degree, Captain Bellfield has been resolved.
So can you forgive her? And are we forgiving Glencora, Alice, or even Arabella Greenow?
Glencora has chance to redeem herself in later books. Arabella plays her part with aplomb and we can only hope she keeps Captain Bellfield in check. But personally I find it hard to forgive Alice for her part in George’s downfall and for ignoring the good advice she was given and basically wasting a year of John Grey’s life. The fact that she married him in the end simply compounds the crime.
We can only hope that Alice and John enjoy a long and happy marriage; one thing is for certain, John Vavasor will rest a lot easier at his club from now on.
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Glencora, Alice and Arabella; can you forgive her?
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Links
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Harveywetdog/Author - David Robinson CEng FIET
David spent approaching 50 years in Her Majesty's Electricity Supply Industry before retiring
He was part of the highly successful design team on the Sizewell B Nuclear Power Station Project before spending 25 years producing safety cases to keep our aging AGR fleet generating for the good of the nation
He is responsible for the Harveywetdog YouTube Channel which he maintains as an outlet for his creative talents
David has twice experienced blood cancer treatment but absolutely refuses to be a victim
All views are of course his own but might be influenced by the medication he's having to take
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