Lady Rose’s Daughter · Chapter
XIII explained
This chapter delves into Jacob Delafield's character and his deep, complex feelings for Julie Le Breton.
What happens
This chapter delves into Jacob Delafield's character and his deep, complex feelings for Julie Le Breton. It explores his past, including the profound influence of a paralyzed tutor at Oxford who sparked his moral and spiritual regeneration. The narrative reveals Delafield's internal struggle as he learns of Julie's attachment to Captain Warkworth. He investigates Warkworth's background, uncovering a tale of family shame, debt, and a sister he is ashamed of, set against his brilliant military record. Delafield resolves to watch over Julie, driven by a romantic and protective passion, despite her having refused his marriage proposal. The chapter also shows Julie's contrasting indifference to Delafield's feelings, as she focuses on the announcement of Warkworth's new military appointment.
Themes in this chapter
Identity and Secret Origins
The chapter explores Jacob Delafield's complex identity, contrasting his robust, conventional exterior with his inner spiritual and dreamy nature. It also investigates Captain Warkworth's origins, revealing a hidden family history of poverty and shame that contrasts with his public persona.
Love as Redemption and Destruction
Delafield's love for Julie is portrayed as a consuming passion that drives him to watch over her, seeing her as a 'princess in distress' he wishes to save. His love is both a source of personal torment and a motivation for protective action.
Moral Judgment and Hypocrisy
The chapter presents a moral evaluation of Warkworth, contrasting his heroic military deeds with his discreditable private life and treatment of his family. Delafield struggles with this judgment, reserving his final verdict.
Sacrifice and Self-Denial
The influence of Delafield's paralyzed tutor is a key example of self-denial and moral strength. The tutor's life, marked by physical limitation, is one of quiet heroism and compassion, which inspires Delafield's own moral growth.
Characters to notice
- Jacob Delafield
His character is deeply explored, revealing his past, his moral development under a tutor's influence, and his intense, protective, and romantic love for Julie, which persists despite her rejection.
- Julie Le Breton
She is the object of Delafield's affection and concern. She dismisses him from her thoughts after their conversation, focusing instead on the news of Warkworth's appointment.
- Captain Warkworth
His background is investigated by Delafield, revealing a discreditable family history, financial troubles, and a strained relationship with his sister, contrasted with his heroic military record.
- Sir Wilfrid Bury
He is mentioned as having spoken to Delafield about Warkworth's relations with Julie, and he shares a similar protective stance toward her.
- Evelyn Crowborough
She is mentioned as an ally with whom Delafield conspires for Julie's pleasure and relief, though they do not always share their full plans with him.
- Lady Henry Delafield
Her jealousy of Julie is referenced as a source of Julie's suffering, which Delafield observes and is pained by.
- Duchess of Chudleigh
She is mentioned as a source of gossip about Captain Warkworth, which she shares with Jacob Delafield.
Key passages
“He seemed to himself to have passed through Oxford under a kind of eclipse. All that he could remember of two-thirds of his time there was an immoderate amount of eating, drinking, and sleeping.”
Delafield felt his time at Oxford was largely wasted in a haze of indulgence, with little to show for it.
This summarizes Delafield's negative view of his early university years.
“This modest, heroic, and learned man was a paralyzed invalid, owing to an accident in the prime of life. He had lost the use of his lower limbs—'dead from the waist down.' Yet such was the strength of his moral and intellectual life that he had become, since the catastrophe, one of the chief forces of his college.”
Despite being paralyzed, this tutor's powerful character and intellect made him a central and influential figure at the college.
This highlights the tutor's extraordinary moral authority in the face of physical adversity.
“His sister, it appears, has often financed him of late. She must have done. How else could he have got through? Warkworth may be a fine, showy fellow when there's fighting about. In private life he's one of the most self-indulgent dogs alive. And yet he's ashamed of the sister and her husband, and turns his back on them whenever he can.”
Warkworth's sister has secretly supported him financially, but he is ashamed of her and her social standing, revealing his selfishness and hypocrisy.
This is a key piece of gossip that shapes Delafield's and the reader's view of Warkworth's character.
“Thus the touches of falsity that repelled Wilfrid Bury were to Delafield's passion merely the stains of rough travel on a fair garment.”
Unlike Sir Wilfrid, Delafield sees Julie's flaws not as character defects but as unfortunate marks from her difficult circumstances.
This contrasts the different ways the two men perceive Julie's imperfections.
