# I: The Heir Presumptive explained — The Cloven Foot

> Chapter companion for The Cloven Foot by M. E. Braddon.

## What happens

John Treverton travels by train to the Devonshire estate of his dying kinsman, Jasper Treverton, whom he hopes to inherit from. Upon arrival, he meets Laura Malcolm, Jasper's adopted daughter, whom he initially distrusts. Jasper reveals that he has left his fortune to John on the condition that he marry Laura, a condition John accepts after seeing her beauty.

## Themes in this chapter

### Inheritance and Legitimacy

The entire chapter revolves around the inheritance of Jasper Treverton's estate, with John Treverton as the sole surviving relative and the condition of marriage attached to the bequest.

### Love and Marriage

Jasper Treverton's condition that John must marry Laura Malcolm to inherit the fortune introduces a transactional view of marriage, blending romantic and economic motives.

### Secrets and Deception

John Treverton initially suspects Laura of being a 'deep and designing creature,' and the chapter hints at hidden motives and unspoken truths about the past.

## Character check-ins

### John Treverton

The heir presumptive, traveling to his dying kinsman's estate, initially resentful of Laura Malcolm but later agrees to marry her.

### Laura Malcolm

Jasper Treverton's adopted daughter, beautiful and devoted to her guardian, initially viewed with suspicion by John.

### Jasper Treverton

The dying old bachelor, who reveals his plan to leave his fortune to John on condition he marries Laura.

## Key lines

> He had begun his career with a small fortune and a commission in a crack regiment, and, after wasting his patrimony and selling his commission, he was now a gentleman at large, living as best he might, no one but himself knew how.

John Treverton had squandered his inheritance and sold his military commission, leaving him a man of uncertain means and no fixed occupation.

_Establishes John's financial and moral decline before the events of the chapter._

> I took a foolish oath some years ago, and bound myself not to leave my fortune to the only creature I really love. To whom else should I leave it then, but to you—my next of kin?

Jasper Treverton explains that he swore an oath preventing him from bequeathing his wealth to Laura, his beloved adopted daughter, so he leaves it to John, his only relative.

_Reveals the central conflict of inheritance and the condition that will drive the plot._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_cloven_foot_se/chapters/i-the-heir-presumptive
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_cloven_foot_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_cloven_foot_se/chapters