The History of Henry Esmond · Chapter
II: Relates How Francis, Fourth Viscount, Arrives at Castlewood explained
This chapter details the lineage and inheritance of the Castlewood title, focusing on the rivalry between Thomas Esmond and his cousin Frank Esmond.
What happens
This chapter details the lineage and inheritance of the Castlewood title, focusing on the rivalry between Thomas Esmond and his cousin Frank Esmond. Thomas, a dissolute and impoverished younger son, converts to Catholicism and reconciles with his uncle, Lord Castlewood, to marry his aging cousin Isabel for her fortune and jewels. The marriage produces a sickly son who dies shortly after being touched by the king, leaving the couple childless. Meanwhile, Frank Esmond, who had rejected Isabel, marries a favored court lady and has a daughter, with another child on the way. The chapter also recounts the family's history of loyalty to the Stuart cause, their sacrifices, and the eventual arrival of Francis, the fourth Viscount, at Castlewood.
Themes in this chapter
Family and Kinship
The chapter explores the complex dynamics of inheritance, rivalry, and reconciliation within the Esmond family, as Thomas Esmond maneuvers to secure the title and fortune.
Politics and Loyalty
The family's shifting allegiances between Royalist and Parliamentarian causes, and the conversion to Catholicism for political gain, highlight the intersection of personal ambition and political loyalty.
Love and Duty
Isabel's marriage to Thomas is driven by duty and the desire for an heir rather than love, while Frank Esmond's rejection of Isabel for a more suitable match reflects the tension between personal inclination and social obligation.
Characters to notice
- Thomas Esmond
A dissolute younger son who converts to Catholicism and marries his aging cousin Isabel for her fortune, becoming heir to the Castlewood title.
- Isabella Esmond
The aging, vain daughter of Lord Castlewood who marries her cousin Thomas Esmond, hoping for an heir but losing her sickly child.
- Frank Castlewood
The rival cousin who rejected Isabel's suit, served in Tangier, and now has a flourishing family at Court, including a daughter and another child on the way.
- Lord Castlewood (Francis)
The third Viscount, weakened by wounds and drinking, who initially opposes Thomas but is reconciled after Thomas's conversion.
- Jack Churchill
Frank Esmond's former lieutenant and schoolmate, who quarrels with Frank over the latter's refusal to marry Isabel.
- King James II
Mentioned as the king who touched the sickly child of Thomas and Isabel, though the child later died.
Key passages
“His father had taken the Parliament side in the quarrels, and so had been estranged from the chief of his house; and my Lord Castlewood was at first so much enraged to think that his title (albeit little more than an empty one now) should pass to a rascally Roundhead, that he would have married again, and indeed proposed to do so to a vintner’s daughter at Bruges, to whom his lordship owed a score for lodging when the King was there, but for fear of the laughter of the Court, and the anger of his daughter, of whom he stood in awe; for she was in temper as imperious and violent as my lord, who was much enfeebled by wounds and drinking, was weak.”
Lord Castlewood was furious that his title would go to a Roundhead, so he considered remarrying—even proposing to a vintner's daughter in Bruges—but he was afraid of being mocked by the Court and of his daughter's fierce temper, which matched his own weakened state.
Explains Lord Castlewood's initial reaction to the heir and his fear of his daughter Isabel.
“He had dissipated his small paternal inheritance of a younger brother’s portion, and, as truth must be told, was no better than a hanger-on of ordinaries, and a brawler about Alsatia and the Friars, when he bethought him of a means of mending his fortune.”
Thomas Esmond had wasted his small inheritance and lived as a disreputable hanger-on in London's low-life districts before deciding to improve his fortunes by marrying his wealthy cousin.
Describes Thomas Esmond's impoverished and dissolute state before his marriage scheme.
“They were ready to cry out miracle at first (the doctors and quack-salvers being constantly in attendance on the child, and experimenting on his poor little body with every conceivable nostrum) but though there seemed, from some reason, a notable amelioration in the infant’s health after his Majesty touched him, in a few weeks afterward the poor thing died—causing the lampooners of the Court to say, that the King, in expelling evil out of the infant of Tom Esmond and Isabella his wife, expelled the life out of it, which was nothing but corruption.”
The parents initially thought the king's touch had miraculously improved their sickly child's health, but he died soon after, leading court wits to joke that the king had literally driven the life out of the corrupt infant.
Describes the death of Thomas and Isabel's child and the cynical reaction at Court.
