The Man Who Was Happy explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Disguise and Deception

  Lord Pertham wears a wig to conceal his baldness and his identity as a former sailor, enabling his double life as both a peer and a bigamous husband. Gonsalez also deceives Prothero by pretending not to notice being followed.

• Blackmail and Exploitation

  Martha's half-brother terrorized her and lived on her earnings, and threatened to expose Pertham's double life, leading Pertham to kill him.

• Murder and Moral Ambiguity

  Lord Pertham admits to shooting Martha's half-brother in cold blood to protect his happiness, yet Gonsalez and Manfred do not condemn him, instead advising him on how to escape legal consequences.

Characters to notice

• Leon Gonsalez

  Descends from a motor-omnibus at Piccadilly Circus, aware he is being followed by Jean Prothero. He explains his theories on criminal baldness and color-blindness, and later disarms Lord Pertham, revealing his knowledge of Pertham's bigamy.

• George Manfred

  Writing at his desk when Gonsalez arrives. He listens to Gonsalez's observations and later admires his unmoral cleverness after Lord Pertham's confession.

• Jean Prothero

  Follows Gonsalez from Piccadilly to Jermyn Street. He is a bald-headed second mate of a tramp steamer, recognizes Gonsalez as one of the Four Just Men from their escape on the Prince of the Asturias's yacht.

• Lord Pertham

  Breaks into Manfred and Gonsalez's room at night with a revolver, intending to kill them. He confesses to a double life: married to Lady Pertham and bigamously to Martha Grey (Mrs. Prothero), and to killing Martha's half-brother who recognized him.

• Martha Grey

  Referred to as Mrs. Prothero, she is Lord Pertham's bigamous wife. Pertham describes her as a good, pure woman, and he killed her half-brother to protect their happiness.

• Lady Pertham

  Pertham's legal wife, described as having a viperish temper. She is seen by Manfred and Gonsalez earlier that evening.

Key passages

• “Years ago, when there was a hue and cry after that pernicious organisation, whose name I have mentioned, an organisation which, in its humble way, endeavoured to right the injustice of the world and to mete out to evildoers the punishment which the ponderous machinery of the Law could not inflict, you were arrested, my dear George, and consigned to Chelmsford Gaol.”

  Years ago, when the Four Just Men were being hunted, you were arrested and sent to Chelmsford Gaol.

  Gonsalez reminds Manfred of their past as vigilantes who punished criminals the law could not.

• “I shot him deliberately and in cold blood, not only because he threatened to wreck my happiness, but because for years he has terrorised his sister and has been living on her poor earnings.”

  I killed him intentionally, not just because he threatened to destroy my life, but because he had been abusing his sister and taking her money for years.

  Lord Pertham justifies his murder of Martha's half-brother as both protective and retributive.

• “He married his Martha first, deserted her and went back to her. I happen to know this because I have already examined both registers, and I know there was a Mrs. Prothero before there was a Lady Pertham.”

  He married Martha first, left her, then returned to her. I checked the marriage records and found that Mrs. Prothero existed before Lady Pertham.

  Gonsalez reveals that Pertham's marriage to Martha was legal and prior, making his marriage to Lady Pertham bigamous.