The Perpetual Curate · Chapter
XXIX explained
Mr.
What happens
Mr. Wentworth, after parting with Mrs. Morgan, feels sore and vexed by the scandal surrounding him. He returns home reluctantly, haunted by distrustful glances from his parishioners and the closed shutters of Mr. Wodehouse's house. Seeking comfort, he visits his aunts, where he learns of a newspaper paragraph falsely reporting Gerald's conversion to Catholicism. Jack Wentworth appears, and the two brothers leave together, watched anxiously by Miss Dora from the garden window.
Themes in this chapter
Scandal and Gossip
Frank is deeply affected by the slander about Rosa Elsworthy and the newspaper paragraph about Gerald.
Hypocrisy and Moral Judgment
Frank feels judged by his parishioners and family, while Jack is treated as a reformed character despite his past.
Characters to notice
- Frank Wentworth
Feels wounded by scandal and ingratitude; visits his aunts; leaves with Jack.
- Jack Wentworth
Present at the aunts' house; walks out with Frank; described as calm and well-dressed.
- Leonora Wentworth
Speaks about Gerald's rumored conversion and Skelmersdale; strong-minded and observant.
- Dora Wentworth
Anxious and affectionate; spies on Frank and Jack from the garden window.
- Gerald Wentworth
Mentioned in the newspaper paragraph as having converted to Catholicism, but Frank denies it.
Key passages
“He had almost acknowledged that he was conscious of the slander against which he had made up his mind to present a blank front of unconsciousness and passive resistance, and he was angry with himself for his susceptibility to this unexpected voice of kindness.”
Frank realized he had nearly admitted being aware of the slander he intended to ignore, and he was annoyed at himself for being affected by Mrs. Morgan's kindness.
Frank's internal conflict over the scandal.
“To think that so many years’ work could be neutralised in a day by a sudden breath of scandal, made him not humble or patient, but fierce and resentful.”
The idea that years of labor could be undone by a single rumor made Frank angry rather than meek.
Frank's bitterness about the fragility of his reputation.
“If he could but escape there out of all this sickening misconception and ingratitude—if he could but take Lucy into his protecting arms, and carry her away far from the clouds that were gathering over her path as well as his own.”
Frank longed to flee to Skelmersdale with Lucy, away from the misunderstandings and ingratitude surrounding them.
Frank's desire to escape with Lucy.