The Prince and the Pauper · Chapter
Disowned explained
Miles Hendon and the king discuss the king's plan to write a letter in three languages to Lord Hertford.
What happens
Miles Hendon and the king discuss the king's plan to write a letter in three languages to Lord Hertford. Hendon is preoccupied with Lady Edith's strange behavior, suspecting she was compelled to deny him. When Lady Edith enters, she warns Miles to leave, insisting she does not know him and that his life is in danger. She reveals her husband's tyranny. Miles refuses her purse and demands she swear she does not know him, which she does. Officers then burst in, overpower Hendon, and take both him and the king to prison.
Themes in this chapter
Identity and Appearance
Miles Hendon struggles with being unrecognized by Lady Edith, who denies his identity despite his resemblance to the lost Miles, highlighting the conflict between true identity and social perception.
Power and Corruption
Lady Edith describes her husband as a tyrant with unlimited power, who can compel even a lifelong friend to betray another, illustrating the corrupting influence of unchecked authority.
Justice and Injustice
The unjust arrest of Miles and the king, based on false claims and the tyranny of local power, underscores the theme of injustice in a system where truth is suppressed.
Characters to notice
- Edward VI
The king muses on the strangeness of not being missed and writes a letter in three languages to Lord Hertford, insisting on his plan despite Hendon's objections.
- Miles Hendon
Hendon is torn between his loyalty to the king and his personal concerns; he reflects on Lady Edith's denial of him and confronts her, only to be arrested.
- Lady Edith
Lady Edith enters pale and firm, warns Miles of the danger, denies knowing him under oath, and reveals her husband's tyranny before officers arrest Miles and the king.
Key passages
“The king sat musing a few moments, then looked up and said— ' ’Tis strange—most strange. I cannot account for it.'”
The king thought for a while and then remarked that something was very puzzling and he couldn't understand it.
The king reflects on the lack of search for him.
“She seated herself, and asked him to do likewise. Thus simply did she take the sense of old comradeship out of him, and transform him into a stranger and a guest.”
She sat down and invited him to sit, and with that simple act, she erased their former friendship and made him feel like an outsider.
Lady Edith's formal demeanor distances Miles.
“If you were Miles Hendon, and he knew it and all the region knew it—consider what I am saying, weigh it well—you would stand in the same peril, your punishment would be no less sure; he would deny you and denounce you, and none would be bold enough to give you countenance.”
Even if you really were Miles Hendon and everyone knew it, you would still be in danger because your husband would deny and condemn you, and no one would dare support you.
Lady Edith warns that truth offers no safety against her husband's power.