# Ruby Prepares for Service explained — The Way We Live Now

> Chapter companion for The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope.

## What happens

Ruby Ruggles faces the consequences of her actions as her aunt Pipkin insists she must go into service. After John Crumb's altercation with Sir Felix, he returns to Bungay, advised to leave Ruby alone for a time. Ruby reluctantly accepts a position as a nursemaid at £12 a year, feeling the humiliation of her fall from the glamour of her London adventures. Mrs. Hurtle, who has been aiding John Crumb's cause, writes to inform him of Ruby's new place, despite Ruby's pleas not to.

## Themes in this chapter

### Social Mobility and Class

Ruby's descent from the glamour of dancing with a baronet to the drudgery of service at £12 a year starkly illustrates the precariousness of social standing and the harsh realities of class mobility.

### Deception and Hypocrisy

Mrs. Hurtle preaches to Ruby about keeping promises to a suitor, while she herself is entangled in a complicated relationship with Paul Montague, highlighting the double standards and hypocrisy surrounding fidelity.

## Character check-ins

### Ruby Ruggles

Forced to seek employment as a nursemaid after her aunt Pipkin insists she must leave; she accepts a low-paying position, feeling degraded by her fall from her former life.

### Mrs. Hurtle

Living in solitude, she takes an interest in John Crumb's cause, devises a plan to help him, and insists on writing to inform him of Ruby's new place.

### Mrs. Pipkin

Ruby's aunt who pressures her to go into service, delivers a stern lecture, and ultimately puts an advertisement in the paper for a nursemaid position.

### John Crumb

After being released from custody following his fight with Sir Felix, he returns to Bungay, advised to leave Ruby alone for a time, but remains hopeful and ready to return when summoned.

### Sir Felix Carbury

Mentioned as having been beaten by John Crumb; he refuses to press charges, and Ruby begins to see him as unreliable and of little account.

## Key lines

> Beauty is but skin deep, Ruby.

Physical attractiveness is only superficial, Ruby.

_Mrs. Pipkin uses this proverb to remind Ruby that her looks won't save her from the consequences of her actions._

> You’ve had your swing, and now you see you’ve got to pay for it.

You've enjoyed your freedom and fun, and now you must face the repercussions.

_Mrs. Pipkin tells Ruby that her period of indulgence is over and she must now accept the hardships that follow._

> It is such a come down, Mrs. Hurtle.

It's such a humiliating decline in my social position.

_Ruby expresses her shame at having to enter domestic service after her previous life of relative freedom and excitement._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_way_we_live_now_se/chapters/lxxx-ruby-prepares-for-service
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_way_we_live_now_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_way_we_live_now_se/chapters