Summary of The Corinna
of England, and A Heroine In The Shade: A Modern Romance, attributed to Mrs E.M. Foster
2
Vols (1809)
The novel opens with an account of a journey undertaken by eighteen-year-old Mary Cuthbert. She is a beautiful young orphan who must leave her home in Somerset to travel to the Coventry area. Just before he died, her father, as her only remaining family member, had consigned Mary to the care of a relation who lives near Coventry. Mary feels nervous about the long stage-coach journey to the home of Clarissa Moreton, her twenty-two-year old cousin, and now also her guardian. On the third day of her journey, Mary is embarrassed to find that she is to share the coach with two young gentlemen who interrupt their conversation to gaze at her in open admiration.
Frederic Montgomery and Captain Charles Walwyn, the
two appreciative young men, resume their conversation about Walwyn’s friend and
society hostess whom they are about to visit.
The subject of their conversation is apparently a young woman of many
talents, who shows a particular interest in the theatre. Later, Mary is very surprised to learn that
this hostess is none other than her unknown cousin, the owner of the Attic
Villa! All three young people are
startled to find themselves thus linked by their impending visit to Miss
Moreton’s residence. Mary suddenly
bursts into tears because she is overwhelmed by the prospect of a cousin who
apparently keeps a very liberal house.
Walwyn attempts to soothe Mary’s fears by giving his friend Montgomery a
glowing account of Clarissa Moreton’s virtues, but Montgomery can sense that
Mary still feels very uneasy.
On arrival, Mary and her two companions are warmly
greeted by their hostess, and are led into an elegant apartment, lit by Grecian
lamps, where several house-guests are assembled. There is a hugely ornate portrait of Miss Moreton in a prominent
position on one wall. Mary is
introduced to a singer, Signora Grosera, and her friend, Monsieur
Myrtilla. Mr Copy is presented to Mary
as an artist, Mr Germ as a botanical researcher and the Chevalier D’Aubert as a
French refugee who is now a long-term resident in the villa.
Montgomery feels uncomfortable on Mary’s behalf
because he feels that the group of people in the house would not be acceptable
to the local gentry. He guesses that
his friend Walwyn is a rival of D’Aubert’s for the hand of the wealthy
Clarissa, but Montgomery's own sights are set on higher things - namely, his
vocation as a clergyman.
Mary is also aware that the ethos of the house is
unlikely to impress their more conventional neighbours, and she feels it will
be hard to follow her beloved father’s code of behaviour in such a house. In addition, she is troubled by feeling very
tongue-tied and awkward in her cousin’s dynamic presence.
Mary feels a little brighter next morning after a
friendly chat with the maid, Kitty, who tells her about a converted chapel in
the villa’s grounds which now serves as a theatre. Mary then settles down to some sewing which she undertakes with
private tears of homesickness. She has
to conceal her distress quickly when she is surprised by a visit from Mrs
Deborah Moreton, Clarissa’s aunt, who lives nearby. It soon becomes evident that old Mrs Moreton deeply disapproves
of her niece’s way of life and considers her behaviour to be scandalous. Mary, however, is much more to her liking
and Mrs Moreton compliments her on her evident good manners.
Mrs Moreton subsequently joins the company for
dinner and is pleased by the deportment of Mary and also of Montgomery. However, the old lady privately scolds her
niece for unseemly behaviour with D’Aubert.
This criticism is counter-productive, as Clarissa promptly launches into
a public affirmation of the Spirits of Sentiment and doing virtually whatever
she feels like! Montgomery is shocked
and very much concerned for Mary’s future welfare. Clarissa misinterprets his discomfort as love for herself, which
she promptly decides to return.
When a tearful Mary retires for prayer that night,
her window suddenly shatters as a racquet falls into the bedroom. Kitty informs her that it belongs to Germ,
who was trying to knock down a bat flying in front of her window. Mary finds this incident quite amusing and
enjoys Kitty’s humorous comments about Germ.
Next morning, Mary meets a distressed young woman,
Sarah Jarvis, when on a walk in the parkland.
Sarah is wife to William, an estate worker, and mother to four young
children. William broke his thigh when
working on the conversion of the chapel to a theatre, but Miss Moreton has only
provided him with a cushion as compensation!
Mary presses money into the baby’s fist and promises further help. On
her way back to the villa she meets Montgomery and they enjoy each other’s
company, sharing their responses to the other guests. Montgomery encourages Mary to stay true to her own heart before
the young couple join the rest of the party at the breakfast table.
The conversation at this meal is as pretentious as
ever, with particular emphasis on Mme de Staël’s novel, Delphine (1802). Clarissa disagrees with Montgomery’s
criticism of the book’s morality, but she much admires his powers of
self-expression. However, Montgomery is
increasingly uncomfortable in Clarissa’s company, and an incident involving her
drinking cider at an inn hardens his resolve to leave the villa very soon.
On Sunday, Montgomery enjoys going to the local
church, then joining Mary and the delightful Clara Davenport at Mrs Moreton’s
house, and subsequently having the chance to escort Mary back to the
villa. It is with a heavy heart that he
tells Mary of his plan to leave next day and this news is unhappily received by
both a restrained Mary and, later, by a far more expressive Clarissa.
Typically, his hostess decides that Montgomery must be leaving because he
cannot control his passion for her.
After Montgomery’s departure, Mary‘s loneliness is
somewhat eased by her new friendship with Clara Davenport, a nineteen-year-old
orphaned heiress who is much admired for her dignity and generosity. Clara is so high-principled that she has
broken off her relationship with her fiancé, Captain Lesly Walsingham, because
she discovered he was not a committed Christian. Mrs Moreton fervently wishes that her young friend Clara
Davenport were a model for Clarissa’s behaviour, but Clarissa is now reading
Mme de Staël’s Corinna (1809), and her conduct is becoming even wilder.
One fine morning, Clarissa, or ‘Corinna’ as she now
styles herself, asks the Chevalier D’Aubert, Germ and Mary to join her for a drive
in the barouche. At Coventry, Clarissa
decides to address the crowds who are present for the renactment of Lady
Godiva’s historic ride. She then
proceeds to berate the workers for earning money by making ribbons when they
should be artists and poets. This
speech gains a rowdy and rather mixed reception from the crowds, who escort the
carriage back to the villa. D’Aubert
and Germ are much alarmed by the people’s hostility which is particularly
directed against Frenchmen, and Mary faints with the terror of it all.
‘Corinna’ is convinced that Montgomery would admire her courage with the drunken
rioters. She feels proud that her words
have completely disrupted work at Coventry the following day, but she is shaken
when rioters return to ransack the villa in order to capture the Frenchman, and
D’Aubert only just manages to escape.
Mary has sustained a minor head wound in the affray,
and Corinna is annoyed to find her cousin upset and agitated about the whole
situation. Reluctantly, Mary agrees to
accompany Corinna on another journey, this time to visit a sick friend. Mrs Moreton assumes that this visit is to an
elderly relative and wishes Mary well on the trip, but in fact Corinna takes
Mary to a distant military barracks in order to visit none other than Captain
Walwyn.
The captain has written a drunkenly affectionate
letter to Corinna, claiming, with some accuracy, to feel unwell. Corinna immediately decided to make a mercy
dash to Walwyn, in order to be there at his death and therefore seem heroic to
Montgomery. She took Mary with her in
order to keep her away from the influence of Mrs Moreton and Miss Davenport.
Mary is horrified by the rough behaviour of the
soldiers, and Walwyn himself is almost as taken aback by Corinna's dramatic
entrance. There is plenty of derisive
comment from Walwyn's colleagues, and Mary is desperate to escape, but their
carriage has already left. The two
ladies are led into a chilly little room where the men still cause a distraction
outside. Finally, an officer appears to
take the ladies away from the unhealthy chamber to the guardroom, where a
chaise collects them and takes them, escorted by Captain Walsingham, to an inn
at the nearby town.
Corinna has been badly frightened by the thought of
contagious illness spreading from the chilly little room in the barracks. Mary kindly tries to calm her, and a visit
from the doctor next day eventually convinces Corinna that she is not in fact
ill. Walwyn and Walsingham arrive to
visit her, and Mary is very uncomfortable about being asked to divert
Walsingham's attention while Walwyn sees Corinna in her bedroom alone. Mary sends apologies to Walsingham and
retires to her own room.
As Walwyn has been much encouraged by Corinna's
mercy dash to be with him, he decides to seize the opportunity to propose
marriage to her. She confounds him by
her indignant refusal and her declaration that it is Montgomery whom she
loves. Walwyn leaves the inn cursing,
and Corinna is so agitated by the confrontation that she sends for Mary, only
to discover that her cousin is unconscious, struck down by the fever. Doctor Saville is summoned again and
confirms that Mary is very ill indeed.
Corinna is in a great hurry to escape this situation, and she leaves
money with Saville and instructions in a note to Walsingham before quitting the
inn and the risk of catching any infection.
Lesly Walsingham, however, is an honourable young
man who swiftly takes over responsibility for Mary's well-being. He is the same gentleman who was once loved
by Clara Davenport and, as he watches over the unconscious Mary, he wonders if
he could win his delicate patient's love instead. However, Saville tells him that Mary is dying. Both men look down sadly at the stricken
Mary as a kindly nurse tends to her, and they hear her troubled ramblings about
disgrace and redemption. Walsingham is
greatly moved by her piety and begins to feel the truth of Christianity in his
heart.
Meanwhile, back in the villa, Corinna writes a
passionate letter to Montgomery which barely conceals her ardour for him. He reads the letter at Elmsly, where he is
coping with his beloved father's death, and misinterprets her words as relating
to Mary's feelings for him. Thus, his
somewhat incoherent reply holds a note of encouragement which Corinna
immediately reads as ardour returned.
Montgomery is absorbed in caring for his distressed mother and his
siblings at the parsonage, so he is utterly disconcerted when Corinna suddenly
bursts upon the scene in order to comfort the grieving family. Montgomery is then shocked by the agitation
her visit causes to his family, and is deeply disturbed to realise that Walwyn
is no longer her preferred choice of husband.
Montgomery receives a further blow when he learns
that Corinna has deserted a desperately ill Mary near Walwyn's barracks. This news infuriates him so much that he
roundly condemns Corinna and commands her to leave. She reminds him of his encouraging letter but he quickly explains
his mistaken interpretation and walks out on his hysterical visitor. When he returns to the house, he retreats to
his study and writes a letter to Mrs Moreton, asking for immediate help to be
sent to Mary. Once Corinna has been put
to bed by his long-suffering mother, Montgomery has a chance to explain
everything, including his passion for the critically ill Mary.
Meanwhile, Mary is at last beginning to recover, and
receives Clara Davenport's unexpected mercy visit with great joy. (Mrs Moreton has despatched her young friend
to collect Mary, on receipt of Montgomery's note.) A happy reunion between Clara and Lesly Walsingham takes place at
Mary's bedside, and his newfound Christian faith makes their marriage possible
at last. Within a week, the three young
people return to Coventry, and provide comfort to Mrs Moreton when she hears
devastating news of Corinna's fate in London, via a letter from Myrtilla.
Apparently, Corinna was entertaining a group of
friends to supper after a theatre visit when a neighbouring London playhouse
caught fire. Corinna and her friend
Lauzune climbed to the top of their building to watch the flames but then found
themselves trapped. Lauzune jumped successfully to safety but tragically
Corinna fell to her death. A grieving
Mrs Moreton passes on Corinna's fortune to Mary and advises her to use it to
aid parishioners in the care of a fine clergyman, meaning, of course,
Montgomery. Mary happily takes this
advice, and the story ends with two newly wed couples - the Montgomerys and the
Walsinghams - enjoying the blessings of their virtuous unions.