The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Ch. 21 Summary

Summary

By October the engagement is fixed for Christmas, and Helen learns how alone she is on the winning side. Her father consents from a distance; Milicent Hargrave congratulates her with open surprise that she can prefer Huntingdon to steadier men, and Annabella Wilmot masks disappointment with talk of becoming Lady Lowborough. Helen's satisfaction survives both conversations because she believes Arthur loves her best and she envies no one. His friends send a different verdict. Letters full of curses and mock lament arrive at breakfast: Grimsby is sullen, Hargrave claims he meant to marry Helen himself, Hattersley rages and vows revenge by marrying some old maid. Arthur laughs, calls himself the life of a dissolute "community," and tells Helen their union has broken up the jovial band.

Helen answers that she will not stand between him and his happiness, but she doubts those men ever did him good. He insists he has chosen love over the club. Out shooting, the older gentlemen outshine the younger; Arthur and Lowborough prefer riding with the women, and the house party is almost pleasant now that Boarham and Wilmot no longer torment Helen and Annabella no longer monopolizes Arthur's attention. The chapter closes on Helen's foreshadowing dread: the merry days are ending, the guests will leave within a fortnight, and she already asks what she will do without him when separation comes. Engagement has resolved nothing about the life he will lead once marriage replaces courtship.

In this chapter:Terms Characters Key Quotes Modern Story

Why This Matters

Hearing Concern Without Defensiveness

Love makes warnings sound like attacks. Helen has Milicent's fear, Annabella's calculation, and Arthur's friends' curses, yet she files them all under jealousy.

When several people name the same specific worry about someone you are committing to, write their objections down before you answer them.

This chapter

Inside the Mind: Milicent Hargrave

She congratulates Helen with open surprise that anyone could prefer Huntingdon to steadier men. Helen hears jealousy, because love makes a friend's fear sound like an attack on the choice itself. Milicent will later live the marriage she tried to name. The first warning is already being spent as disloyalty.

Continue this thoughtShe Married the Performance, Not the Man

Coming Up in Chapter 22

On a long ride beside Huntingdon, with Annabella and Lord Lowborough ahead, Helen hears Arthur treat a friend's ruin as an amusing tale. He describes how Lowborough lost at cards, swore off gambling, then took to brandy at the club after Huntingdon and Grimsby plied him. Helen names them tempters. Arthur calls it kindness.

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Chapter 21

Friends Who Warn You

October 1st.—All is settled now. My father has given his consent, and the time is fixed for Christmas, by a sort of compromise between the respective advocates for hurry and delay. Milicent Hargrave is to be one bridesmaid and Annabella Wilmot the other—not that I am particularly fond of the latter, but she is an intimate of the family, and I have not another friend. When I told Milicent of my engagement, she rather provoked me by her manner of taking it. After staring a moment in mute surprise, she said,— “Well, Helen, I suppose I ought to congratulate you—and…

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Friends Who Warn You

Summary

Why This Matters