The Way of All Flesh

The narrative skips back a day or so. Ernest runs into Ellen, who warms up to him when he explains that he spent time in prison. The two share a meal. Wanting to put his higher-class lifestyle behind him, Ernest asks Ellen to move in with him and marry him soon.

Ellen suggests that Ernest open his own shop, which they can run together. Overton disapproves of Ernest’s intention to marry Ellen, but Ernest insists. Against his better judgment, Overton helps Ellen and Ernest rent a location for a combined home and secondhand clothes and books shop. Hoping to preserve Ernest’s love of music and literature, Overton furnishes a den for him with some furniture and a piano that he left with Mrs. Jupp.

Ernest marries Ellen, and they open their shop. The business grows and turns a profit.

At first, Ernest and Ellen’s married life is a success, with each giving the other plenty of freedom.

Ernest takes to writing, to Overton’s approval, though Overton wishes he would write narratives instead of philosophical essays. Eventually, Ernest gives up on finding an overarching philosophy and focuses on scientific topics to advance practical knowledge, only occasionally dabbling in literary genres.

Six months later, Ellen is pregnant. Unknown to Ernest, she was a heavy drinker in the past, and she relapses after visiting her friends. Ernest fails to recognize the truth, assuming her condition has to do with the pregnancy.

As Ernest shoulders the work Ellen did previously, his happiness fades, and the business struggles, with Ellen sneaking funds to buy alcohol.

In September 1860, Ellen gives birth to a girl. For a while, Ellen is sober and the business prospers. A few months later, Ellen relapses and blames her symptoms on a second pregnancy. When they quarrel over Ellen’s spending, Ernest feels that getting married was a mistake.

Ernest realizes that Ellen is a drinker when she experiences delirium tremens, a state of confusion caused by withdrawal from alcohol. He learns that her debts exceed their savings. Ernest visits Overton, who counsels Ernest to leave Ellen, but Ernest resolves to reform her if possible. She makes some progress and gives birth to a boy in the fall of 1861. Not long after, she relapses, to Ernest’s despair.

Ernest sells his piano to cover expenses, and he and Ellen live unhappily. One day, he encounters John, his father’s former coachman. Not knowing of Ernest’s marriage to Ellen, John reveals that he might have been the father of Ellen’s child at the time of her departure from Battersby. Feeling responsible, he then married Ellen. Shocked, Ernest leads John to Overton’s house.

John explains that Ellen stole things to support her drinking habit, and even went to prison, so he eventually left her. Ernest is relieved to learn that his marriage to Ellen is void because she is still technically married to John.

Overton’s lawyer breaks the news of the separation to Ellen, who is relieved. Overton arranges a small weekly allowance for her. His laundress agrees to care for the children temporarily. A few years later, Ellen moves to America with a new boyfriend.

Overton reflects that each of Ernest’s supposed defeats shaped him into a better, more aware person. To prepare Ernest to receive his inheritance, Overton hires him as a financial steward to oversee the money that, unknown to him, will soon be his.

Ernest and Overton arrange for Ernest and Ellen’s children to be adopted into a suitable family, with ongoing financial support.

Ernest’s condition worsens, and Overton takes him to a doctor, who says that he is still recovering from his stressful past. He recommends a few refreshing activities around London, including observing large mammals at the zoo. After Ernest makes some improvement, the doctor suggests he travel.

Overton joins Ernest on a trip through France and Italy. By the end of the trip, Ernest makes a near-complete recovery. Returning to upper-class society, he is now somewhat embarrassed by his past, so he cuts off his relationships with old friends and focuses on music and literature, which Overton considers a good choice, if for the wrong reasons. Ernest is particularly sorry to separate himself from Towneley, whom he so admires that he doesn’t want to risk losing his good opinion.

Ernest devotes more time to writing on serious subjects. Feeling guilty that Overton pays him for doing little, he tries to get his articles published, with little success. Ernest considers opening another shop, but Overton dissuades him. In 1863, on Ernest’s 28th birthday, Overton presents him with the inheritance Alethea left him. Shocked, Ernest decides not to tell his parents.

A few days later, Overton receives a letter from Theobald for Ernest, which states that Christina is severely ill and wants to see Ernest. Theobald includes a train ticket and offers to pay for suitable clothes if necessary.

Wearing his finest clothes, Ernest hurries to Battersby and is filled with old insecurities. Theobald is furious to learn that Ernest inherited Alethea’s money, but Ernest scolds him sharply, and he calms down.

Ernest and Christina share a tearful reunion.

Ernest grudgingly greets Joey, who is now a curate, and Charlotte, who resents Ernest for the fact that she never married. Hearing of Ernest’s fortune, Christina goes on a flight of fancy that involves Ernest becoming prime minister.

Ernest finds life at Battersby largely unchanged. As Christina weakens, she seeks assurance that her sins are forgiven, but Theobald’s words fail to comfort her. Only when Ernest assures her that she was as devout as practically possible does she feel some relief. At church on Sunday, Ernest notes that the services have shifted further towards the high-church style, over Theobald’s objections.

A week after Ernest’s arrival, Christina falls into a coma. A few days later, she dies peacefully. Theobald pretends to miss her, though he feels little. Overton attends the funeral.

On the way back to London, Ernest tells Overton of his plans to write the things no one else seems willing to say, starting on the subject of marriage and family. To that end, he plans to travel, studying cultures and history to answer the question, “What is best for man?” (298). He gives Overton the letter Christina wrote during her third pregnancy and invites him to include it if he writes a novel of Ernest’s life, as he expressed interest in doing.

Ernest travels around the world for a few years, returning in spring 1867. They visit Ernest’s children, Georgia and Alice, who are very happy and plan to work on the barges as their foster parents do.

Now 32, Ernest settles into a quiet life in London, where he spends his time writing. He travels occasionally and gives his excess income to worthwhile causes. Soon, he writes and publishes a book of essays, supposedly written by various anonymous high-ranking church officials, tackling difficult moral and spiritual questions. The book creates a stir; a passage declaring “the greatest number of these well-bred men and women, and the greatest happiness of these well-bred men and women, this is the highest good” (304) attracts particular attention. Ernest goes on to write more books in a contrarian vein.

He gives a weekly allowance to Mrs. Jupp, whom he visits occasionally.

Overton reveals that he wrote most of Ernest’s story shortly after that time, in 1867. Now, in 1882, Ernest is richer than ever and still unmarried. Elderly Mrs. Jupp carries on much as before. Alice is married and has one son; Georgie is a sailor. Ernest visited Theobald each year until Theobald’s death in 1881, and the two got along reasonably well. Joey is married but hardly communicates with Ernest. Charlotte is also married and communicates more often, but her letters have a condescending tone.

Ernest takes to composing music. He visits an aging Dr. Skinner, whom he treats warmly; Skinner dies soon after. Ernest’s books are poorly received but gain acclaim over time. He comes to feel that he is writing to the next generation.