The New Abelard: A Romance, Volume 2 (of 3)

In Short

The New Abelard: A Romance, Volume 2 continues Robert Williams Buchanan’s dramatic Victorian study of faith, vanity, and moral collapse. Having abandoned the orthodox Church of England, the charismatic preacher Ambrose Bradley establishes a free-thinking "New Church" in London with the financial and emotional devotion of his wealthy disciple, Alma Craik. Unknown to Alma, Ambrose harbors a ruinous secret: an early, failed marriage to a woman who is still alive. As jealous relatives and scheming opportunists uncover his past, Ambrose’s hypocrisy is brutally exposed, destroying their joint ideal and forcing both lovers into deep spiritual crisis.

The Story

Volume 2 begins with the public triumph and private decay of the former Anglican priest Ambrose Bradley. In London, his newly opened "New Church"—financed with ten thousand pounds provided by his devoted disciple Alma Craik—has become the fashionable sensation of the hour. Intellectuals, politicians, and socialites flock to hear his eloquent sermons, which blend Christian ethics with modern secular thought. Yet Bradley's triumph is built upon sand. His cousin and bitter rival, young George Craik, harbors a venomous hatred for the preacher who stole Alma's heart and her vast fortune.

Determined to ruin Bradley, George pursues rumors about the clergyman’s secretive past. His search leads him to Paris and the shadowy circles of stage performers, where he confirms his suspicions: years earlier, while a young vicar, Bradley had married a woman named Kitty Montmorency. Though the marriage broke down due to her infidelities and Bradley believed her dead or vanished, the union was never legally dissolved.

Unaware that his past is catching up to him, Bradley yields to his earthly passions. He woos Alma, persuading her to abandon her initial ideal of a purely spiritual partnership. In a quiet, secretive ceremony in the countryside, the pair are married, launching what Alma believes to be a perfect union of mind and soul. Their happiness, however, is fleeting. Kitty Montmorency reappears in London, directly confronting Bradley in his own church vestry. She threatens to expose him as a bigamist unless he meets her demands. Bradley, terrified of losing Alma's adoration, sinks deeper into deception, entering a state of intense psychological agony and self-loathing.

Meanwhile, eccentric figures enter the fray, including Professor Salem Mapleleafe, an American solar biologist and spiritualist, whose medium sister Eustasia hints at the hidden corruption surrounding the preacher. Despite Bradley's desperate attempts to buy silence and rationalize his behavior through twisted philosophy, George Craik lays the concrete proof of Bradley’s prior marriage before Alma and her family.

Devastated by the revelation that her spiritual master is a liar and a bigamist, Alma confronts Bradley. Rather than responding with rage, her initial horror turns into Madonna-like resignation and deep pity for his moral collapse. Bradley prostrates himself in tearful self-reproach, realizing that his intellectual hubris has destroyed the woman who worshiped him. Alma forgives him but insists they must separate forever, charging him to remain in his pulpit as penance. She departs for the Continent to seek peace alone, leaving Bradley crushed, isolated, and weeping in the shadow of his empty church.

How It Unfolds

The rise of the New Church In the smoking-room of the Traveller’s Club, journalist Cholmondeley informs young George Craik that Ambrose Bradley’s new London congregation is the latest fashion, attracting celebrities and thinkers alike. George, furious that his wealthy cousin Alma Craik funded the venture after breaking off her implied engagement to him, vows revenge against the preacher he considers a fraud.

Unearthing the past George travels to Paris after learning from an actress that Bradley was once married to a woman named Kitty Montmorency. In France, he confirms that Kitty is alive and well, realizing he holds the ultimate weapon to destroy his rival's reputation and reclaim Alma’s fortune.

A fatal proposal Despite his growing doubts and spiritual emptiness, Bradley courts Alma in Regent’s Park, persuading her to marry him. Alma yields to her love, stipulating only that his ultimate devotion must always belong to his sacred duty and his church.

The secret wedding The couple secretly travels to a quiet country parish and ties the knot before fleeing to Dieppe for a brief, idyllic honeymoon. Alma views the wedding as a divine paradise, entirely unaware that her new husband is committing bigamy.

The ghost returns Kitty Montmorency confronts Bradley directly in the vestry of the New Church after a Sunday service, brandishing her marriage lines. Bradley reacts with wild, desperate panic, threatening her life before pleading with her not to expose his crime to Alma.

Strange spiritualists arrive An American charlatan, Professor Salem Mapleleafe, and his clairvoyant sister Eustasia intrude upon Bradley’s residence. Their presence and bizarre theories heighten Bradley's internal terror, making him realize that his moral compromise has left him vulnerable to every kind of deception.

The exposure Armed with conclusive proof, George Craik and his father present the truth of Bradley’s first marriage to Alma. Though her family demands a legal prosecution, Alma fiercely forbids them from interfering, insisting on confronting Bradley herself.

The painful parting Alma goes to Bradley’s home at midnight to hear the truth from his own lips. When Bradley confesses his cowardice and deception, Alma forgives him but ends their relationship, leaving him alone in his desolate home to face his ruined life.

The People

• Ambrose Bradley: A brilliant, charismatic clergyman who abandons traditional orthodoxy to found a modern, non-dogmatic church. He desires intellectual authority and Alma’s deep devotion, but his inner vanity and cowardice lead him to conceal a past marriage, ultimately causing his complete spiritual and moral downfall.
• Alma Craik: A wealthy, idealistic, and deeply spiritual woman who views Bradley as the living embodiment of her highest ideals. She desires a pure union of mind and soul to advance their new faith, but her unyielding trust is shattered when she discovers his bigamy.
• George Craik: Alma’s bitter, worldly cousin who feels cheated out of her inheritance and affection. Motivated by jealousy and malice, he acts as the relentless catalyst of the plot, tracking down Bradley’s past to destroy him.
• Kitty Montmorency: Bradley’s long-estranged first wife, a cynical, flashy stage performer living a checkered life abroad. Her sudden reappearance and insistence on her legal rights shatter Bradley's secret sanctuary.
• Miss Combe: A dying, free-thinking friend of Alma and Bradley, whose quiet reflection on her own lost childhood faith highlights the spiritual drift of the era.
• Professor Salem Mapleleafe: A shabby, ambitious American spiritualist and "solar biologist" who tries to exploit Bradley's fame for his own scientific and spiritualist crusades.

In Its Own Voice

"If you are in want of a new sensation, then, you will find this new Church just the thing to suit you. It has now been opened nearly a month, and is rapidly becoming the fashion."

Said by the journalist Cholmondeley, this line underscores the cynical, trend-obsessed London society that embraces Bradley's spiritual movement as little more than a novel entertainment.

"I was a coward and a liar from that hour; for I had met and spoken with my first wife."

Ambrose Bradley utters this confession to Alma, acknowledging that his entire public career as an enlightened prophet was tainted by hypocrisy from the moment he chose secrecy over truth.

"If Bradley was unworthy, there was no goodness in man; and if the divine type in humanity was broken like a cast of clay, there was no comfort in religion, no certainty of God."

This interior reflection captures Alma’s profound existential dread upon realizing that her spiritual mentor's character was built upon deception.

What It's Really About

The New Abelard: A Romance, Volume 2 explores the danger of building modern, secular faiths upon the frail foundation of human vanity. Buchanan uses the medieval parallel of Abelard and Heloise to examine what happens when an intellectual leader attempts to substitute human philosophy for absolute integrity. The novel argues that spiritual radicalism, no matter how eloquent or fashionable, becomes hollow the moment it relies on personal deception. Underneath its melodramatic plot lies a deep skepticism regarding Victorian intellectual arrogance, questioning whether those who claim to liberate others from traditional religion are capable of governing their own moral desires.

Why Read It Today

This volume will appeal to readers who enjoy Victorian sensation fiction, Victorian religious debates, and dramatic studies of moral hypocrisy. Buchanan writes with a keen eye for nineteenth-century social types—from cynical clubmen and theater performers to obsessive American spiritualists and earnest freethinkers. The reading experience is rich and theatrical, filled with suspenseful confrontations, secret journeys, and intense psychological angst.

While modern readers must navigate some period-typical melodramatic conventions, grandiloquent speeches, and dated spiritualist subplots, the core conflict remains striking. The tragic dynamic between Ambrose's intellectual pride and Alma's unreserved idealism creates a compelling narrative that stays with the reader long after the final separation.