What Will He Do with It?

In Short

This is a sprawling, emotionally dense Victorian novel centered on the life of Guy Darrell, a man of formidable intellect and high standing who has retreated into a self-imposed, lonely exile. Haunted by the tragic loss of his family and a broken engagement to the woman he loved, he finds his rigid world disrupted by the reappearance of that woman, now a widowed Marchioness, and a series of entanglements involving a mysterious young girl. It remains a work of intense psychological scrutiny, exploring the heavy costs of pride, the lingering power of past mistakes, and the difficult search for redemption.

The Story

Guy Darrell is a man who possesses everything the world values—wealth, reputation, and talent—yet he lives in a state of desolate emptiness. Years earlier, he had been engaged to a young girl named Caroline Lyndsay, but their union was thwarted by her mother’s maneuvering and the intervention of a predatory, charismatic rogue named Jasper Losely. Caroline, manipulated into a marriage with the wealthy but vapid Marquess of Montfort, has lived a life of quiet resignation, while Darrell has hardened his heart into a fortress of pride and regret.

The narrative shifts between these fractured lives and the mysterious girl named Sophy, whose origins are tied to the same dark history that destroyed Darrell’s happiness. Lionel Haughton, a young kinsman of Darrell’s, falls in love with Sophy, hoping to bring light into the elder man’s darkened existence. However, Darrell, convinced that Sophy is a deceptive interloper—and perhaps worse, the granddaughter of the criminal Jasper Losely—refuses his blessing. He views this potential marriage not as a path to joy, but as a threat to his family honor and a reminder of his own failed legacy.

Caroline, now a widow, seeks out Darrell at his ancestral home, Fawley, in a desperate, last-ditch attempt to reconcile their past and secure the future for their young relatives. The confrontation is devastating. Darrell, still raw from the betrayal of his youth, refuses to forgive her, though he acknowledges the purity of her current intentions. He remains an enigma, a man whose "life of life" was stolen, leaving him to nurse a "future barren as the grave."

As the winter closes in, the past refuses to stay buried. Jasper Losely, the source of so much misery, poses an immediate, violent threat to Darrell’s life. Arabella Fossett, a woman intimately acquainted with Losely’s malice, arrives to warn Darrell’s friends, Colonel Alban Morley and Lionel. She demands that they intervene in secret to prevent a tragedy that would bring public shame upon the Darrell name. The story moves toward this final, tense convergence, where the characters must decide if the rigid codes of honor they have lived by can hold against the chaos of human desire and the inevitable reckoning with their own long-hidden truths.

How It Unfolds

The encounter at Fawley Caroline Montfort arrives at the secluded manor, hoping to bridge the gap of years through a plea for her young kinsman. Her courage falters as the landscape triggers overwhelming memories of the childhood innocence she once shared with the man who now stands before her as a stranger.

The clash of past and present Darrell meets her with a mixture of bitter reproach and lingering, tortured love, refusing to absolve her of the "infidelity" of her marriage. He reveals how her desertion shattered his belief in his own future, leaving him to exist in a state of cold, intellectual isolation.

The revelation of schemes The narrative peels back the layers of deception woven by Caroline’s mother and the criminal Jasper Losely, who orchestrated the break-up for their own selfish ends. Caroline realizes that her youthful confusion was manipulated, while Darrell learns the extent to which his life was hollowed out by the machinations of others.

The final rejection Darrell formally severs all ties to the past, offering Caroline his blessing but refusing to allow his own life to be rewritten by reconciliation. He remains trapped in his "charred and desolate being," unable to bend his pride even as he acknowledges the woman she has become.

The looming threat The focus shifts to the danger posed by Jasper Losely, who threatens to destroy the remaining peace of those involved. Arabella Fossett alerts Darrell’s inner circle to a lethal confrontation, forcing a move from the shadows of regret into the urgent, immediate necessity of action.

The People

Guy Darrell is the emotional anchor of the book, a man of "sombre intensity" whose life has been defined by the loss of his family and the rejection of the woman he loved. His pride is his primary shield and his greatest enemy. Caroline, Marchioness of Montfort, is the woman caught between the "child" she was when she first loved Darrell and the woman she became through the trials of a joyless marriage. She seeks redemption, but finds that some wounds are too deep for simple forgiveness. Lionel Haughton represents the hope of the new generation; he is open-hearted and seeks to bridge the chasm between the older characters, though his idealism often blinds him to the "adamant" nature of his kinsman’s prejudices. Jasper Losely is the dark, driving force of the narrative, a man whose "perverted nature" and criminality provide the external friction that keeps the past from ever truly settling.

In Its Own Voice

"One who had taken the heart from my bosom and trampled it into the mire."

Darrell explains to Caroline the intensity of the betrayal he felt when she broke their engagement to marry a man of higher rank.

"I will love another--I will be beloved."

Darrell declares his intention to move on from the memory of Caroline, though his own narrative shows he remains deeply bound to his past.

"The crushed heart, the ravages existence, were bared before her in that glance, as clearly as to a wanderer through the night are the rents of the precipice in the flash of the lightning."

The narrator describes the moment Caroline catches a glimpse of Darrell’s profound, enduring despair during a chance encounter in the streets of London.

What It's Really About

The central argument concerns the corrosive nature of pride, especially when it is used to mask a profound, unhealed grief. The author examines how the "voice of nature"—the innate human desire for connection and family—is constantly at war with social status and the rigid expectations of one's "house." The book asks whether a person can ever truly move beyond the formative traumas of their youth, or if they are destined to live as prisoners of their own resolve. It explores the difference between genuine repentance and the performance of social duty, questioning if the "safe road" of convention provides any real protection against the ghosts of the past.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate a slow-burning, psychological study of character will find much to admire in the intricate emotional geography of this novel. It is a work that values the nuance of human suffering over quick plot resolutions; it captures the feeling of a life being lived in the shadow of "what might have been" with startling clarity. However, it is not a brisk read. The prose is dense, reflecting the Victorian tendency to dwell on philosophical reflection and moral inquiry. Some readers may find the period attitudes—particularly those regarding the "delicate" nature of women and the rigid class hierarchies—challenging, as the book is deeply rooted in the social assumptions of its era.

What stays with the reader is the portrait of Guy Darrell: a man who is simultaneously grand, infuriating, and deeply sympathetic. The book succeeds because it refuses to make him a simple hero or a simple villain, instead letting him inhabit the "rents of the precipice." If you are willing to navigate the labyrinth of 19th-century social politics, you will encounter a meditation on human regret that feels as relevant today as it did when the author first set the scene at the gate of a lonely, antique manor.