Howards End

Margaret passes the last letter from Helen to her Aunt Juley across the table. She tells her aunt that she only met Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox while she and Helen were traveling in Germany in the spring and did not even know the younger son’s name. Helen invited the Wilcoxes to join the two sisters in Heidelberg, which they did, and the Wilcoxes invited the sisters to visit them at Howards End. Margaret was not able to go because of Tibby’s illness.

Aunt Juley, who has inferred the possibility of marriage between Helen and Paul, says that the engagement would be “too sudden.” Margaret intends to go to Howards End to see what the situation is like between Helen and Paul. Aunt Juley offers to go instead, promising not to interfere. Realizing that it would be best to watch Tibby herself, Margaret agrees to let her aunt go. Margaret accompanies Aunt Juley to the train station, and upon her return home she receives a letter from Helen saying that her romance with Paul is over.

The narrator provides background information on the Schlegel family. The siblings’ parents died when they were relatively young.

Aunt Juley thinks the sisters fortunate that she is there to help them out of this situation. She arrives at the station in Hilton and asks a ticket boy for Howards End. The ticket boy calls to Charles Wilcox, who tells Aunt Juley that he is “the younger Mr. Wilcox” (14). This leads her to believe that he is Paul—what he means is that he is Mr. Wilcox’s son. The two of them agree to go to Howards End, and Aunt Juley notices that Charles is authoritative. On the way, Aunt Juley raises the issue of Helen’s letter, believing that Charles is Paul. Charles is confused and then realizes that she must be talking about Paul. Aunt Juley accuses Charles of telling her that he was Paul, and he denies this. Charles begins cursing Paul for his affair with Helen, and Aunt Juley, insulted on Helen’s behalf, argues with Charles.

Amidst their argument, the two arrive at Howards End. Helen comes out and tells Aunt Juley that their engagement is over and begs her not to tell anyone about it. Aunt Juley is deeply embarrassed. Charles yells at Paul and demands an explanation. Mrs. Wilcox comes and separates the group and calms Charles down.

Helen and Aunt Juley go back to Wickham Place, the Schlegel family apartment in London. Helen tells Margaret of her romance with Paul. Helen had fallen in love with the family, and when Paul arrived her enthusiasm for the family led to her infatuation with him. They kissed, and when Helen came downstairs the next morning for breakfast she saw Paul sitting frightened among the family lest she should say something. Helen later downplays the kiss when speaking to Paul, and he is relieved. She suspects that Mrs. Wilcox knew all along what happened between her and Paul, without anybody telling her.

The narrator provides some details on the Schlegels’ family background. Their father was a soldier in the Franco-Prussian War, but he did not believe in the German Empire. Instead, it is said that he was a German of an earlier sort—a thoughtful idealist. He married a relatively wealthy English woman and settled permanently in England. The sisters grew up skeptical of both German and English nationalism.

The Schlegels go to a musical performance. Helen thinks that Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony expresses a struggle between good and evil (personified by imagined “goblins”) with good eventually triumphing. Overcome by the music, she leaves in the middle of the program. A young man, Leonard Bast, tells Margaret that Helen has taken his umbrella. He tries to dismiss the mishap as of no importance, but he cannot hide that he is upset. He suspects the sisters of stealing the umbrella, and Margaret is made uncomfortable by the incident. She gives Leonard a card with their address and tells him that he can pick up his umbrella after the concert. Leonard’s mood lightens after Margaret’s offer, and he goes back to Wickham Place with her.

On the way, Margaret discusses music with Tibby and Aunt Juley, and Leonard is intimidated by the eloquence with which they talk. After they arrive, Margaret tells Helen that she has taken Leonard’s umbrella. When Helen is going through the umbrellas she calls a worn-out umbrella “appalling” and says that it must be hers, but it turns out that it is Leonard’s. He takes it before leaving in embarrassment. Margaret scolds Helen, and Aunt Juley says that it is for the best that he left, since he might have stolen something.

Leonard returns home, and he grows resentful toward the Schlegels. He is on the verge of poverty and lives on the other side of the city. His cellar apartment is small and sparsely furnished. He reads from a book of John Ruskin, feeling that he is improving himself by doing this reading.

His girlfriend, Jacky, who is no longer beautiful and is not respectable, comes home. They have little in common, and Jacky does not understand Leonard. She repeatedly asks for reassurances that Leonard loves her, and he promises that he will marry her, having already pretended that they are married to get the apartment. Leonard prepares a modest dinner and plays the piano. Jacky, uninterested in music, goes to bed, and Leonard recalls his meeting with the Schlegels earlier and reads more Ruskin.

Aunt Juley informs Margaret that the Wilcoxes have bought an apartment in a new building directly opposite Wickham Place. Aunt Juley is nervous that Helen will meet Paul again, and Margaret tries to reassure her that everything is over between them. Helen walks in and tells them not to worry. After she leaves, Aunt Juley warns Margaret to be careful about the Wilcoxes. Margaret says that she prefers not to be too risk-averse, and she articulates her thoughts about how wealth saves them from the real troubles that poor people have to deal with.

Margaret grows worried that Helen’s passion for Paul may indeed be rekindled by the Wilcoxes’ presence. After Margaret returns she asks Helen if the Wilcoxes moving in across the way worries her, and Helen tries to reassure Margaret that it does not. Margaret suggests that since money is not an issue, the Schlegels could move if they feel uncomfortable, and Helen says that she will be leaving on a long trip for Germany with her cousin soon.

Mrs. Wilcox pays a call to the Schlegels the day that Helen is set to leave for Germany, and Margaret is annoyed that she will have to return the call out of politeness. After Helen leaves with their cousin, Margaret writes a letter to Mrs. Wilcox, saying that she will have to decline to meet with her on account of the possibility of Helen and Paul meeting again. The next morning she receives a response in which Mrs. Wilcox reprimands her for her rude letter and says that she only called earlier to tell her that Paul has left for Nigeria, where he is stationed.

Margaret is deeply embarrassed and runs over to the Wilcoxes’ place to apologize. She finds Mrs. Wilcox resting in bed. Mrs. Wilcox is offended, but she accepts Margaret’s apology and agrees with Margaret that it is for the best that Helen and Paul are no longer near each other. Mrs. Wilcox is particularly interested in talking about Howards End, and after they talk for some time, Margaret leaves, now on good terms with Mrs. Wilcox.