
Doctor Thorne
'Doctor Thorne' Summary
When their father dies, Doctor Thomas Thorne and his younger brother Henry are left to fend for themselves. Thomas begins to establish a medical practice, while Henry seduces Mary Scatcherd, the sister of stonemason Roger Scatcherd. When Roger finds out that Mary has become pregnant, he kills Henry in a fight.
While her brother is in prison for the death, Mary gives birth to a girl. A former suitor offers to marry Mary and emigrate to America to start a new life, but not if she keeps the baby. Doctor Thorne persuades Mary to accept the offer, promising to raise his niece. He names her Mary Thorne, but, wishing neither to have her illegitimacy made public nor to have her associate with the uncouth Roger Scatcherd, he keeps her parentage secret. Mary Scatcherd tells her brother that the baby has died.
After his release from prison, Scatcherd rises quickly in the world, becoming extremely rich. When he completes a seemingly impossible important project on time, he is made a baronet. Throughout his career, he entrusts his financial affairs to Doctor Thorne. When Thorne becomes the family doctor to the Greshams, he persuades Scatcherd to lend increasing sums to the head of the family, the local squire. Eventually, much of the Gresham estate is put up as collateral.
Meanwhile, Mary Thorne grows up with the Gresham children and becomes a great favourite with the whole family.
As young adults, Mary and Frank Gresham — the only son and heir of the squire of Greshamsbury — fall in love. However, his parents want him to marry wealth; the squire has squandered much of his wealth on expensive and fruitless campaigns for a seat in Parliament and is grieved that he can leave little to his son. As Mary is penniless and of suspect birth, such a marriage is inconceivable to his mother and to the de Courcys, the Greshams' aristocratic relatives. They wish Frank to marry the 30-year-old, eccentric heiress Martha Dunstable instead. Frank reluctantly visits Courcy Castle in order to meet Miss Dunstable, and they become friends. He foolishly and playfully proposes, but she wisely demurs, knowing that he does not love her.
Sir Roger Scatcherd is a chronic drunkard, and Doctor Thorne tries in vain to get him to curtail his drinking. In his will, Scatcherd stipulates that the bulk of his estate goes to his only son, the dissolute Louis Philippe. However, he leaves Doctor Thorne in control of the inheritance until Louis Philippe reaches the age of 25. Should Louis die before then, Scatcherd stipulates that the estate goes to his sister Mary's eldest child. Thorne, knowing that Scatcherd is thinking of the children Mary had in America, is forced to divulge Mary's parentage to Scatcherd, but Scatcherd leaves the will unchanged.
Roger Scatcherd eventually dies of drink. The son proves just as much an alcoholic as the father, and his weaker constitution quickly brings him to the same end before he turns 25. After consulting with lawyers, Doctor Thorne confirms that his niece Mary is the heiress—now richer than even Miss Dunstable.
Unaware of these developments, the still resolute Frank finally persuades his doting father to consent to his marriage to Mary. When all is revealed, the rest of his relatives heartily congratulate him.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
1858Authors

Anthony Trollope
England
Anthony Trollope was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, which revolves ar...
Books by Anthony TrollopeDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
Related books

Red Money by Fergus Hume
Red Money, by Fergus Hume, follows the story of a love entangled with greed and secrets among a corrupt aristocratic family. The novel explores theme...

Fortunata y Jacinta: dos historias de casadas (Cuarta Parte) by Benito Pérez Galdós
Fortunata y Jacinta es una novela épica que explora las complejidades del amor, el matrimonio y las desigualdades sociales en la España del siglo XIX....

Wasters by Arthur Adams
Wasters, a play by Arthur Adams, explores the complexities of family dynamics and societal roles through a captivating lens. The play delves into the...

Dangerous Connections (Les liaisons dangereuses) by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
Dangerous Connections (Les Liaisons dangereuses) is a captivating epistolary novel that unveils the intricate web of deceit and seduction within the F...

Old New York by Edith Wharton
"Old New York" by Edith Wharton is a collection of four novellas that revolve around the upper-class society of New York City in the 19th century. The...

Mare au diable by George Sand
Sur l'avis de son beau-père, malgré sa réticence, le laboureur Germain, veuf de vingt-huit ans, va se rendre à Fourche pour rencontrer celle qui devie...

The Last Of The Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757 is a historical novel written by James Fenimore Cooper in 1826. It is the second book of the Leathersto...

The Crown Of Life by George Gissing
This is a compelling novel that takes readers on a journey through the tumultuous lives of its characters. Set against the backdrop of Victorian Engla...

Heautontimorumenos; the Self-Tormentor by Terence
Heautontimorumenos, or The Self-Tormentor, is a play by the Roman playwright Terence, adapted from the Greek playwright Menander. The play centers aro...

Maarten Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens
Martin Chuzzlewit is a young man caught between his desire for love and his pursuit of a family inheritance. He finds himself tangled in a web of dece...
Reviews for Doctor Thorne
No reviews posted or approved, yet...