Tom Jones Book 4, Chapter 11

The Narrow Escape of Molly Seagrim, With Some Observations For Which We Have Been Forced to Dive Pretty Deep Into Nature

• Tom runsthe three miles from Squire Western's house to Squire Allworthy's.
• He gets there just in time to stop the servant who is taking Molly to the local house of correction.
• Tom promises Molly that he's going to take care of her.
• Tom, Molly, and the servant all head back inside to Squire Allworthy.
• Tom tells Squire Allworthy that this whole situation is his fault and he wants to take responsibility.
• Squire Allworthy sends Molly back to her parents and reads Tom the riot act for his irresponsibility and sinfulness.
• Squire Allworthy is really, genuinely angry at Tom's behavior.
• But he is also secretly proud that Tom owned up to everything so honorably.
• As usual, Tom's good points seem to balance out the bad in Squire Allworthy's opinion.
• Mr. Thwackum shouts a lot about Tom's gross behavior, which Squire Allworthy ignores.
• But Mr. Square hates Tom even more than Mr. Thwackum does.
• And he is much more subtle and intelligent than Mr. Thwackum.
• He pretends that he is disappointed in Tom's wrongdoing because it reveals that his charities to the gamekeeper's family were biased.
• In other words, Mr. Square hints to Squire Allworthy that all of those earlier crimes—the poached partridge and the sold Bible—were not the results of Tom's generosity.
• Instead, they were all about getting what Tom wanted out of Molly sexually—"a prostitution of [friendship]" (4.11.17), as Mr. Square says.
• And once Mr. Square suggests this idea to Squire Allworthy, the squire can't quite let it go.
• Squire Allworthy really begins to doubt Tom in that moment.