Tom Jones Book 9, Chapter 3

The Arrival of Mr. Jones, With His Lady, at the Inn; With a Very Full Description of the Battle of Upton

• Tom and the woman arrive at the Upton inn.
• They're going upstairs to a room when the landlord tries to stop "that beggar wench" (9.3.2) from following Tom.
• The landlady wants to avoid any kind of bad reputation for her inn.
• So she makes sure to kick out any woman she suspects of being a prostitute.
• As soon as the landlady hears her husband yelling at this half-naked woman, she grabs a broom with the intent of shoving the woman out the door.
• Tom stops her and demands a dress for the woman.
• The landlady starts shouting abuse at him.
• Tom keeps trying to get a word in edgewise, but the landlady won't let him.
• The landlord joins in the fight, and Tom gets really mad.
• Tom hits the landlord with the stick that he's still carrying (the one that he used on Northerton last chapter).
• The landlord fights back with his fists.
• The landlady raises her broomstick to hit Tom on the head.
• But Partridge suddenly appears and grabs the broomstick from behind.
• Partridge isn't going to allow this woman to kill Tom (which, honestly, a broomstick to the head could probably do).
• So Partridge fights the landlady while Tom fights the landlord.
• The half-naked woman comes down the stairs and jumps into the struggle with the landlady.
• And then Susan, the maid at the inn, rushes in to defend her boss.
• So now Susan is fighting against Partridge, while the half-naked woman and the landlady are battling it out.
• (Wow, this is turning into an all-out brawl.)
• The only thing that stops the fight is the sudden arrival of a coach.
• The landlord and landlady do their best to look like they haven't just been fighting as they welcome their new guests.