Pamela Chapter 93 Summary

Tuesday Morning, The Sixth of My Happiness

  • Get a snack, because this is a long journal entry. It goes a little something like this:
  • The next day, Lady Davers got up bright and early to snoop outside Pamela and Mr. B's door.
  • Mr. B answered the door and, while Pamela hid under the blankets, argued with his sister.
  • When Lady Davers threatened to force Pamela out of bed, Mr. B picked up Lady Davers and carried her from the room.
  • Nice.
  • Pamela escaped to her own little room to write, and then got a report from Mrs. Jewkes about what was going on below.
  • At around one o'clock, the squire asked Pamela to come to dinner. Oh, and he's told Lady Davers about the marriage, and she's not happy.
  • There was more arguing, and it culminated in Mr. B ordering Lady Davers out of the house and claiming he was going to renounce her.
  • Pamela was so distressed that she threw herself at Mr. B's feet, begging him not to sever the relationship on her account.
  • Lady Davers did not appreciate the gesture, and Mr. B tried to convince his sister not to be such a snob.
  • When Mr. B suggested they all sit down to dinner together, Lady Davers got super cranky.
  • Pamela tried to smooth things over by begging off again, but Mr. B wouldn't have it. Lady Davers resolved to depart the house immediately.
  • Mr. B then left as well, commanding that Pamela come downstairs for dinner in a little while when he called for her.
  • Meanwhile, while her servants were preparing to leave and her nephew was taking a walk with Monsieur Colbrand, Lady Davers went outside to wait.
  • Upon arriving in the parlor to eat, Mr. B saw his sister sitting outside and decided to try again to invite her to dine with them.
  • He managed to thaw her a little, but there was still some thorniness about where Pamela was going to eat. Lady Davers was still unwilling to sit down with a former housemaid. Jackey, however, urged his aunt to check her privilege.
  • Pamela offered to wait on Lady Davers, but Mr. B wouldn't hear of that.
  • Ultimately, they all sat down together, with lots of complaints from Lady Davers along the way.
  • To account for Lady Davers's strange behavior in front of the servants (i.e., help keep their marriage a secret from the general household), Mr. B implied that Lady Davers was annoyed at her husband for not accompanying her to Lincolnshire (and, too, that Lord Davers might be up to something fishy).
  • Lady Davers was not amused.
  • Mr. B then invited Lady Davers to travel with them to Bedfordshire, but Lady Davers continued to be snotty about Pamela's role in the household.
  • Finally, Lady Davers apparently pushed Mr. B too far by referencing someone named Sally Godfrey, saying that Mr. B never had half as much interest in her as he does in Pamela.
  • At this point, Mr. B felt the need to defend himself against accusations his sister had made regarding his history of dueling and general licentiousness.
  • First, he explained the causes of the duel his sister referenced and admitted that his opponent had died a month later of a fever that may or may not have been caused by wounds sustained during their encounter. So, you know, you can't really pin that on him.
  • But about Sally Godfrey: she was a girl Mr. B had courted years before who had "yielded" to his advances before their parents could arrange a marriage. So, obviously, he never married her (93.103).
  • Mr. B also explained that he had been planning to tell Pamela all this at the right time.
  • Lady Davers felt that she had now gone too far and started to apologize profusely; however, Mr. B was so angry that he stormed off.
  • Lady Davers begged Pamela to help her get Mr. B's forgiveness. They went off to the garden, but he was still ticked off and demanded that they both leave him.
  • Much to Pamela's surprise, he was mad at her for approaching him in this state without his permission, and he threatened to leave for Bedfordshire without her.
  • Lady Davers then tried to intercede on Pamela's behalf, but no dice.
  • Then, Pamela begged that Mr. B just direct all of his anger toward her so he could make up with his sister.
  • But this just made him more furious, since he thought it implied that Pamela wasn't sufficiently in awe of or afraid of his anger.
  • Um, really?
  • Lady Davers was just about leave when, in kissing Pamela goodbye (and thereby signaling she was done being snotty to her new sister-in-law), she finally calmed Mr. B down.
  • Sister and brother then went for a ride in Mr. B's chariot (with Jackey accompanying them on horseback), and Pamela went upstairs to write and reflect on everything she had just learned about her husband, like how he maybe killed a man and ruined a girl.
  • When Mr. B, Lady Davers, and Jackey returned, they were all in a good mood, and Lady Davers reported that everyone looooooves Pamela.
  • Lady Davers and Pamela then bonded.
  • Once Lady Davers had left, she and Mr. B debriefed on the day's events. Mr. B then gave Pamela some instructions and advice on how to prevent conflicts with him in the future.
  • Also, he went into a philosophical digression about why rich people find it so difficult to be married.
  • Pamela then writes out a list of 48 key rules and observations about marriage and being rich. Seriously.