Which Treats Matters of a Very Different Kind From Those in the Preceding Chapter
- Tom meets with Lady Bellaston again that evening.
- The narrator refuses to be graphic about what they're getting up to (but it's clearly sex).
- Eventually, Tom starts realizing that Lady Bellaston is never going to let him meet up with Sophia.
- In fact, recently, she's been getting annoyed if he even mentions Sophia's name.
- Tom tells Partridge to fish for information from Lady Bellaston's servants.
- Tom's position in relation to his lady love continues to be awkward, because:
- (1) he's having trouble finding Sophia;
- (2) he knows that she is mad at him;
- (3) Lady Bellaston has told him that Sophia doesn't want to see him again, and that she has been hiding from him intentionally; and
- (4) he doesn't want to be the cause of Squire Western disinheriting her.
- He also worries about what he owes to Lady Bellaston.
- Lady Bellaston really likes him and she's given him many presents.
- Tom doesn't want to be ungrateful to a woman who so clearly adores him.
- He decides he has to devote himself to Lady Bellaston.
- But just as he has made this decision, he gets a note from her canceling their meeting that evening.
- He then gets a second note that says, never mind that first note! Come at seven this evening to my house.
- Tom is disappointed to hear that he still has to go see her.
- He would rather go to a new play with Mr. Nightingale and his friends.
- Lady Bellaston decides to send Sophia to a play that evening, leaving her house empty for her meeting with Tom.