Howards End

While at Aunt Juley’s place during breakfast, Margaret receives a letter from Mr. Wilcox offering to rent his house on Ducie Street in London to the Schlegels. Margaret talks over the proposal with Helen and Tibby, and she decides to go to London to talk over the deal. She wonders whether Mr. Wilcox is romantically interested in her and means to use the occasion to propose to her, but she sadly dismisses the idea.

Mr. Wilcox picks her up from the station. They talk over the house in the car. Margaret likes the idea but is unsure whether to accept it. Although Mr. Wilcox is 20 years older, she admires his confidence, energy, and optimism. At one point in the midst of their conversation, Mr. Wilcox leans in for a kiss, but they do not go through with it as they are passing by Buckingham Palace. When they arrive at the house, they regain their composure and survey the house. Margaret is delighted with the house, and when they are upstairs Mr. Wilcox proposes to her. Margaret is overjoyed, but she does not commit. Instead, she promises to write to Mr. Wilcox the next day with an answer. She imagines Mrs. Wilcox as a “welcome ghost” looking upon her and Mr. Wilcox without bitterness.

When Margaret arrives back to Aunt Juley’s place she whispers to Helen that Mr. Wilcox has proposed to her. At first, Helen is amused at the idea, but she begins to cry when she realizes that Margaret is entertaining the proposal. The two of them go on a walk in the countryside, while Helen cries and repeatedly says “don’t.” The two of them sit, and as Helen begins to calm down, Margaret says that she will come to love Mr. Wilcox. Helen does not approve because of the way she noticed Paul’s fear in the presence of his family the morning after they had confessed their love for one another. Margaret says that she recognizes Mr. Wilcox’s faults, including his inability to deal with emotions, and that one person will never be all-important to her. Margaret says that she admires the Wilcox character. She attributes the development and safety of society to the enterprising and practical spirit of the Wilcox type. Helen dismisses this idea, and the narrator, scanning the landscape, wonders whether England belongs to those whose nature it is to build and do or to those whose nature it is to see and think.

Mr. Wilcox comes to Swanage bearing the ring for Margaret. Mr. Wilcox says that he got along relatively well with Tibby earlier, and Margaret presses him to speak with Helen, as she is eager for them to get along. 

They begin to talk about money. Mr. Wilcox says that he will have to provide money for his three children, and Margaret tells him to be generous to them. They agree that they will have to wait until after Evie’s wedding to be married but will marry soon after. They discuss where they are to live, and when Margaret suggests Howards End, Mr. Wilcox says that it is impossible because it is rented out. Mr. Wilcox insists on walking Margaret back to Aunt Juley’s in spite of her objections, and he intends to drop off a letter to Charles explaining their engagement. He and Margaret kiss upon their arrival, but Mr. Wilcox leaves immediately after without saying anything. Margaret is reminded of Helen’s experience with Paul when she thinks of Mr. Wilcox’s inability to be open with his feelings.

Charles Wilcox, having received his father’s letter, argues with his wife, Dolly, over Mr. Wilcox’s engagement to Margaret. Charles blames Dolly for playing matchmaker with her uncle and Evie. He does not believe that his father would marry if Evie were still at home. Charles says that they will be civil to the Schlegels but will have to be on their guard and ready to lash out if the Schlegels start overstepping their boundaries. Charles thinks that Margaret is trying to take his mother’s place.

When Margaret and Mr. Wilcox are on a walk at Aunt Juley’s with Helen, the sisters say that they have received a letter from Leonard Bast. He has left his job and found one that pays less. Mr. Wilcox absentmindedly says that the insurance company is no longer likely to go bankrupt and starts to talk about his tenant trying to sublet Howards End. The sisters are distressed by Mr. Wilcox’s altered prognosis for the insurance company and try to ask him more about it. He asks Margaret if she wants to go to Howards End, and when she says that it would be rude to leave Aunt Juley’s before their vacation there is over, he ignores her and goes to Aunt Juley himself to notify her. Mr. Wilcox becomes indignant when he thinks that Helen blames him for Leonard leaving the insurance company for a reduced salary at the bank. Helen, who feels guilty over the advice she provided, becomes indignant in turn when Mr. Wilcox lectures her to stay out of the affairs of the “poor.” Helen gives a sarcastic reply, and Mr. Wilcox leaves, thinking of her as silly. Margaret seeks to comfort Helen, and she rejoins Mr. Wilcox and her aunt, telling Aunt Juley that she will unfortunately have to leave early.

Margaret is upset with Helen for not being clear about her disapproval of Mr. Wilcox. Helen says that she dislikes Mr. Wilcox but will try to be civil toward him. She says that she will love Margaret more than ever, and Margaret returns to London relieved that she will remain on good terms with her sister. The following morning, Margaret goes to Mr. Wilcox’s office for their rubber company that deals in the British colonies of West Africa. Charles politely greets her when she arrives, and he and Mr. Wilcox complain about the Howards End tenant, who has left the place in a mess.

The three of them leave, stopping at Charles’s for lunch before Margaret and Mr. Wilcox proceed to Howards End. Margaret is surprised at how near it is to Charles’s house. She admires the garden and the surrounding landscape and heads inside on account of the rain while Mr. Wilcox goes to get a key, not knowing that the door is unlocked. Margaret admires the inside of the house, empty of furniture, and hears walking inside. A woman comes down the stairs and mistakes Margaret for Mrs. Wilcox and then exits the house into the rain.

Back at Charles’s house, Margaret and Mr. Wilcox talk over the scene of the unexpected woman with Dolly. The woman is Miss Avery, an old and eccentric local farm worker. Mr. Wilcox attributes her behavior to her belonging to the “uneducated classes.” Dolly reveals that Mrs. Wilcox had a brother, Tom Howard, who had proposed to Miss Avery, but she rejected him, and he died not long after. Mr. Wilcox, tired of Dolly’s joking, wants to leave, and Margaret realizes that the Wilcoxes cannot stand to be too close to one another. As a result, given the proximity of Howards End to Charles’s house, they cannot live there. Margaret and Mr. Wilcox return to Howards End to look over the house and survey the land. Mr. Wilcox explains the changes that have been made to the property and the considerable portions of land that have been sold off.

At Evie’s wedding, Mr. Wilcox is excited for Margaret to meet his friends, but she notices he only maintains superficial relationships with them, and she attributes this to his inability to form connections with people. 

Margaret is charmed by the rural town in which the wedding is held, and she thinks it would be a good place for her and Mr. Wilcox to move. Margaret is in a car with other women on the way to the wedding when it stops and they are all told to get in a different car, which is being driven by Charles. Their car has hit a dog, and Margaret pleads with Charles to stop the car and let her out, but when he refuses she jumps out. She realizes that the car hit a cat, not a dog. The men do not seem bothered, although a cat has been run over and killed. Margaret is upset and she apologizes to Mr. Wilcox upon the group’s arrival. Charles thinks that her behavior will end up disgracing his father. He becomes suspicious and thinks that if she and her father have children, he and his own children will end up with less money. At night during a party, Charles is outside smoking when he sees Margaret come out. When she smells the smoke and calls to see who is there, he does not answer. When she goes back inside to the party, he follows her.