Howards End

Back outside the house, Margaret holds the keys and prevents Mr. Wilcox and the doctor from going inside to see Helen. She has the feeling that she is standing up for women against men. The doctor finds out from Helen’s driver that she is pregnant. Mr. Wilcox is scandalized and he and the doctor argue with Margaret to let them in the house. Margaret adamantly refuses. Mr. Wilcox tells the doctor to leave, and Margaret sends Mr. Wilcox away too, telling him she will see him later on at Dolly’s. After they leave, Margaret enters the house and pleads for Helen’s forgiveness.

Helen and Margaret talk as Helen is looking through books. Helen is polite but distant. She says that England can never accept her. Margaret says that Helen should not be unkind to her on account of her hatred for Mr. Wilcox, but Helen says that she does not hate him anymore, attributing the hatred to earlier immaturity of hers. The sisters do not argue but are not properly reconciled, and they seemingly do not have anything to say to one another.

Margaret gets a letter from Mr. Wilcox telling her that after they talk, Margaret should spend the night at Dolly’s and find Helen a hotel. Helen is on the point of leaving when she and Margaret begin talking about their common memories with the furniture. This causes them to laugh and warm to one another. 

Margaret talks about the “wonderful powers” of Howards End, saying, “[i]t kills what is dreadful and makes what is beautiful live” (271). Helen agrees, and she suggests that the two spend the night at Howards End. At first Margaret is against the idea, saying that she will need to get Mr. Wilcox’s permission since it is his house. After Helen persists, Margaret agrees, although she still insists on driving over to Charles and Dolly’s house to get Mr. Wilcox’s permission. The two are both excited to spend the night together at Howards End, viewing it as a fitting ending before Helen returns to Germany. Margaret is disconcerted that she is fulfilling Miss Avery’s prophecy that she will live at Howards End.

Margaret and Mr. Wilcox sit outside Charles’s house. He asks Margaret if Helen was wearing a wedding ring. Margaret responds that she was not and brings up Howards End, but Mr. Wilcox brushes this aside and asks if Helen gave Margaret the name of her “seducer.” Margaret says that she did not ask for it. Mr. Wilcox reveals that he has told Charles about what has happened, and Charles has gone to see Tibby. Margaret tells him that this was unnecessary. Mr. Wilcox responds that they intend to force Helen’s “seducer” to marry her.

When Margaret asks what Mr. Wilcox proposes to do if the man is already married, Mr. Wilcox says that they will severely beat him. Margaret asks if she and Helen can stay the night at Howards End. Mr. Wilcox is puzzled at first and then refuses. Margaret unsuccessfully tries to persuade him, but Mr. Wilcox says that he cannot “treat her as if nothing has happened” (279). Margaret asks if Mr. Wilcox can “forgive her for one night only” before she leaves for Germany (280), as he himself has been forgiven. Mr. Wilcox, now understanding the insinuation, says that he has the memory of Mrs. Wilcox on his mind to honor also and demands that Helen be taken from his house. 

Margaret brings up Jacky and yells at Mr. Wilcox, calling him hypocritical and cruel. Margaret accuses him of being incapable of recognizing that his case and Helen’s are the same and of sympathizing with Helen. Mr. Wilcox says that the cases are different, and Margaret says that his is worse because he was married when he had an affair. Mr. Wilcox once more refuses her request for the sisters to spend the night at Howards End.

Charles meets Tibby at Mr. Wilcox’s apartment on Ducie Street, where Tibby is staying. Charles is consumed with hatred for the Schlegels, viewing them as intent on disgracing his father and on taking Howards End, although he has not heard news of Margaret’s request.

Charles angrily questions Tibby about what he knows, and he manages to pierce through Tibby’s disinterest and composure. Tibby lets slip that Helen mentioned the Basts when he last saw her. Tibby is disappointed in himself for having betrayed his sister’s confidence. When Charles asks if Tibby has dealt with Leonard, he takes Tibby’s silence to be an admission of guilt. He assumes that Tibby let Helen and Leonard conduct their affair in his apartment, and Charles storms out.

Outside at Howards End, Helen and Margaret speak of the night of Evie’s wedding. Helen says that she blamed Mr. Wilcox at first for the letters sent to her and to Leonard, but now she views Margaret as right in trying to shield Mr. Wilcox. She implies that she and Leonard had sex that night after she made Leonard tell her what happened between Mr. Wilcox and Jacky. She says that Leonard is not to blame, although she says that she never wants to see him again. 

Helen connects her encounter with Leonard to her encounter with Paul Wilcox, saying that they both happened at night when she was lonely. Helen says that although she does not like Mr. Wilcox, she understands why Margaret married him. Margaret responds that only Mrs. Wilcox understands them all. Margaret is convinced that Mrs. Wilcox knew of Mr. Wilcox’s affair.

Helen invites Margaret to join her in Germany, and Margaret wonders whether she should leave Mr. Wilcox and join her sister there. They put off discussions and plans, and feel at peace as the tree rustles in the night. They go to sleep, and Margaret wakes up in the middle of the night thankful for the night of peace.

Leonard is tormented with guilt over his affair with Helen, and time does not reduce his suffering. Helen forgets to pay the bill after she leaves the hotel on the morning after Evie’s wedding, and Leonard and Jacky need to pawn Jacky’s jewelry in order to return to London. Leonard is forced to beg for money from his family, with whom he has lost contact. They send it, despite their resentment for him. Leonard does not drink and even comes to care more for Jacky, feeling pity for her. 

Leonard tries to find Margaret in order to confess to her, and he discovers that they have moved from Wickham Place. Eventually, he finds out that she has married Mr. Wilcox and has moved into his apartment. He goes there the day that Margaret and Mr. Wilcox plan to ambush Helen at Howards End. Since Margaret is not there, the maid tells Leonard that she has gone to Howards End.

Back home, Leonard has a nightmare and wakes up in the middle of the night. He decides to go to Howards End and takes the train there just as day is breaking. As he arrives in town, Leonard again has the sense of being on one of his adventures. He again believes that there is good in the world and is happy.

Leonard enters the house. He says that he has done wrong. Before anything more can be said, Charles grabs him and strikes him with a sword. A bookcase falls on top of Leonard. The sisters take Leonard’s lifeless body outside, and Miss Avery comes out of the house with the sword, saying that Charles has murdered Leonard.

The previous night, after speaking with Tibby, Charles returned home. Mr. Wilcox sent for him and asked about Margaret, but she did not return to Charles’s house. Past midnight, Mr. Wilcox went to Charles and told him that the sisters are likely at Howards End. He said he wants them removed, and Charles went in the morning to act as Mr. Wilcox’s representative.

Back in the present, Charles returns to his house after his confrontation with Leonard. It turns out that he only used the flat of the sword to hit him, and Margaret and Miss Avery believe that Leonard has died of a heart attack. Charles informs the police of what happened on his way home.

Charles tells his father what happened and says that Margaret intends to go to Germany in the evening with Helen. Mr. Wilcox asks Charles about the details of his attack on Leonard, anxious that he not be held criminally responsible. Charles is hopeful that his father will now see that the Schlegels are no good and will separate from Margaret. Mr. Wilcox goes to the police station and upon his return tells Charles that they will examine Leonard’s body and bring him in for questions the next day.

In spite of the chaos and suffering, Margaret is convinced that there is harmony to the world and beauty in it. Margaret answers the questions of the police officers who come to Howards End. They take Leonard’s body and the sword to the station. Helen must wait another day to go to Germany and spends the night at Miss Avery’s niece’s house. Margaret thinks over her argument with Mr. Wilcox, and she is unrepentant, feeling that what she said was necessary. She still resolves to go to Germany with Helen and does not intend to apologize to Mr. Wilcox. She imagines Mr. Wilcox’s future and, without bitterness, thinks that he will remain the same.

Mr. Wilcox sends the chauffeur to pick up Margaret. She arrives back at Charles’s house and they talk outside. Margaret tells him that she is unable to forgive him and intends to live permanently in Germany with Helen. Mr. Wilcox says that the verdict for Leonard’s death will be manslaughter, to Margaret’s surprise, and that he does not have the heart to tell Charles. He confesses to Margaret that he feels “broken.”

At trial, Charles is sentenced to three years in prison, and Mr. Wilcox breaks down, telling Margaret to do what she will with him. She takes him to Howards End.

Helen, who now has a baby boy, is with Margaret in the field outside Howards End. Helen says that she likes Mr. Wilcox now. She says that she never wants to marry and that she feels guilty for thinking little of Leonard. Margaret encourages her to forget him.

Helen calls Margaret “heroic” for bringing about the happy state of affairs over the past year and settling them at Howards End, together with Mr. Wilcox. They talk about how London’s expanding suburbs will soon reach Howards End.

Paul comes out of the house and says that Mr. Wilcox has asked for Margaret. Paul lives in England now to work in the family business. Margaret goes inside with him, where Mr. Wilcox is sitting with Evie and Dolly. Mr. Wilcox announces that he is leaving Howards End to Margaret and that, by her request, he is leaving no money to her. After Margaret dies, Helen’s son is to inherit Howards End. Paul is angry, but he, Evie, and Dolly politely take their leave. Dolly lets slip that Mrs. Wilcox left Howards End to Margaret. 

After they leave, Margaret asks Mr. Wilcox about Dolly’s comment. Mr. Wilcox says that it is true and that he considered Mrs. Wilcox’s note “fanciful,” little knowing that Margaret would become his wife. Margaret is shaken and says that nothing has been done wrong. Helen comes in, along with her baby, and they are all cheerful.