Lorna Doone

John and his men go to dig the sheep out of the snow. They bring the 66 surviving sheep home, but they lose half of them even once they are sequestered indoors due to the severity of the winter’s cold. The snow also prevents John from hearing news of Lorna. Eliza tells John that, according to her books, people in the arctic regions use snowshoes and sledges to traverse the snow. He makes some snowshoes and tells his mother he is going to see Lorna. She surprises him by giving him her blessing to do so. 

John snowshoes to Doone Glen and finds Lorna’s house. Before opening the door, Gwenny demands that he put his finger with the ring on it through the door to prove his identity. Once she lets him in, she explains that they are starving. Lorna is bedridden by the cold and starvation. He gives them his emergency provisions. Once recovered, they explain the cause of their starvation—the Doones will not bring them food until Lorna agrees to marry Carver. They also keep careful watch over her to prevent others from bringing her food. John’s appearance happens to coincide with a festival, which distracts the Doone sentries. Lorna and Gwenny agree to go with him if he can find a way to safely transport them through the weather. They plan for him to return in two hours and use a secret knock combination to identify himself.

The Doones’s celebration leaves the main gate unlocked, and the snow makes the treacherous terrain easier to navigate. John returns home to fetch a sledge and instruct his family to light the fires and prepare food. Annie brings him their mother’s beautiful sealskin cloak to put on Lorna’s shoulders during the journey. Despite its quality, John insists it is unworthy to cover Lorna’s feet.

He carefully makes his way to Lorna’s house, but his knock is unanswered. He bursts in and sees Lorna hiding behind a chair as a man towers over her, with Gwenny grabbing at another man’s ankles from the floor. John throws one man, Charlesworth Doone, out the window. He takes the second man outside by his neck and throws him into a snowdrift before recognizing him as Marwood de Whichehalse. John situates Lorna and Gwenny in the sled and pulls them all the way to his house.

When they arrive, John insists that his mother be the first to see the sleeping Lorna, as she is to be her daughter. Everyone is impressed by her beauty. Once Gwenny is settled and eating, she explains that the two men, in their drunkenness, made the correct sequence of knocks by coincidence. Lorna wakes up but is unresponsive. John holds her hands until she comes to her senses, at which point she kneels before John’s mother and places her hands upon her head. Through this gesture of humility, she earns Mrs. Ridd’s affection and approval.

Stickles is in the south since the snow has prevented his return from his trip to find men to arrest the Doones. John is grateful for the snow, since the Doones are unable to leave their glen until it recedes. He is also aware that Marwood de Whichehalse, his former schoolmate, has certainly recognized him and told Carver that he has Lorna. Meanwhile, Lorna has become endeared to everyone in the Ridd household. Lorna feels safe and therefore sheds her serious behavior to become more light-hearted. John gets one kiss a day and considers it a happy time, despite the harsh weather.

Superstitious townsfolk claim that the winter is God’s judgment of England and Catholics and will never end. Everyone notes the “hollow moaning sound” which seems to appear at all hours, irrespective of any wind (304). Mid-March brings an end to the sounds and changes in the weather—the fog clears, and the color returns to the sky. Eventually, it rains instead of snows. Everyone is relieved, but the change also means that John has a lot of work to do to prepare for the melting snow and saving the farm animals.

A violent rainstorm makes the ground too slippery to walk on when combined with the standing snow. Most of the work cannot be done until the ground is less slippery, but there is plenty of housework and yardwork to do. Lorna insists on doing her part, though the Ridds hate to allow her to do so given her birth, status as a guest, and recent illness.

Tom Faggus returns with the news of his recently purchased land. The lawyers had enjoyed him so much, they charged the seller, Sir Roger Basset, for both sides of the transaction’s fees. Tom also reports that he had used the snow to his advantage by training Winnie to call to other horses and draw them back to the shelter of his land. Tom reports owning not only the land, but also more than 300 horses. Given his prosperity, John realizes that he has no grounds to delay Tom’s marriage to Annie. He announces that it will be Annie’s choice as to when the wedding will take place.

When Tom meets Lorna, he notices the glass necklace she wears. He asks about her history, stating that he is sure he saw her years ago as a child, though he cannot remember when. He points out the danger in keeping her, given her history with the Doones and the fact that the “glass” necklace is actually made of diamonds. When John and Mrs. Ridd protest that he is wrong, he wistfully reminds them of his time as a highwayman. Mrs. Ridd rebukes Tom for referring to those times with affection rather than repentance, given his contrition’s importance for her consent to marry Annie.

John remembers his trip to London. While there, a woman had thrown a book at another woman’s window, but it had fallen and stuck his head. When he had gone to return the book, the woman said the event never happened and the rightful owners would not take it back as it is “evidence of lewd assault” (318). John agreed to take the book, which he states would later become his favorite.

At home, Tom shocks Lorna by telling her that her “glass” necklace has 25 rose diamonds and 25 large, “brilliant” diamonds, making it worth a hundred thousand pounds. Lorna is pleased by this surprising information, which leads John to say that she is fond of money. Before he has finished sighing, Lorna gives the necklace to Mrs. Ridd, saying that a thousandth of her kindness was worth more than any jewel. Naturally, Mrs. Ridd refuses to accept the necklace. Tom goes on to explain that it is likely two or three hundred years old. Lorna assumes the Doones had stolen it from an older, richer family. Lorna asks John to hold onto it for her and not tell her where it is. He agrees to hold it, but not to hide it from her.

As soon as Tom Faggus leaves, Jeremy Stickles arrives. He reports that he has not eaten in 24 hours and three large Doones have chased him. He and a member of the King’s army tried to cross the Landacre bridge, which was flooded over. While Stickles was crossing, a Doone shot the other man off his horse. There were three men, two reloading the rifle and the third taking aim at Stickles with his own rifle. Stickles rode straight at the man with the loaded rifle. The man missed the shot in surprise. Fortunately, the Doones’s horses were not recovered from the harsh winter, and Stickles’s healthy horse outran them. After several near-misses, Stickles was safe enough to thumb his nose at them (a rude gesture) before making it to Plover’s Barrows.

Jeremy Stickles explains the rest of the story to John. He had gone to Exeter to find men to attack Doone Glen, but they had received orders not to march inland for any reason. They gave him only the trooper out of politeness. Further, the officers knew that it would be difficult to rally men in bad weather and made excuses. Given the borders, they claimed that they were not members of the same county as Bagworthy. The Somersetshire men told Stickles he should get men from Devonshire and vice versa. Stickles had shrewdly suggested that each give half as to not be outdone by the other county. They agreed but stated that they would deploy only when the other county’s men did. Stickles had returned with the promise of 200 men when the weather was fairer, but no men in the present.

John tells Stickles about Lorna, and Stickles agrees that the Doones will attack soon. He suggests strengthening defenses, fetching the mounted troopers Stickles has in Lynmouth, and attempting to rally any townsfolk who may be willing to help. John goes, but the East Lynn river is flooded. He fetches back four men and their weapons by boat, but the horses are left behind. By the time the men on foot make it to Plover’s Barrows, they have added two more men to their group.

When John returns home, the women are upset. Lorna explains that she had been in the garden and saw Carver Doone behind a bush. He had aimed his rifle at her, but she had been too terrified to move or yell. After holding it aimed at her heart, he lowered it towards her feet and shot the ground. Lorna fell to the ground and cried. Carver then informed her that if she did not return the next day with all the belongings she took, and tell him how to “destroy” John, he would kill her.

Lorna asks Mrs. Ridd to let her go back to spare their lives, but she insists that Lorna must stay unless she truly wants to leave them. Lorna asks John about the future attack on Doone Glen and asks him not to take part in it for his safety. John explains that he does not think there will be one soon, but he will take part when it happens. Lorna suggests that Doone Glen must be flooded. John agrees that the Doones do not have men to spare, given that all their houses are flooded, so no more than 10 men will likely attack them. John is confident they will prevail. He considers Carver to be the first worthy opponent he has had since coming of age and is excited by the prospect of defeating him in an altercation. He falls asleep at his post.

Lorna wakes John and informs him that another fellow watchman is asleep and that the moon is now bright enough for the Doones to navigate. She suggests that the women should be on watch, as their days are less physically demanding, and she informs him that Gwenny is perched in a tree as a lookout. John promises not to endanger himself needlessly and sends Lorna back inside. He patrols as he berates himself for endangering everyone by falling asleep. Gwenny soon announces that 10 men have crossed the stream. John sends her to fetch Stickles and the men.

The Doones arrive and release the horses in the stable to stable their own horses, which John considers extremely disrespectful. Carver instructs the men to light fires and tells everyone not to touch Lorna, though he says they can harm the other women. They are to kill all men and children. John aims his gun at Carver, but he is unwilling to take a human life. Instead, he takes his club and beats two men who walk past him. As he hesitates over what to do next, Stickles’s men shoot two of the Doones. John approaches Carver, grabs him by the beard, and challenges him directly: “Do you call yourself a man?” (338). Carver is initially shocked at John’s audacity, but he goes for his gun. John informs Carver that he is a fool and throws him into the mud. A Doone shoots at John, grazing his head. Carver and the other Doones flee.

At the end of the fight, they have two dead Doones, two taken prisoner, and six horses. John is glad that he has not taken any human life, which he considers to be a heavy burden. He wants to chase down the remaining Doones, but Stickles reminds him that it would be a poor strategic choice. John expects they’ve damaged the Doone’s pride with their unexpected defeat; Carver will be taking it personally, and the others will attribute it to his mismanagement.

Lorna, Annie, and Mrs. Ridd all fuss over John’s injury. Stickles expresses envy for the attention, then states that John should have no faith in any woman, despite how she may appear. He goes on to claim they have no ability to reason and informs John that there are three kinds of women: passionate/contemptible, cold/odious, and a mix of the two. John disagrees and quickly determines that Stickles is bitter because his wife has left him for another man. After hearing Stickles describe the situation passionlessly, John does not blame Mrs. Stickles for leaving him.

John believes that, as with wrestling, he has private rights to the prisoners, whom he defeated. Stickles insists that it is a “public polity” issue, and despite John’s hopes and Lorna’s pleas, the men go to jail and execution. In light of their recent victory, the men consider attacking Doone Glen without waiting for the trained bands, but John considers taking advantage of the situation with the floods to be “mean,” so they decide to wait.

Despite the harsh winter, John thinks that they may have come out of it better off. John wants to marry Lorna right away, but his mother says she is still too young. Additionally, since Lorna is Catholic, she must first convert to the Protestant faith. Lorna does not see a need for it, asking why his love should come with the expectation of conversion when hers does not. John is satisfied with her argument. The townsfolk go to church to see the novelty: a beautiful Lady Doone in a Protestant church, engaged to John Ridd.

Mrs. Ridd mentions Ruth Huckaback being invited for Christmas. Mrs. Ridd tells the family that because Ruth is rich, she is not used to hearing the honesty of simple people and that her previous rude behavior should be pardoned because of her usefulness to the family. John goes to see Ruth. He asks about Uncle Ben, and Ruth shares that he has been coming and going irregularly and that something has clearly been weighing on his mind and sapping away his joy. Over the course of the visit, Ruth frequently blushes, is attentive to John, compliments him, and reminisces with him.

After she plies him with expensive wine, John asks if she will attend his wedding. Ruth is shocked and upset by the realization that he is engaged, and he insists on telling her his love story with Lorna. Ruth wishes him well in his new life, hoping that he will be “as happy as you deserve to be, and as happy as [he] can make others be” (352-353). At the end of the visit, she states that she will not be visiting as planned. Looking back, John asserts that he did not do anything wrong by way of encouraging her regard. He blames her hurt feelings on the matchmaking he assumes his mother and sister had done.