Charlotte Temple: A Tale of Truth

The narrative travels back in time. Charlotte’s father, Mr. Temple, is the youngest child in his prideful family. His brother marries an unpleasant but wealthy woman and his sisters are “legally prostituted” to affluent, elderly men. Not wanting to sacrifice his happiness, he decides he will marry for love.

He lives on an estate with a 500-pound annual income. An officer named Blakeney asks him to help an imprisoned man, Captain Eldridge, and his daughter, Lucy. Mr. Temple meets with Eldridge, who acknowledges his unfortunate circumstances but says he is not ashamed. Mr. Temple asks how he can help. Eldridge feels past help but worries what will happen to his daughter after his death; Lucy responds that she hopes to die with him. Sending Lucy home for the day, Eldridge tells Mr. Temple how he came to be imprisoned.

Eldridge recounts the circumstances behind his arrest. As a young man Eldridge enlisted as a sailor, married when he was 25, and had two children, Lucy and a son, George. While George was in school, he befriended a wealthy student, Lewis. After his schooling, George enlisted in the army. Lewis paid for George’s commission, and Eldridge agreed to pay him back over time.

Lucy returned from school, and Lewis took an interest in her. When he told her he loved her, Lucy told her parents, and Eldridge confronted Lewis, who was unclear about his intentions. To protect Lucy, Eldridge banished Lewis from their home. The next day, Lewis demanded repayment for George’s commission. Unable to immediately pay, Eldridge was arrested and taken from his home; his wife and Lucy fainted.

That night, George returned home. After learning what had happened, he confronted and hit Lewis, then wrote his father a letter expressing his guilt over having brought Lewis into their lives. Eldridge fell deliriously ill, and he awoke to find Lucy sitting in his room. She told him that both George and Mrs. Eldridge had died.

Eldridge later learned that George, mortally wounded in the fight with Lewis, had been carried to the house. Mrs. Eldridge, weakened from chronic illness, had seized by George’s bedside and died shortly after. George died later that night. While neighbors attended to the bodies, Lucy went to the prison to tell her father what happened.

Creditors seized Eldridge’s house and possessions to repay the debt. Lucy supported herself by painting and spent her days with her father. Lewis had left the country, but Eldridge was to remain imprisoned until he fully repaid the 500 pounds he owed Lewis. Although the amount is more than he expected, Mr. Temple agrees to pay the debt.

Within three days, Mr. Temple raises the money to free Eldridge by selling assets. Mr. Temple’s father questions Mr. Temple’s motives and accuses Lucy of manipulating him. Mr. Temple defends Lucy and said she is the type of woman he will marry. His father suggests he marry the wealthy Miss Weatherby instead, but the idea enrages Mr. Temple.

Miss Weatherby is a spoiled and vain young woman. She wants to marry Mr. Temple and asks her father to speak to Mr. Temple’s father. Mr. Temple declines to marry her, which angers Miss Weatherby for a short time until Mr. Temple’s father proposes marriage. She accepts out of revenge against Mr. Temple.

Mr. Temple marries Lucy, and they move into a cottage with Eldridge. The Temples have one child, Charlotte, who they send to Madame Du Pont’s school to complete her education.

The novel returns to the present. Although Madame Du Pont is an apt headmistress, she has too many students to manage herself and relies on assistants, including Mademoiselle La Rue. Mademoiselle La Rue is a French woman with a scandalous past; as a nun, she eloped in England with an officer but when her immoral lifestyle proved unaffordable, she pretended to repent in order to secure a job. She takes an interest in a local young man, and on the night that she and Charlotte encounter Montraville, she and Charlotte sneak out to attend a party with the man. Mademoiselle La Rue tells Charlotte that she is related to the man who is throwing the party, so Charlotte is not worried about behaving wrongly: “Charlotte thought only of the pleasure she should enjoy in the visit, not of the imprudence of going without her governess’ knowledge, or of the danger to which she exposed herself in visiting the house of a young man of fashion” (47). Charlotte is disappointed in the party, partly because she wants to return to her room and read Montraville’s letter.

The author interjects to suggest that the letter contains compliments and professions of love, and adds that girls are particularly vulnerable to the advances of young soldiers. She asks older readers not to quit the book or to ban their daughters from reading it, promising to ridicule girls who follow the soldiers and to scorn the men who deceive them. Directly addressing her intended audience, she warns adolescent girls to listen to their fathers.

Charlotte feels that she and Mademoiselle La Rue should not have attended the party and is disappointed. Mademoiselle La Rue counters that the disappointment is Charlotte’s fault, arguing that the party was enjoyable. When Charlotte expresses her concern over the men’s behavior, Mademoiselle La Rue calls her prudish. Mademoiselle La Rue also suggests that, if Charlotte tells Madame Du Pont, she will be fired and forced to live in poverty. Charlotte says she will not tell anyone.

To redirect Charlotte, Mademoiselle La Rue brings up the encounter with Montraville and his letter. Charlotte is wary of reading it, as her mother has asked Charlotte to bring any such letters to herself for approval. Mademoiselle La Rue encourages Charlotte to read the letter, saying that if she gives it to her mother she will be taken out of school and secluded. Still hesitant, Charlotte sets down the unopened letter, and Mademoiselle La Rue continues to taunt her by bringing up Montraville’s appearance and saying that he is likely being sent to the US and may be killed in battle—“and though he loved you ever so fervently, though his last breath should be spent in prayer for your happiness, it can be nothing to you; you can feel nothing for the fate of the man whose letter you will not open” (57). The manipulation works, and Charlotte decides to open the letter but claims she will not respond. Afterward, Mademoiselle La Rue convinces Charlotte to meet Montraville again.