What Will He Do With It? by Edward Bulwer Lytton Baron Lytton

A private letter ignites a crisis around Guy Darrell, accusing him of cruel pride in forbidding Lionel Haughton's marriage to Sophy and warning that Lady Montfort's health is breaking under the strain. George Morley carries the appeal to Darrell in person, turning a practical complaint into a searching moral reckoning. What begins as a discussion of Lionel's future and Sophy's uncertain birth becomes a fierce meditation on suffering, pride, family honor, and the hidden purposes of Providence. Morley presses Darrell to see his life as a pattern of divine correction, where hardship has been used to strip away vanity and expose a nobler calling. Darrell, shaken but resistant, is forced to confront the wounds of family disgrace, thwarted love, and his lifelong devotion to ancestry and legacy. As the argument deepens, he recognizes that his ambitions may have become a prison. He resolves to destroy the ancestral house in his own lifetime, hoping to free Lionel from its burden and end the tyranny of old pride. Meanwhile, Fairthorn's frantic loyalties collide with the truth, and Sophy receives the devastating revelation that makes her marriage to Lionel impossible. Heartbroken yet serene, she chooses renunciation over happiness, proving her love through sacrifice and moral courage. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.