Northanger Abbey Volume II Chapter XV Plot Overview

In Chapter 15, Catherine's mother noticed her listlessness. When she commented on her inability to keep to a task, Catherine tried harder. "Catherine said no more, and , with an endeavor to do right, applied to her work; but, after a few minutes, sunk again; without knowing it herself, into languor and listlessness, moving herself in her chair from the irritation of weariness, much oftener than she moved her needle" (Austen 203).

While her mother went on a search for a book she felt Catherine should read, the Morland's received an unexpected visitor – Mr. Henry Tilney.

He was very embarrassed, and said that the only reason he came was to ensure Catherine arrived home safely, that she was well, and that she wasn't too upset at him for what occurred in his absence at the Abbey.

"On his return from Woodston, two days before, he had been met near the Abbey by his impatient father, hastily informed in angry terms of Miss Morland's departure, and ordered to think of her no more. Such was the permission upon which he had now offered her his hand" (Austen 205).

Henry told Catherine that the reason she was turned from the house so suddenly was that the General had discovered in London that she came from a family with no wealth, as he had at first assumed.

"Henry's indignation on hearing how Catherine had been treated, on comprehending his father's views, and being ordered to acquiesce in them, had been open and bold. Usually not one to anger the General on purpose, or even argue with what he said or insisted, Henry Tilney stood up for his feelings for Catherine.

"He felt himself bound as much in honor as in affection to Miss Morland, and believing that heart to be his own which he had been directed to gain, no unworthy retraction of a tacit consent, no reversing decree of unjustifiable anger, could shake his fidelity, or influence the resolutions it prompted" (Austen 208).

Thus being said, he proposed.

Northanger Abbey Volume II Chapter XIV Plot Overview

Chapter 14 reveals Catherine's ride back to her home. "leaning back in one corner of the carriage, in a violent burst of tears, she was conveyed some miles beyond the walls of the Abbey before she raised her head; and the highest point of ground within the park was almost closed from her view before she was capable of turning her eyes towards it" (Austen 193).

The entire journey seemed to take forever, and Catherine was miserable the whole way home. Right before Catherine's homecoming, Austen injects her thoughts into the story: "A heroine returning, at the close of her career, to her native village, in all the triumph of recovered reputation, and all the dignity of a countess, with a long train of noble relations in their several phaetons, and three waiting-maids in a travelling chaise-and-four, behind her, is an event on which the pen of the contriver may well delight to dwell; it give credit to every conclusion, and the author must share in the glory she so liberally bestows – But my affair is widely different; I bring back my heroine to her home in solitude and disgrace; and no sweet elation of spirits can lead me into minuteness" (Austen 195).

Her whole family (or at least those at home) came out to greet her, happy to see her home again. They all wished to hear of her adventures, and asked about the circumstances which led to her coming home so soon. "They never once thought of her heart, which, for the parents of a young lady of seventeen, just returned from her first excursion from home, was odd enough! (Austen 197).

Catherine dearly missed Eleanor, and in response to a comment of Mrs. Allen said: "No friend can be better worth keeping than Eleanor" (Austen 198).

Northanger Abbey Volume II Chapter XIII Plot Overview

In chapter 13, the General went to London for a week, and left the inhabitants of Northanger Abbey to have a lovely time without his strict schedules.

"His departure gave Catherine the first experimental conviction that a loss may be sometimes a gain. The happiness with which their time now passed, every employment voluntary, every laugh indulged, every meal a scene of ease and good-humour, walking where they liked and when they liked, their hours, pleasure and fatigues at their own command, made her thoroughly sensible of the restraint which the General's presence had imposed, and most thankfully feel their present release form it" (Austen 184).

During this time, Catherine brought up the length of her stay. How long was she welcome, was something that she wanted to know. She didn't want to overstay. Eleanor and Henry quickly shushed her reservations of being unwelcome for much longer. "The kindness, the earnestness of Eleanor's manner in pressing her to stay, and Henry's gratified look on being told that her stay was determined, were such sweet proofs of her importance with them as left her only just so much solicitude as the human mind can never do comfortably without" (Austen 185).

At the end of the chapter, however, the General returns late one night and commands that Eleanor tell her friend to leave immediately. He even scheduled a carriage to pick her up first thing after breakfast the next morning. Just after breakfast, she left Northanger Abbey, unaware of any wrongdoing on her part, but wishing she could apologize for it.

Northanger Abbey Volume II Chapter XII Plot Overview

In chapter 11, Catherine received an unexpected letter from Isabella. "Such a strain of shallow artifice could not impose even upon Catherine. Its inconsistencies, contradictions, and falsehood, struck her from the very first. She was ashamed of Isabella, and ashamed of having ever loved her" (Austen 182).

Catherine rants to herself about the girl her broke her brother's heart exclaiming: "she is a vain coquette" (Austen 182). When talking the letter over with Henry, Catherine tells him how even though she no longer thinks they are getting married, she still isn't keen on his brother.

Captain Tilney had already been re-deployed, and left Isabella all alone. But Catherine did not care: "As it happens, there is no great harm done, because I do not think Isabella has any heart to lose"(Austen 182).

Northanger Abbey Volume II Chapter XI Plot Overview

In chapter 11 Catherine is invited to visit Woodston, Henry's estate. The General, Isabella, and Catherine all ride out to make a day of it. "Henry, with the friends of his solitude, a large Newfoundland puppy and two or three terriers, was ready to receive them and make much of them. Catherine's mind was too full, as she entered the house, for her either to observe or to say a great deal" (Austen 177).

She had a beautiful time at Woodston and greatly enjoyed walking the grounds. "She was sufficiently recovered to think it prettier than any pleasure-ground she had ever been in before, though there was not a shrub in it higher than the green bench in the corner" (Austen 178).

She had such a grand experience, and she couldn't wait to return.

Northanger Abbey Volume II Chapter X Plot Overview

In chapter 10 Catherine receives some news that breaks her heart. Isabella has broken her engagement to Catherine's brother, James. In a letter to his sister, James explains what happened. "Everything is at an end between Miss Thorpe and me" (Austen 167). "Let me soon hear from you, dear Catherine; you are my only friend; you love I do build upon. Dearest Catherine, beware how you give your heart" (Austen 168).

Catherine is very upset and allows Henry and Isabella to read the letter. "Isabella has deserted my brother, and is to marry your's! Could you have believed there had been such inconstancy and fickleness, and every thing that is bad in the world?" (Austen 170).

Thankfully, Henry and Eleanor are kind-hearted and talk her out of her distress.

Northanger Abbey Volume II Chapter IX Plot Overview

In chapter 9 Catherine resolves to have a look around the deceased Mrs. Tilney's apartments that had not been included in her tour the day before. She looks around, not exactly knowing what to expect, and runs into Henry Tilney who dissuades her of her thinking the General had been involved in foul play regarding his wife's death.

"You have erred in supposing him not to be attached to her. He loved her, I am persuaded, as well as it was possible for him to" (Austen 164). Henry is disappointed in Catherine's trying to bring the fantastic world of the novel into real life.

"Dear Miss Morland, consider the dreadful nature of the suspicions you have entertained. What have you been judging from? Remember the country and the age in which we live. Remember that we are English, that we are Christians. Consult your own understanding, you own sense of the probable, you own observation of what is passing around you – Does our education prepare us for such atrocities? Do our laws connive at them? Could they be perpetrated without being known in a country like this, where social and literary intercourse is on such a footing; where every man is surrounded by a neighborhood of voluntary spies, and where roads and newspapers lay ever thing open? Dearest Miss Morland, what ideas have you been admitting?" (Austen 164). Catherine is suitably ashamed and quits all thoughts of evil doings in the Abbey.