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Henry Dunbar: A Novel

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  • 10 hours to read
  • 46 chapters
  • Reading level: 7th grade

"Henry Dunbar: A Novel" by M. E. Braddon is a fiction novel written in the mid-19th century, characterized by its intricate exploration of relationships and moral complexities within a dramatic narrative. The story delves into the life of Henry Dunbar, the heir to a wealthy banking family who has been estranged from his home for thirty-five years due to a forgery scandal associated with his youth. As the plot unfolds, themes of sin, retribution, and the consequences of one's actions come to the forefront, involving various characters who are connected to Dunbar and his past. The opening of the novel introduces us to the opulent yet secretive banking firm of Dunbar, Dunbar, and Balderby, where discussions about the impending return of Henry Dunbar set the stage for the narrative. We meet key figures like Mr. Balderby and old clerk Sampson Wilmot, who reflects on the past as they prepare for Dunbar's arrival. Through their conversation, we learn of the tragic backstory involving a forgery that Dunbar committed in his youth, which not only altered his destiny but also led to the ruin of another, Joseph Wilmot, who has now returned. This intricately woven tale promises a gripping exploration of the intersections of fate and choice, setting the foundation for the dramatic encounters that are sure to follow.

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Chapter I: After Office Hours in the House of Dunbar, Dunbar, and Balderby

The house of Dunbar, Dunbar, and Balderby, East India bankers, was one of the richest firms in the city of London—so rich that it would be quite in vain to endeavour to describe the amount of its wealth. It was something fabulous, people said. The offices were situated in a dingy and narrow thoroughfare leading out of King William Street, and were certainly no great things to look at; but the cellars below their offices—wonderful cellars, that stretched far away underneath the church of St. Gundolph, and were only separated by party-walls from the vaults in which the dead lay buried—were popularly supposed to be filled with hogsheads of sovereigns, bars of bullion built up in stacks like so much firewood, and impregnable iron safes crammed to overflowing with bank bills and railway shares, government securities, family jewels, and a hundred other trifles of that kind, every one of which was worth a poor man's fortune.

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Contents

Show all 46 chapters
  1. Chapter I: After Office Hours in the House of Dunbar, Dunbar, and Balderby
  2. Chapter II: Margaret's Father
  3. Chapter III: The Meeting at the Railway Station
  4. Chapter IV: The Stroke of Death
  5. Chapter V: Sinking the Past
  6. Chapter VI: Clement Austin's Diary
  7. Chapter VII: After Five-and-Thirty Years
  8. Chapter VIII: The First Stage on the Journey Home
  9. Chapter IX: How Henry Dunbar Waited Dinner
  10. Chapter X: Laura Dunbar
  11. Chapter XI: The Inquest
  12. Chapter XII: Arrested
  13. Chapter XIII: The Prisoner Is Remanded
  14. Chapter XIV: Margaret's Journey
  15. Chapter XV: Baffled
  16. Chapter XVI: Is It Love or Fear?
  17. Chapter XVII: The Broken Picture
  18. Chapter XVIII: Three Who Suspect
  19. Chapter XIX: Laura Dunbar's Disappointment
  20. Chapter XX: New Hopes May Bloom
  21. Chapter XXI: A New Life
  22. Chapter XXII: The Steeple-Chase
  23. Chapter XXIII: The Bride That the Rain Rains on
  24. Chapter XXIV: The Unbidden Guest Who Came to Laura Dunbar's Wedding
  25. Chapter XXV: After the Wedding
  26. Chapter XXVI: What Happened in the Back Parlour of the Banking-House
  27. Chapter XXVII: Clement Austin's Wooing
  28. Chapter XXVIII: Buying Diamonds
  29. Chapter XXIX: Going Away
  30. Chapter XXX: Stopped Upon the Way
  31. Chapter XXXI: Clement Austin Makes a Sacrifice
  32. Chapter XXXII: What Happened at Maudesley Abbey
  33. Chapter XXXIII: Margaret's Return
  34. Chapter XXXIV: Farewell
  35. Chapter XXXV: A Discovery at the Luxembourg
  36. Chapter XXXVI: Looking for the Portrait
  37. Chapter XXXVII: Margaret's Letter
  38. Chapter XXXIX: Clement Austin's Journal Continued
  39. Chapter XL: Flight
  40. Chapter XLI: At Maudesley Abbey
  41. Chapter XLII: The Housemaid at Woodbine Cottage
  42. Chapter XLIII: On the Track
  43. Chapter XLIV: Chasing the "Crow."
  44. Chapter XLV: Giving It Up
  45. Chapter XLVI: Clement's Story. — Before the Dawn
  46. Chapter XLVII: The Dawn

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About this edition

This free edition of Henry Dunbar: A Novel by M. E. Braddon comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #9189, released 2005-10-01. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Novels, British Literature.

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