The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and of His Friend Mr. Abraham Adams

As Adams and Joseph prepare to part ways, Adams discovers that rather than carrying sermons in his saddlebags as he supposed, he has only shirts. Since he now has no reason to continue to London, Adams decides to return home with Joseph. After borrowing money to pay their bill, they set out with Adams on foot and Joseph on the horse, a method of travel known as “ride and tie” (67). Adams begins walking, thinking that Joseph will soon pass him on horseback, but unbeknownst to Adams, Joseph is detained with a bill for the horse’s care that he is unable to pay. Adams stops to wait for Joseph at a nearby pub, resolving to turn back if Joseph does not come soon.

Two horsemen come to the pub, and Adams overhears their conversation about a horse being detained. Adams suddenly realizes that the men are talking about his horse, and he decides to return to the inn after the storm outside passes. While he waits, he talks to the men about the owner of a house he recently passed along the road. Both men give two completely different descriptions of the homeowner (a judge), with one saying negative things about his character and the other saying positive things. After the men leave, the pub owner tells Adams that the judge recently decided one case in favor of one of the men and another against the other, resulting in their differing opinions toward him. Adams then engages the host in a religious conversation, during which a stagecoach arrives at the pub.

By coincidence, Mrs. Slipslop is one of the passengers in the coach, and Adams finds out that she paid for the horse back at the inn, so Joseph is now on his way to Adams. Joseph arrives at the pub after the storm abates, and Mrs. Slipslop invites him to ride in the coach. However, one of the ladies refuses to allow Joseph to ride since he is a footman. As the journey resumes with Joseph on horseback, Mrs. Slipslop discusses Lady Booby and the late Sir Thomas Booby. She deems her deceased master a “worthy man” (72) but disparages Lady Booby. Soon after a woman points out the house of “the unfortunate Leonora” (73) and proceeds to tell the passengers about Leonora’s history.

Leonora was a rich gentleman’s daughter who lived with her aunt. She loved attention and was used to getting it from all the men at the parties she attended. She fell in love with a young man named Horatio, and the two were engaged. Shortly before their wedding, Horatio was called away to a neighboring town on business. While he was gone, Leonora caught sight of a coach and fell in love with the appearance of the carriage and horses. Later that night at a party she met the owner, whose clothes were just as attractive to her as his coach. He drew the attention of all the women at the party but only wanted to dance with Leonora. Although she had planned to refrain from dancing to honor her Horatio, she couldn’t resist dancing with the attractive stranger, named Bellarmine, as the belle of the ball. She loved being the center of attention, and her affections quickly turned from Horatio to Bellarmine.

Leonora then faced a decision: marry Horatio but make no conquest over any other woman, or marry Bellarmine and be envied by all her friends. Her aunt encouraged her to choose Bellarmine for his supposed wealth, and Leonora agreed with her. Later that evening Horatio made a surprise visit to Leonora, only to find that her affections had shifted to Bellarmine. Hurt and angry, Horatio attacked Bellarmine, whose injuries seemed fatal. Leonora maintained her affection for Bellarmine and ignored her aunt’s advice to uphold propriety in their relationship during his recovery.

The lady pauses her telling of Leonora’s story as the coach stops at an inn.

Adams finds that Joseph, on the way to the inn, was thrown from the horse and injured his leg. The inn owner is upset to see his wife tending a footman’s injuries on her knees, thinking that Joseph’s status is beneath their service. This angers Adams, who starts a fight with the host. Mrs. Slipslop joins in by attacking the hostess. The fight ends with Adams covered in hog’s blood and Mrs. Slipslop brandishing a clump of the hostess’s hair. The coach plans to continue its journey, but Joseph’s leg injury has made it impossible for him to continue riding a horse. The lady from the coach, Miss Grave-airs, still refuses to allow Joseph to ride in the coach despite his injury because of his status as a footman. The problem is soon solved when Miss Grave-airs’s father arrives at the inn and she opts to go with him. The coach can now continue on with Joseph riding inside, and as they set out, Mrs. Slipslop speaks rudely about Miss Grave-airs and her character.

The woman in the coach continues her story about Leonora. Visiting Bellarmine constantly, Leonora crossed boundaries of propriety and practically lived with her sweetheart, acting as his nurse. When Bellarmine recovered and approached Leonora’s father for her hand in marriage, he found out that he wouldn’t get any money until her father died, and so decided not to marry Leonora if she had no wealth to her name. When Leonora received word that Bellarmine would not marry her, she was horrified. She withdrew to the house the coach had passed by earlier, and she lives there to this day, alone and despondent.

Adams again left the inn without his horse; he has walked alongside the coach since it departed. Seeking to alert him, the coach speeds up. Adams runs faster as the coach speeds up, and he ends up taking the wrong path. He stops and meets a man hunting partridges. The man has strong opinions about bravery and the importance of sacrificing one’s life for one’s country. The man sits down with Adams, and the two begin a conversation.