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Introduction/13
andinfluentialmanofleisureHassociatedwithhighdiplomatic
personages&understoodtoknowmorethananybodyelse
aboutthesecretspringsofEuropeanpolitics”(19).Pretending
tobeaconcernedBritishpatriot,RastinpromisesAmbrosethat
hewillusehisinfluenceattheWarOfficetofinallysecurethe
covetedcontract.ThegullibleAmbrosehandshimthedesigns
fortheHdestructivemachine.”WhenRastin’scoverisblown,
Ambrose’spapersarefoundonhimandbothmenarecharged
withhightreason.
TheaporiainwhichAmbroseisentangledimmediately
bringstomindthedilemmaofMiddlemarch’sprotagonist,
Dr.Lydgate,wholikewisehastocompromisehisintellectual
ambitionsinordertoprovideforhiswife,thoughadmittedly
hisbreadwinningactivitieswerenotasobjectionableasthose
ofAmbrose.Butthisisvirtuallytheonlypointofsimilarity
betweentheplannednovelandtherestofEliot’soeuvre.
Admittedly,analysisofthequarriesforcompletednovelsshows
thatGeorgeEliot’spreliminarynotescanbetreatedonlyasvery
roughguides.Still,itseemsthatthenewnovelwouldmakeuse
ofsensationandmelodramatropestoamuchlargerextentthan
herearlierworks.Loosenotesonthelastpageofthenotebook
containsomeevenmoreunashamedlymelodramaticmaterial–
Eliotsketchesaconfrontationatamaskedball:HRastinmeets
afemalespywhopiqueshimbyherwit–refusestounmask–
sayssheisold”(20).Wecanonlysupposethatthemysteriousspy
wouldbecometheheroineofthenovel,whichwouldprobably
compriseinterweavingnarrativesinamannerreminiscentof
DanielDeronda.
Theshortplotsummarylooksundeniablyabitcrassand
heavy-handed,butthisisperhapsunavoidable.AsRuthYeazell,
adistinguishedVictorianscholar,putsitinheroverview
ofnineteenth-centurycharacterstereotypes,Hwhenseen
fromasufficientdistance,allcharactersandallplotsresolve
themselvesintomythsandstereotypes”(Yeazell1974:30).We
shallneverknowhowEliotwouldhavedevelopedtheplot
outlinefromthePrincetonnotebook.Arguably,shewouldhave
usedmelodramaticintrigueasanexponentofmoraldilemmas
inthesamewayshedidinDanielDeronda,wheresensational
