Summary
Summary of A Simple Story
A Simple Story at a glance
Summary: 8 min to read
- Reading time
- About 6 h 35 min5 h 15 min fast, 7 h 50 min slow
- Length
- 93,900 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1791by Elizabeth Inchbald
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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Key ideas
Key idea 1
A father entrusts his daughter
As Mr. Milner lies dying, he chooses Dorriforth, a Catholic priest, to protect his daughter. He distrusts her fashionable friends and hopes his chosen guardian will care for her without controlling her. His condition is clear: Dorriforth must not disturb her Protestant faith.
Miss Milner is absent, unaware that her father is ill. Before she arrives, conflicting reports describe her as both flighty and generous. Her guardian must learn to understand a young woman whose faults and kindness belong together.
Key idea 2
Her arrival unsettles the household
Miss Milner first kneels before Dorriforth and promises the obedience she would give a father.
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Key idea 3
Gentleness can conceal a stubborn heart
Miss Milner brings young Harry Rushbrook to meet Dorriforth without revealing who he is.
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Key idea 4
A frightened lie reveals her love
Lord Frederick follows Miss Milner into the country, although she agrees to end their acquaintance.
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Key idea 5
Separation gives forbidden love new hope
Miss Woodley believes separation is necessary and threatens to reveal her friend's secret unless Miss Milner leaves.
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Key idea 6
Love becomes a test of pride
Back in London, Lord Elmwood prepares to seek release from his vows but says little about his plans.
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Key idea 7
A daughter must remain unseen
Seventeen years later, Miss Milner is Lady Elmwood, dying and concerned for her daughter Matilda.
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Key idea 8
Feeling and judgment both need tenderness
Miss Milner's education has given her accomplishments without the steadiness to govern her feelings.
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Key idea 9
One generation answers the other
The story of a guardian and his spirited ward becomes the story of a daughter forbidden to meet her father's eyes.
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Who it’s for
You will enjoy this if you like character-driven stories, sharp drawing-room dialogue, and tales of guardians, vows, and family pride. It suits anyone who loves watching two stubborn hearts argue.
What this book is
What happens when a dying man gives his only daughter to the one friend he trusts, and that friend is a priest who has vowed never to marry? In A Simple Story, Mrs. Inchbald builds a whole novel on that question. The guardian is calm and principled. The ward is beautiful, quick, and used to having her own way.
Mrs. Inchbald was an actress and playwright who wrote it in the late eighteenth century, and her stage sense shows in every scene. The book gives you two stories in one: a guardian and his ward in a London house, and a daughter who must live under her father's roof without being seen by him.
In this summary
- 1A dying father chooses a priest as guardianFree
- 2Miss Milner arrives and unsettles the household
- 3Suitors, a quarrel, and a command that works
- 4Sandford, the stern tutor, and a child named Harry
- 5A challenge, a duel, and a confession that is not true
- 6A secret love and a separation to Bath
- 7Lord Elmwood, Miss Fenton, and a love under test
- 8A daughter who may live in the house but not be seen
- 9Education, passion, and the cost of a stubborn heart
- 10How Mrs. Inchbald tells the story
Key point 1 of 10
A dying father chooses a priest as guardian
The story opens at a deathbed. Mr. Milner knows he has only hours left, and he thinks hard about who will protect his eighteen-year-old daughter. He does not trust her fashionable friends, because they are friends only in good weather. He chooses Dorriforth, a Catholic priest who lives in the middle of London and tries to do good there.
Mr. Milner believes this man will protect without controlling. He sets one condition. Dorriforth must never trouble her mind with his own religion, because she was raised in her mother's Protestant faith. Miss Milner is not even at the bedside. A nervous friend kept the news of her father's illness from her at Bath, so she hears of his death before his sickness.
Before Dorriforth meets his ward, one visitor calls her beautiful, idle, and flighty. Another says she once sold her own jewels to save a family from ruin. Is she frivolous or generous? The novel will show she is both.
A trust given in love can become the hardest test of the one who accepts it.
That’s 1 of 10 key points.
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Check yourself
Why does Mr. Milner choose Dorriforth as his daughter's guardian?
Right. “Mr. Milner believes this man will protect without controlling.”Not quite. “Mr. Milner believes this man will protect without controlling.”
Whom does Miss Milner truly love when she begs Dorriforth to spare Lord Frederick?
Right. “She loves Dorriforth, the one man his vows forbid.”Not quite. “She loves Dorriforth, the one man his vows forbid.”
What condition does Lord Elmwood impose when he gives Matilda shelter?
Right. “Matilda may live at Elmwood Castle, but she must never come into his sight.”Not quite. “Matilda may live at Elmwood Castle, but she must never come into his sight.”
Go deeper: the whole of A Simple Story
About 6 h 50 min to read.Start freePaperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way.Email me when it is printed
Questions about A Simple Story
What is A Simple Story about?
It follows a Catholic priest who becomes guardian to a spirited young heiress after her father's death. Their quarrels, suitors, and hidden feelings fill the first half. The second half follows their daughter, who must live in her father's house without being seen by him.
Who is Dorriforth in A Simple Story?
Dorriforth is a priest of about thirty, trained abroad and living in London, whom Mr. Milner names as guardian of his daughter. He is principled, gentle, and capable of great firmness. Later he inherits the title Lord Elmwood.
Why is the novel called A Simple Story?
The title is modest and a little ironic. The plot is a plain family story told in clear scenes, but it is full of conflicting feelings, duty, pride, and love. Mrs. Inchbald lets the characters do the complicating.
When was A Simple Story written and is it a true story?
It was written in the late eighteenth century by Mrs. Inchbald, who was an actress and playwright. It is a work of fiction, though it draws on the manners, religion, and family rules of its day.
Is A Simple Story easy to read?
It has a clear storyline, lively conversations, and short chapters, so it moves along in scenes. A guiding narrator explains characters and motives. The comic side characters, such as Mrs. Horton and Sandford, add warmth and humor.
Cite this edition
Inchbald, Elizabeth. A Simple Story. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-simple-story.
Inchbald, E. (2026). A simple story. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-simple-story (Original work published 1791)
Inchbald, Elizabeth. A Simple Story. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-simple-story.
@book{inchbald2026simple,
author = {Inchbald, Elizabeth},
title = {A Simple Story},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-simple-story},
note = {First published 1791}
}
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