Brothers, Chapter 31 summary

What happens

1. Archibald decides not to interfere with Mark and builds his Lenten sermons around material Mark supplies about unbelief.
2. Mark’s novel wins British and American publishing agreements, and he stays with Betty and Archibald while helping with further sermons.
3. Archibald gains influential acquaintances, while Betty notices his complacency and his willingness to excuse Lady Cheyne’s reputation.
4. Lady Randolph suspects that Betty respects rather than loves Archibald, and Betty feels tempted by fashionable society.
5. At a ducal entertainment, Harry Kirtling draws Betty into baccarat, where she wins seventy-five pounds before the host interrupts.
6. Archibald rebukes Betty for embarrassing him; she defies him, then apologizes, and he coldly warns against another incident.

In this chapter

What to notice

Betty challenges Archibald’s emphasis on embarrassment rather than principle. Her remark brings their conflict over his moral authority into the open.

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