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Tom Jones Book 13, Chapter 2 Summary

What Befel Mr. Jones On His Arrival in London

  • Tom tries to visit the Irish nobleman's mansion, but he goes to the address that the nobleman rented before he left for Ireland.
  • Now, the nobleman is staying somewhere else.
  • Finally, Tom agrees with Partridge to give up the search until the following day.
  • The next morning, he is lucky enough to find the correct house.
  • He knocks on the door and asks for Sophia.
  • The servant who opens the door takes one look at his poor clothes and totally refuses to help Tom.
  • Tom offers him a bribe, and another servant offers to take him to the lady of the house.
  • The servant brings Tom to see Mrs. Fitzpatrick.
  • It's almost worse for Tom to come thisclose to seeing Sophia, only to see—Mrs. Fitzpatrick.
  • Mrs. Fitzpatrick assumes he's a servant of Squire Western's and refuses to talk to him.
  • But Tom promises to come back later that afternoon.
  • The serving lady compliments Tom's looks so enthusiastically Mrs. Fitzpatrick decides to meet with Tom when he comes back to the house.
  • Tom has now guessed that Sophia is here with her cousin, but hidden from him.
  • At their meeting, Tom is very polite.
  • Mrs. Fitzpatrick still won't tell him anything about Sophia.
  • She guesses that he is Mr. Blifil, and she doesn't want to betray her cousin.
  • After he takes off, a maid guesses to Mrs. Fitzpatrick that Tom is probably Tom Jones.
  • She tells all about Tom to one of the other maids, and the maid passes on the story of Sophia's heartbreak to Mrs. Fitzpatrick.
  • Mrs. Fitzpatrick decides that (a) yes, he has to be the guy Sophia loves (because he's so dreamy), and (b) it's a good thing she didn't tell him where to find Sophia, because he's supposed to be so loose with women.