Length: 734 words (2.7 pages)
Rating: Red (FREE)      
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Young, pretty Helen has left her London home to visit the Wilcox family estate, Howards End. (Helen and her
sister Margaret met Mr. Wilcox and his wife while traveling in Germany.) Margaret was also invited to
Howards End, but stayed home to care for their 16-year-old brother Tibby who has hay fever. From Howards
End, Helen sends Margaret several letters describing the beautiful estate and the energetic, materialistic
Wilcoxes. Her last letter sends a shock through Margaret when she reads it: Helen has fallen in love with Paul
the youngest Wilcox son.

When Mrs. Wilcox dies not long afterward, she leaves a handwritten note behind asking that Howards End
be given to Margaret. But her pragmatic husband,Henry, a prominent businessman, and her greedy son Charles, a
struggling businessman, refuse to act on the matter and never mention it to Margaret. One night, Margaret and
Helen run into Henry, and they discuss the case of Leonard Bast; Henry warns them that Leonard's insurance
company is doomed to failure, and they advise him to find a new job. But poor Leonard, who associates the
Schlegels with all things cultural and romantic--he reads constantly, hoping to better himself--resents this
intrusion into his business life and accuses them of trying to profit from his knowledge of the insurance
industry.

Margaret and Henry develop a halting, gradual friendship. When the lease expires at Wickham Place,
the Schlegels begin looking for another house (their landlord wants to follow the general trend and replace their
house with a more profitable apartment building). Henry offers to rent them a house he owns in London, and
when he shows it to Margaret, he suddenly proposes to her. She is surprised by her happiness, and after
considering the proposal, she accepts.

Shortly before Margaret and Henry are scheduled to be married, Henry's daughter Eviemarries a man
named Percy Cahill; the wedding is held at a Wilcox estate near Wales. After the party, which Margaret finds
quite unpleasant, Helen arrives in a disheveled state, with the Basts in tow. She declares indignantly that Leonard
has left his old company, found a new job, and been summarily fired; he is now without an income. Helen
angrily blames Henry for his ill-considered advice. Margaret asks Henry to give Leonard a job, but when he sees
Jacky Bast, he realizes that he had an affair with her 10 years ago, when she was a prostitute in Cyprus. Margaret
forgives him for the indiscretion--it was before they even met--but she writes to Helen that there will be no job
for Leonard.

Helen and the Basts have retired to a hotel in town, and after Jacky goes to sleep, Helen and Leonard
stay up discussing Helen's philosophical observations about life. After Margaret's note arrives, a feeling of
tragedy descends on their conversation, and they make love--an unwelcome development for both of them:
Leonard is wracked with guilt, and Helen becomes pregnant. She leaves for Germany the following morning, and
both she and Leonard recede from Margaret's life. Margaret and Henry are married, and plan to build a new
home in Sussex.

After some time passes, however, Margaret begins to worry about her sister, and with Henry's help,
she arranges a scheme to surprise her at Howards End, where Helen is going to collect some books. (The
Schlegels' belongings are being stored at Howards End.) Here, Margaret sees Helen's advanced pregnancy, and is
filled with love and tenderness for her sister. Helen asks to spend the night with Margaret at Howards End, but
Henry refuses to let a "fallen woman" sleep in his home. When Margaret points out that Henry himself has
committed a worse sexual indiscretion than Helen, Henry is outraged, and Margaret resolves to leave him,
returning to Germany with Helen.

In the meantime, Leonard decides to confess to Margaret what happened, and he travels to Howards
End the morning after Margaret and Helen sleep there. When he arrives, he is beaten by Charles Wilcox with the
flat of a sword, and a bookcase falls on him. Leonard has a heart attack and dies. After the inquest, Charles is
charged with manslaughter and sentenced to three years in prison. Henry is shattered, and comes to Margaret
for help. Henry, Margaret, and Helen move into Howards End, where Helen and Henry learn to be friends and
where Helen's son is born. Fourteen months later, they are still living there happily.