Summary of “Moonstone” Wilkie
Moonstone is a huge diamond of yellow color. For centuries he sparkled in the forehead of the god of the moon, whose statue was in the temple of the sacred city of Somnaut in India. In the eleventh century, three brahmins hid it in Benares from the conquerors. Then the night before the Brahmins appeared the god Vishnu. He predicted to them that they would be the custodians of Moonstone for a century. He warned the Brahmins that anyone who dares to steal a stone will suffer all his life, and after his death this curse will pass to his descendants. Time passed, the descendants of those three Brahmins continued to carry their service near the Moonstone.
At the beginning of the thirteenth century, the ruler became the Mongol emperor. He ordered the destruction of the temple of Brahma. Guardians followed the commander, who stole the Moonstone. They saw how the one who stole the stone died a terrible death. The Moonstone changed owners, bringing death to all. The keepers watched his
However, during the war Colonel Herncastle surrounded himself with such rumors that none of his relatives agreed to accept him. The colonel was not very upset about such a cold reception and did not even try to explain his actions somehow. He began to live in seclusion, surrounded himself with a halo of depravity and mystery. He planned to give the moonstone to his niece Rachel Verinder for eighteen years. In the summer of 1848 a yellow diamond was transported from London to the estate of Verinder. He was brought by his cousin Rachel, Franklin Black. In the estate of Verinder, the appearance of the Moonstone was already awaited by three Indians and a boy. They all called themselves actors of the wandering theater. The old butler advises Franklin to hide an expensive stone more reliable – in the bank. Franklin takes the diamond to a bank in Frizinghall. Time to the birthday of Rachel goes, but
Maybe she is more inclined to her other cousin, Godfrey Eblewhite. Finally comes the long-awaited holiday. Franklin ceremoniously hands Rachel a diamond. The birthday girl and everyone gathered in delight from the gift, and only mother Rachel, Madame Verinder, does not express special joy. Before everyone gets to the table, Godfrey gets a moment alone with Rachel and confesses to her in her feelings. Rachel refuses. The entire dinner Godfrey sits in silence, in gloomy stillness. Franklin, on the contrary, is extremely excited and joyful, gives out flat jokes and constantly interrupts everyone. Without wanting to do this, he sets all guests against himself. Among the guests was Dr. Kandy. He asks why Franklin is so nervous. Learning that a young man can not sleep properly for a long time, he advises him to turn to a specialist. Franklin coarsely swears.
After dinner, actors came to entertain guests. Wishing to see the performance, the guests together with the birthday girl went to the terrace. Hindus saw where the diamond is. Among the assembled was Mr. Murthwaite. He was famous for his scientific works on India. Hardly glancing at the actors, he immediately realized that they were not actors, but Brahmins. Later it turns out that Colonel Herncastle gave this stone with a bad intention, wanting to cause Rachel harm: anyone who becomes a diamond owner will suffer. In the evening the holiday is completely blown away. Godfrey and Franklin will yawn to each other, and before they parted, Dr. Kandy and Godfrey are whispering about something. Suddenly it begins to pour rain.
In the morning no one can find the Moonstone. Despite yesterday’s overstrain, Franklin had a great rest and cheerfully begins to look for a diamond. Finding nothing, he goes to write a statement to the police. Rachel reacts strangely to the disappearance of the stone: she is not just upset, she somehow blames the loss of Franklin and does not hide her hatred of him. Inspector Sigrave arrives at the Verderov estate. At first he breaks through the house, then meticulously interrogates the servants and, without finding a clue, leaves back to thoroughly interrogate the arrested Indians. From London to help in the investigation of detective Cuff. But he does everything, but does not seek a stone. For example, he was very interested in roses. After some time, the detective finds a trace of paint on the door to the room of Rachel and declares: the one with the same paint is the one who is also the criminal.
The investigation shows that the maid Rozana Spearman, a pupil of the correctional home, behaves extremely suspiciously. On the eve of the robbery she was seen heading to Frizinghall. Rosanna’s girlfriends testify that the light was burning in her room all night, but she did not answer the calls. In addition, Rosanna, being a long time in love with Franklin, for no reason from that began to pursue him. She seemed to want to tell him something. After questioning all the servants, Cuff begins to follow the maid. The detective learns that Rosanna was recently near a mysterious and terrible place – the Shivering Sands. In the same place, she died, poor thing, having made sure that Franklin Black does not give a damn about her.
Madame Veringer, worrying about her daughter, decides that she needs to be quiet and sends her to relatives living in Frizinghall. The desperate Franklin, who once again condemned himself to an unrequited love for Rachel, leaves for London, and from there he travels all over the world. Sergeant Cuff concludes that Rosanna stole the diamond on the orders of the mistress herself and washed her hands, confident that the case sooner or later will reveal itself. After Verinder’s estate was emptied, the girlfriend of the deceased servant comes to the house, Lucy’s Cripple, with Rosanna’s letter to Franklin. When the butler suggests transferring the envelope to the addressee, the girl refuses: she was sentenced to hand it over to him personally.
Mother and daughter Verinder are in London. Doctors advised Rachel to rest and have fun, what the girl does. The society believes that perhaps Godfrey is exactly the one the detectives were looking for. Rachel refuses to believe the rumors. Godfrey faithfully follows her on his heels, humbly demolishing any whims. Soon, Rachel begins to think about a possible wedding with him. Suddenly, Madame Verinder becomes seriously ill and after a few days dies. Guardianship of Rachel passes to Father Godfrey. The girl settles in Brighton with the Ebwuites. Soon, Rachel again refuses to go beyond Godfrey. The young man does not resist, but his father makes a scandal, endlessly reproaching Rachel. The girl is forced to leave the guardian and settle in the lawyer’s house.
Learning that his father passed away, Franklin Black returns. When he tries to meet with Rachel, but meets a stubborn silence. Without reaching the girl, Franklin leaves for Verinder’s homestead, Yorkshire, to pick up the old case of the stolen diamond again. Arriving at the place, he receives a letter from the dead Roseanne. The letter says that Franklin should go to the Shifting Sands and find there a nightdress soiled in paint. Franklin follows the directions and pulls out a shirt, which, to his great surprise, was tagged. Together with the shirt was a letter from Rosanna. In it, she explained that she spodviglo her sew another shirt and replace it with the one on which there was paint. Shocked by the news that it was he who stole the Moonstone, Franklin decides to continue the investigation. He persuades Rachel to tell him what happened that night. Rachel admits that she personally saw how he took the diamond and carried it away somewhere. Franklin decides the most plausible to recreate the events of that day. Not all guests can be found, but those who are still possible to meet, Franklin interrogates in detail.
Dr. Kandy has passed very much over the past time: a year ago his cold turned into a fever, after which Mr. Candy noticed that it was difficult for him to focus on anything for a long time. He often fails in his memory, and his assistant, Ezra Jennings, is very helpful. The assistant gives Franklin a doctor’s diary. After reading it and comparing the records with the stories of others, Franklin concludes that he was peppered with a small dose of the drug. Apparently, Mr. Candy decided in this way to take revenge for his ridicule. Franklin recalls how he was suffering from insomnia and was nervous about stopping smoking. A small dose did its job, and, along with other symptoms, completely repulsed his common sense and memory. Then, with the support of Jennings, Franklin tries to reach such a state again. He again refuses cigarettes and loses sleep. Rachel secretly comes after Franklin – she hopes that the misunderstanding will be settled, and everything will end with the innocence of the young man. On the day of X, Franklin takes opium and in a fit of sleepwalking takes a glass that played the role of a diamond.
Together with her, he goes to his room, where a glass and slips out of his hands. Now it is clear that Franklin is innocent. But where is the diamond? Soon it turns out that a man with a beard buys some kind of precious stone from a certain Luke. There were rumors of Lyuker that he was somehow connected with the legend of the Moonstone. Franklin invites detective Cuff, and together they go to a tavern where a man with a beard stopped by his rumor. However, they find him already dead. On the corpse was an overhead beard and a wig. Having removed this masquerade, Cuff and Franklin see Godfrey Eblewhite in front of him. Next, the previous events are restored: Godfrey squandered the money of some young man, for whom he had to look after. Not knowing how else to return him stolen, Godry, having found Franklin out of his mind, asked him for a diamond. He thought he could get it back, as truth vskroeta. So, the diamond was pledged, and after Godri inherited, he immediately bought it. As soon as the diamond returned to him, Indians attack Godri and kill him.
Rachel forgives Franklin. She is again together, happy and soon married. The old butler rejoices for them. Mr. Murthwaet in his letter tells the newlyweds about some ceremony in honor of the Moon, which took place next to the city of Somnaut in India. At the end of the letter follows the description of the statue, which was worshiped: it is the four-armed god of the Moon, sitting on the throne. Each hand symbolizes the side of the world. In the forehead of the statue is a yellow diamond. So, the legendary Moonstone returned to where he was and the place.
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