Squire Allworthy's sister, Bridget, takes care of the infant Tom at her brother's direction. She is unmarried when the story opens but later marries Captain Blifil and has a son, Master Blifil.
At the end of the story, long after Bridget has died, it is revealed that Bridget was not as virtuous as she appeared. In fact, she was Tom's mother; to hide her shame, she bribed Jenny Jones to say the child was hers.
Squire Allworthy's kindness extends to all, from Tom's supposed mother, Jenny Jones (to whom he, in his role as magistrate, gives the lightest possible sentence) to Sophia, whom he is unwilling to force into a marriage she does not want.
When all is said and done, Allworthy chooses to make Tom his heir over the.....
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