Charles Smithson

At 32, Charles Smithson is a member of the aristocracy. He is a paleontologist, Darwinist, and a deist in terms of his faith in God. He is engaged to be married to Ernestina Freeman. Though a politically moderate liberal, Charles is nevertheless bound by his duty and his place in society to observe decorum and matters of politesse. He is consigned to his fate, until he meets and falls in love with Sarah Woodruff. Sarah, an outcast, stirs up the desire for freedom within him. In the first ending, he casts Sarah out of his life and remains faithful to Ernestina.

In the second and third ending, Charles destroys his reputation, sleeps with Sarah, breaks off his marriage with Ernestina and pursues Sarah. He narrowly escapes legal action. In the second ending, Charles discovers he has fathered a child with Sarah, and a reunion is possible. In the...