Back in Exmoor at last, John finds Lorna has put out the danger signal. Jeffreys questions John about possible disloyalty to the king in the West Country but decides against using him as a spy because he is too honest. The notorious 'hanging judge' is one several historical characters that Blackmore weaves into his tale. On arriving in London, John is kept waiting for days before finally forcing his way in to see Judge Jeffreys. Meanwhile, the king's messenger, Jeremy Stickles, summons John to London to give evidence to the High Court.Ĥ. John and Lorna arrange a signal so that she can let him know she is in danger.
Lorna's only friend is her Cornish maid, Gwenny Carfax. At his death, the band will be taken over by his wily second son, Counsellor, and his savage grandson, Carver. Her father was killed many years ago, and Sir Ensor is now old. She says she is the daughter of the eldest son of Sir Ensor Doone, leader of the outlaws. In her secret bower in Glen Doone, Lorna explains to John exactly who she is (or thinks she is - the truth will not be revealed till later). Their conversation is light and witty but, on his way home, John feels the first stirrings of jealousy.ģ. John climbs over the waterfall once more to find Lorna. The next day John looks down into Glen Doone, where he catches sight of the slight figure of Lorna, whom he now realises, is his fate. Seven years have passed when `Girt John Ridd' rescues Uncle Reuben Huckaback, who has been set upon the Doones while on his way to visit the Ridds' farm, Plover's Barrows. In an almost dream -like sequence at the top of the waterfall, John finds himself cared for by the beautiful Lorna.Ģ. As John's fishing expedition takes him deeper into Doone country, the moor takes on an air of supernatural menace. This section covers the first meeting between John and young Lorne Doone. The story's narrator, John Ridd, tells us how his father was murdered by the Doones, an outlawed family from the north, who had come to Exmoor. Notice how John's narrative and actions - at times grandly poetic and heroic, at others urbane and pragmatic - allow the lyrical and the down-to-earth qualities of the story to co-exist side by side to brilliant comic effect.ġ. Just as the boy John Ridd climbed the waterfall into an almost fairytale world of evil Doones and the enchanting Lorna so we are drawn into Blackmore's fictional drama, which is at the same time both real and magical. The epic qualities of Lorna Doone - seen both in its extreme archetypal characters as well as in the action and language itself - are what makes it such a riveting adventure throughout.
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