Denbigh, so that no one can connect her to her past life. They decide that Ruth will adopt a new name, Mrs. That way, Ruth and her child can remain socially respectable. Benson come up with a plan for Ruth to come and live with them in their hometown of Eccleston they will claim that she is a distant relation of theirs who has recently been widowed. Benson, and Ruth find out that Ruth is pregnant, which is very concerning as illegitimate children were subject to much stigma at the time. He sends for Faith to come to Wales, and she joins him there to help with Ruth. Benson is not married and lives with his sister Faith. Benson notices Ruth’s distress, pieces together what has happened with Bellingham, and takes her under his protection.

Benson is an Englishman who works as a minister and lives with a physical disability that renders him somewhat frail. However, during her time in Wales, she has struck up a friendship with a fellow traveler named Mr. Ruth is devastated by this abandonment and even considers killing herself.

Bellingham and his mother leave Wales abruptly, abandoning Ruth there with a sum of money. She blames Ruth entirely for the relationship, and as Bellingham recovers, his mother urges him to end the relationship. Bellingham arrives in Wales to care for her son and is disgusted with Ruth. Bellingham becomes seriously ill with a fever, and the landlady at the inn where they are staying contacts his mother. Ruth is also subjected to public shaming because she openly lives as Bellingham’s mistress. Ruth becomes his mistress: As a woman in a sexual relationship with a man to whom she is not married, she effectively loses her reputation and respectability.īellingham and Ruth go to Wales together, where their relationship becomes strained as Bellingham begins to grow bored. Bellingham takes advantage of the situation and persuades her to come to London with him. Mason fires Ruth and throws her out of the lodgings where she has been living, leaving Ruth completely overwhelmed. Mason runs into Ruth and Bellingham and becomes convinced that Ruth has begun an illicit relationship.

Bellingham creates opportunities for him and Ruth to spend time together while convincing her to keep these meetings secret. At the ball, she catches the eye of Henry Bellingham, a wealthy and spoiled young man. Ruth is very beautiful, so she is selected to attend a ball to assist with alterations to the dresses of the wealthy guests. Ruth Hilton is an orphan after the death of her parents, she begins to work as an apprentice to a dressmaker named Mrs.

Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell