Moll Flanders: Moll Marries the Irishman Summary & Analysis

Moll thinks often of the banker and feels bad for disregarding him, but she soon marries the Irishman, and Moll’s new husband begins to arrange travel to Ireland. He asks Moll if she has any business in London that needs tending to, and she assures him that any business she does have can be settled by letter. He asks her about her money and banking. If anything needs to be transferred, he says, it may be necessary to see to it before going to Ireland. Moll tells the Irishman that she doesn’t know what he is talking about and says she doesn’t have any money in London.

The Irishman is shocked to discover that Moll doesn’t have any money, and she is quick to point out that she never led him to believe she had any wealth at all. He claims she looks like a “Woman of Fortune,” and, he adds, he heard from mutual friends that Moll was very wealthy. Then, the Irishman admits that he, too, is poor and doesn’t really own an estate in Ireland. It appears, Moll says, they have been married “upon the foot of a double Fraud,” for she has no estate. Moll is incredibly disappointed. She knows the Irishman can make her very happy, but his finances are certainly a problem, and she can see nothing before them but ruin. She pulls a Bank Bill from her purse worth £20 and 11 Guineas, which, she says, is all the money she has in the world.  

Despite her disappointment, Moll is not willing to be without money, and she tells the Irishman as much. They spend the evening together and he still tries to make the best of it, so he orders a bottle of wine with dinner. The Irishman apologizes for deceiving her, and Moll asks what he was planning on doing once they arrived in Ireland. He never intended to go Ireland, he admits, but was going to feign a reason for staying in London after Moll secured her fortune from the bank.

Moll and the Irishman spend the night together, and once Moll falls asleep, the Irishman slips out. He leaves her a letter, in which he begs for her forgiveness and claims he has left money in her pocket to cover her expenses back to London. When she wakes, Moll is devasted. She looks in her pocket and finds 10 Guineas, along with a gold watch and diamond rings. She begins to weep, calling him by his name. “James, O Jemy!” Moll cries, wishing he would return to her. Moll spends the whole day crying, and near nightfall, James returns. 

When James arrives, he goes directly to Moll and takes her in his arms. When their “Extasies” are over, James tells Moll that he didn’t get 15 miles away before he heard Moll calling to him. Hearing her voice in his head, he knew he had to be near her for a bit longer. There is no need for her to travel back to London alone, James says. He can accompany her to the city, or close to it, at least. Molls is miserable without him, so she agrees. His good nature and manners—and the fact that he left Moll what little money he had—make him quite attractive to Moll. 

James and Moll travel as far as Dunstable, about 30 miles outside London, and James refuses to go on. Circumstances, which James doesn’t explain, won’t allow him to go on to London. Moll convinces him to stay a week or so in Dunstable to delay their inevitable parting, and they rent rooms in a private house. Moll asks James to live with her in Dunstable until her money runs out. She will not let him spend a bit of his own money. If she isn’t likely to see him again, Moll says, it will be money well spent.

Living together in Dunstable, Moll tells James all about Virginia. Her mother is still living there, Moll says, but her husband has been dead many years now. She tells him all about the quality of the land and the money to be made. Moll says that a sum of £300 can get them established in the Colonies, and after seven years or so, they will be able to leave their plantation under the care of another and live comfortably on the profits in England. James says he has the same idea about Ireland. Farming land in Ireland can secure one a life that £3,000 a year wouldn’t buy in England, James maintains. He suggests he go on to Ireland, and she to London, and in a year, if things are as good as he supposes they will be, he will send for her.

James is so insistent on his plans for Ireland that Moll finally agrees to go to London and wait. They part at last—with great reluctance on Moll’s part—and she heads off to London. Moll takes lodging near Clarkenwell and discovers after a short time that she is pregnant. Moll isn’t pleased with this unexpected interruption, and she isn’t quite sure how to handle her lying in. She has kept up correspondence with the banker during her time away, but she hasn’t had the need to remove any money from the bank. She knows from his letters that he has started divorce proceedings; they are going well, but they are also difficult and long.