Mr. Villars receives a letter from his friend Lady Howard that informs him that a woman named Madame Duval wants to meet his adopted daughter, Evelina. This concerns Mr. Villars, and he writes back to explain that Madame Duval is Evelina’s grandmother; Mr. Villars raised Evelina’s mother, Caroline, after Madame Duval abandoned her. Caroline died not long after Evelina was born. Evelina has never met her real father, a wealthy nobleman named Sir John Belmont, who denies that his marriage to Caroline ever took place. Mr. Villars is worried about Evelina’s reputation, since she is widely believed to be illegitimate, and he fears that Madame Duval will be a bad influence on the young and impressionable Evelina. Mr. Villars therefore tells Lady Howard that he will not allow Madame Duval to meet Evelina, but he agrees to send Evelina to stay with Lady Howard so that Evelina can have a taste of independence.
Soon after, Evelina travels to Howard Grove to stay with Lady Howard, her daughter Mrs. Mirvan and her granddaughter Maria. Evelina and Maria get along well, and Evelina enjoys her stay with them. A few weeks into her trip, Evelina writes to Mr. Villars telling him that Mrs. Mirvan and Maria plan to go to town to meet Captain Mirvan, Mr. Mirvan’s husband, who is in the navy and has just returned from sea. Evelina asks Mr. Villars if she can go with them, and Mr. Villars reluctantly says yes, although he worries that Evelina will be led astray in the big city. Evelina is delighted, and the group set off for London.
Evelina has never been to the city before and is excited to attend her first ball with Mrs. Mirvan and Maria. At the ball, an extremely fashionable young man named Mr. Lovel asks Evelina to dance. She finds his exaggerated manners silly, however, and turns him down. Not long after this, another handsome young man named Lord Orville asks her to dance, and she accepts. Evelina and Lord Orville talk for some time, and she finds him extremely engaging and polite. While they talk, however, Mr. Lovel storms over and tells Evelina that she has insulted him—she does not understand etiquette and does not realize that she must dance with the first man who asks her or not dance at all. Evelina is embarrassed and regrets her sheltered country upbringing. The next day, Evelina and the Mirvans meet Captain Mirvan, and Evelina is disappointed to find that he is an exceptionally rude and bad-tempered man. The group go to the theater, and while they are there, they bump into Mr. Lovel and Lord Orville again. Captain Mirvan makes fun of Mr. Lovel for his fashionable manners, and Evelina again finds Lord Orville very charming and polite.
A few nights later, Evelina and the Mirvans attend another ball, where a young nobleman named Sir Clement Willoughby asks Evelina to dance. But Evelina does not want to dance with him (she’s noticed Lord Orville at the ball and hopes to dance with him again), so she tells Sir Clement that she already has a partner even though this is not true. Sir Clement does not believe Evelina and refuses to leave her alone until she admits that she lied. Ashamed, Evelina starts to cry, and Captain Mirvan and Lord Orville approach to find out what’s wrong. Captain Mirvan is unsympathetic but takes a liking to Sir Clement. Lord Orville, in contrast, is very attentive and concerned about Evelina. Captain Mirvan says that Sir Clement should come to visit them at Howard’s Grove.
The following evening, Mirvans and Evelina go to the theater—and on their way home, they encounter a distraught Frenchwoman who claims that she’s lost her companions. The Mirvans give her a lift home and, on the way, the woman reveals that her name is Madame Duval—she is Evelina’s grandmother. Evelina is shocked as Madame Duval, who seems coarse and aggressive, insists that Evelina must visit her while they are both in London. A few days later, Madame Duval introduces Evelina to her cousins, a rowdy family called the Branghtons. They are not very refined people and do not have good manners. Madame Duval insists that Evelina must come to the theater with her and the Branghtons, and Evelina reluctantly agrees. After the performance, Evelina bumps into Sir Clement and tries to sneak away with him to find Mrs. Mirvan, who is also at the theater. In the theater lobby, Evelina and Sir Clement bump into Lord Orville, who tells Evelina that Mrs. Mirvan has already left. Sir Clement then insists that he will give Evelina a lift home and, while they are in his coach, he tries to seduce her. Evelina is horrified and begs Sir Clement to take her home, which he eventually and begrudgingly does.
When it is time for Evelina and the Mirvans to return to Howard’s Grove, Mrs. Mirvan invites Madame Duval to come with them—she is worried that if they do not, Madame Duval will try to kidnap Evelina to keep her in London. Captain Mirvan torments Madame Duval relentlessly during her stay and recruits Sir Clement (who also comes to stay with them) to play a several elaborate pranks on her. One evening, Madame Duval announces that Evelina should approach her father, Sir John Belmont, and try to claim her rightful inheritance. Although Evelina is alarmed by this and afraid that Sir John will reject her, Lady Howard thinks it is a good idea and writes to Mr. Villars for permission. Mr. Villars, however, is firmly against the idea—but he realizes that he cannot decide for Evelina. He reluctantly agrees to let her return to London with Madame Duval to petition Sir John.
Madame Duval then takes Evelina back to London and, while they are there, they spend a lot of time with the Branghtons. One afternoon, in Mr. Branghton’s shop, Evelina meets the Branghton’s lodger, Mr. Macartney: a poor, Scottish poet who seems very sad and downtrodden. The Branghtons are very rude to Macartney, and Evelina feels sorry for him. A few days later, Evelina is in the Branghton’s room when she sees Macartney rush upstairs to his own room carrying two pistols. Realizing that Macartney intends to kill himself, Evelina races after him and knocks the weapons from his hands. Macartney is stunned and grateful for Evelina’s intervention, which makes him realize that someone cares about him and shocks him out of his suicidal thoughts. Evelina also lends Macartney some money, as he is extremely poor.
Evelina goes on several outings with the Branghtons in London and bumps into Lord Orville on multiple occasions. She is ashamed to be seen with the Branghtons, who are boisterous and unrefined, and she wonders what Lord Orville must think of her. Evelina also meets Sir Clement often but is always annoyed by his presumptuous and imposing attitude. During this time, Evelina receives a letter from Macartney in which explains his circumstances to her: he was raised by his poor mother and never knew his father. On a recent trip to Paris, he fell in love with a young lady and dueled her father, who disapproved of the match. Her father was injured in the struggle, and Macartney fled France. When he returned home, however, his mother was horrified by his story and told him that the lady’s father was also his father. Macartney then returned to London, planning to travel to Paris and be reunited with his father. He ran out of money, however, and when he wrote to his mother to ask for more, he discovered that she had died. Heartbroken and destitute, Macartney thanks Evelina because her kindness has saved him. He vows to pay her back one day.
A few days later, Evelina, Madame Duval, and the Branghtons go out to visit some gardens and get caught in a rainstorm. While they shelter, Lord Orville’s coach passes by, and Madame Duval rudely demands that the coachman let them use it since Evelina knows Lord Orville well. Mortified that her name is used like this, Evelina writes an apologetic note to Lord Orville and is shocked to receive a flirtatious message in reply. Evelina’s feelings are hurt, since Lord Orville has always been so kind and courteous to her. She returns, heartbroken, to Berry Hill and Mr. Villars.
Mr. Villars is delighted to see Evelina but distressed that she seems so wan and sad. He decides that she must go to stay in Bristol with his friend Mrs. Selwyn to recover her health. While in Bristol, Mrs. Selwyn and Evelina stay with Mrs. Selwyn’s friend Mrs. Beaumont, and Evelina is amazed to find that Lord Orville is staying there too—he is related to Mrs. Beaumont. Evelina and Lord Orville spend a lot of time together, and Evelina is pleased that he never mentions the note. She assumes he must have been drunk when he wrote it. One morning, Evelina goes for a walk in the garden and runs into Mr. Macartney, who has come to pay her back. Evelina cannot talk to him there but agrees to see him a few days later. Lord Orville, who sees them together, becomes jealous and confesses his love to Evelina. Evelina tells him that she loves him too; realizing that Macartney is not her lover, Lord Orville proposes, and Evelina accepts.
When Evelina sees Macartney again, he tells her that his lover is Miss Belmont—Sir John Belmont’s only daughter with Caroline Belmont. Evelina is baffled and realizes that this also makes Macartney her brother—he, too, is Sir John’s child. Macartney also tells Evelina that Sir John is in Bristol, and Mrs. Selwyn says that they must immediately go and confront him. They do so, and when Sir John sees Evelina, he is struck by her physical likeness to Caroline and realizes he has been tricked. Miss Belmont, whom Sir John has raised as his own daughter, is in fact the child of Caroline’s maid, Dame Green, who swapped the children as infants. Sir John breaks down because he feels guilty about how he treated Caroline, and Evelina immediately forgives him.
Later that week, Sir Clement visits Evelina and angrily asks her if she loves Lord Orville. Evelina says that she does, and Sir Clement admits that he wrote the insulting note Evelina received in London and pretended it was from Lord Orville. Sir Clement then storms from the house, and Evelina writes to tell him that she does not want to see him again. Evelina hears from Sir John, who tells her that he plans to give her half of her inheritance and give the other half to Miss Belmont. Now that he knows Miss Belmont is not related to Macartney, the pair will get married, and Miss Belmont will take Macartney’s name while Evelina claims her rightful title as Sir John’s only daughter. Evelina, meanwhile, will wed Lord Orville, who says that before they move to his estate, they will spend a month at Berry Hill with Mr. Villars. Evelina is delighted and cannot wait to see Mr. Villars and begin her new life as Lord Orville’s wife.
