Mr. Bruff Character Analysis in The Moonstone

A respected London attorney, who encourages Franklin Blake to make a written record of the Diamond’s theft—which turns out to be The Moonstone. He initially becomes involved in the Diamond’s loss because he is nearly everyone’s lawyer and trusted advisor: John Herncastle, John and Julia Verinder, and Franklin Blake all retain his services. He is also the first to suspect Godfrey Ablewhite of the theft, and while he is a loyal servant to the family (housing Rachel after Julia’s death, for instance), he is generally a sober and pragmatic presence, including in the section of the novel he narrates (which revolves around other people he meets with: the recently-engaged Rachel and Godfrey Ablewhite, the Indian man who visits Bruff at his office, and Mr. Murthwaite, who mentions an interesting theory at dinner). He serves as a witness to Ezra Jennings’s “experiment” and goes with Franklin and Sergeant Cuff to investigate the Diamond when Mr. Luker withdraws it from the bank at the end of the book.

Mr. Bruff Quotes in The Moonstone

The The Moonstone quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Bruff or refer to Mr. Bruff. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Detective Methods and Genre Standards Theme Icon

“In the name of the Regent of the Night, whose seat is on the Antelope, whose arms embrace the four corners of the earth.

Brothers, turn your faces to the south, and come to me in the street of many noises, which leads down to the muddy river.

The reason is this.

My own eyes have seen it.”

Related Characters: The Three Indians (speaker), Mr. Bruff, Mr. Septimus Luker, Mr. Murthwaite

Related Symbols: The Moonstone

Page Number and Citation: 293

Explanation and Analysis:

“I wish I had never taken it out of the bank,” he said to himself. “It was safe in the bank.”

Related Characters: Franklin Blake (speaker), Mr. Bruff, Gabriel Betteredge, Ezra Jennings

Related Symbols: The Moonstone

Page Number and Citation: 423

Explanation and Analysis:

Mr. Bruff Character Timeline in The Moonstone

The timeline below shows where the character Mr. Bruff appears in The Moonstone. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...the morning, Mr. Franklin Blake (Lady Verinder’s nephew) tells Betteredge that the family lawyer, Mr. Bruff, thinks they should make a written record about the Indian Diamond’s disappearance from Lady Verinder’s... (full context)

Betteredge tries to faithfully recount what Franklin learned after revealing to the family lawyer Mr. Bruff that he was to deliver Herncastle’s present to Rachel. It turned out that, when Herncastle... (full context)

...months before Betteredge’s meeting with Franklin the Junior. At this time, Herncastle’s letter ordered Mr. Bruff, the lawyer, to visit him in the rural villa where he lived in complete isolation... (full context)

Gender and Victorian Morality Theme Icon

...as a witness to the signing of her will in front of her attorney Mr. Bruff. At once, Clack realizes what Julia’s secret must be. (full context)

...Clack finds Julia is busy with the doctor, and is asked to wait with Mr. Bruff, the lawyer, who has just arrived. He is surprised to see her large bag, but... (full context)

Bruff then brings up the scandalous news of Godfrey, and Clack reprimands him for repeating the... (full context)

Although she regrets it while writing her narrative, Clack admits that she butted into Mr. Bruff’s monologue to insist that perhaps Mr. Franklin Blake could be responsible for the theft. Bruff... (full context)

Before Clack can again chastise and contradict Bruff, the servant announces that Julia is ready for them. Clack explains that she has summarized... (full context)

Julia quickly signs the will and Clack scares Bruff out of the room with her bag of religious tracts. As Julia proclaims she plans... (full context)

...possible and stocks the house with religious literature. That Saturday, the family arrives alongside Mr. Bruff, whom Clack calls “the Serpent.” Clack is convinced he has some self-interested reason for accompanying... (full context)

After lunch, Mr. Bruff takes Rachel for a walk, which they agree is the best cure for her headache... (full context)

...offer to “read a few passages of the deepest interest.” Miss Clack declares that Mr. Bruff must have been delivering bad news the day before, and Rachel insists it was “quite... (full context)

...storm that will allow her to convert Rachel). He does appear, after all, and Mr. Bruff comes unexpectedly shortly thereafter, as he believes he might “be of some use” in the... (full context)

...to end it. Mr. Ablewhite begins screaming, asking Rachel “what complaint” she has against Godfrey—Mr. Bruff tells Rachel she need not answer, and Ablewhite starts yelling at him instead. Clack is... (full context)

...declares that she has no right to bring “this Rampant Spinster” into his house, but Bruff explains that Ablewhite actually gave Rachel the house in his capacity as her legal guardian.... (full context)

...leaves, Mrs. Ablewhite insults Miss Clack and apologizes to Rachel, who breaks into tears. Mr. Bruff says that he and Rachel will leave at once, and Mrs. Ablewhite leaves, but Clack... (full context)

...an attempt to stop this dreadful behavior and protect Rachel, her “lost sheep”—but Rachel accepts Bruff’s offer at once. “Stop!” shouts Miss Clack, insisting that she is Rachel’s rightful guardian, for... (full context)

Rachel calls Penelope to pack her things and leaves at once. Mr. Bruff tells Miss Clack it was a mistake to explain her motives, and even Penelope—whom Clack... (full context)

The solicitor Mathew Bruff explains his dual purposes in writing. First, he wants to explain “certain points of interest... (full context)

...“Everything to my wife. That’s my will.” And then he returned to his nap. Although Bruff would ordinarily object to this, he knew Julia was trustworthy and competent in business (unlike... (full context)

A few weeks after Julia signs her second will, Bruff receives news that someone from the firm Skipp and Smalley has paid to examine the... (full context)

Bruff explains that the will leaves Rachel with houses and a steady income, but no means... (full context)

Bruff asks if Rachel has some woman in her life to turn to for advice. She... (full context)

That night, back in London, Mr. Ablewhite the elder comes to visit Bruff and declare that Godfrey has accepted Rachel’s decision to end the engagement. This confirms that... (full context)

Bruff turns to the Moonstone. His information is important because of its relevance to “events which... (full context)

Bruff immediately determines that the “mysterious client” is one of the Indian jugglers, likely “the chief.”... (full context)

After the man leaves, Bruff realizes that this last question was the purpose of the man’s visit, as an interview... (full context)

Bruff is at the dinner-party, and Mr. Murthwaite is also there. His “dangerous adventures” have won... (full context)

Bruff decides to bring up the Moonstone and explains his connection to the case. The whole... (full context)

Murthwaite and Bruff agree that Herncastle’s death was the Indians’ first opportunity to take the Diamond, and that... (full context)

Murthwaite corrects Bruff: the Indians did not know that Franklin put the Diamond in the bank, which is... (full context)

...this letter is the worker Septimus Luker fired for trying to steal an “Oriental treasure.” Bruff finally understands how the Indians knew Luker got the Moonstone. (full context)

Murthwaite now asks Bruff for “a piece of information”: does Bruff know who paid for Luker to buy the... (full context)

...worth determining how the Indians discovered the gem’s location in the bank, but instead asks Bruff: “what is their third chance of seizing the Diamond? and when will it come?” (full context)

Bruff immediately understands that the Indian man visited his office to figure out how soon the... (full context)

...a week, and when he finally meets Franklin again, he presents a letter from Mr. Bruff, revealing the death of Franklin’s father and imploring Franklin to return to England as soon... (full context)

...immediately seeks her out. He also learns everything included in the other narratives (except Mr. Bruff’s explanation of Rachel and Godfrey’s motives for breaking their engagement). (full context)

Offended, Franklin asks Mr. Bruff about the matter—and he does not have any response, either. Bruff simply notes that, while... (full context)

...discuss his reaction until the end of the letter, and he tells Betteredge that Mr. Bruff and Sergeant Cuff are the only other people he can consult about the case. At... (full context)

...of Rosanna’s letter, which Franklin hopes to use to generate a fruitful conversation with Mr. Bruff and score a meeting with Rachel. (full context)

When he gets to London, Franklin goes immediately to meet Mr. Bruff at his home and presents the lawyer with Rosanna’s letter. Mr. Bruff thinks this document... (full context)

Franklin asks what it would mean if he were wearing the nightgown, something Bruff considers impossible to prove. And he wonders if Rachel might have suspected him for any... (full context)

Bruff and Franklin then begin brainstorming how to convince Rachel to meet with Franklin. Bruff suggests... (full context)

...Franklin for some specific, significant, and secret reason. When his time comes, Franklin enters the Bruff house’s garden, moves to the drawing-room, and hears Rachel playing the piano from the adjacent... (full context)

In an unexpected “visit from Mr. Bruff,” Bruff asks Blake to promise not to visit Rachel again. Bruff both believes Rachel’s story... (full context)

Franklin finds Bruff’s plan reasonable, but he cannot stand to wait two weeks, and decides to try to... (full context)

...Mr. Murthwaite, Godfrey Ablewhite, and Miss Clack. He goes to get their addresses from Mr. Bruff, who denounces him as “fanciful.” Bruff says that Godfrey’s whereabouts are unknown, and the other... (full context)

Franklin proposes contacting Bruff, and Jennings tells him to do so and quit smoking at once. Jennings emphasizes that... (full context)

...is with Franklin when Jennings arrives for his visit in Yorkshire, and Franklin explains that Bruff wrote him and “expressed the strongest disapproval” of the planned experiment, having asked for the... (full context)

...much better, and that the house is nearly ready. As witnesses, he has secured Mr. Bruff and Sergeant Cuff, in addition to Rachel and Betteredge (and maybe Mrs. Merridew). (full context)

...his stiffest white cravat,” but still disappointed in Jennings’s lack of acquaintance with Robinson Crusoe. Bruff has reluctantly agreed to come, as well, and “nothing has been heard of Sergeant Cuff.” (full context)

...hour before, and he brought Franklin to his bedroom to ensure it was appropriately replicated. Bruff arrives and is clearly skeptical of Jennings. They agree that Franklin will not know about... (full context)

...the following morning. Jennings goes inside and finds Franklin agitated in his room, asking for Bruff, who is busy working in the next room. Franklin asks when it is time for... (full context)

...suspicious when Jennings asks him to bring the medicine-chest to Rachel’s sitting-room. Jennings also asks Bruff “to be present” for the preparation of the laudanum and then to wait in Franklin... (full context)

Betteredge, Bruff, and Jennings meet Rachel in her sitting-room. Rachel agrees to replicate everything exactly like the... (full context)

...minutes before midnight, Jennings notices the laudanum begin to take effect, and he signals to Bruff and Betteredge that they should remove their boots, in case they need to follow Franklin. (full context)

...year before would have been impossible, and he may have given Franklin too much laudanum. Bruff and Betteredge both admit that they were wrong to doubt Jennings, and admit that the... (full context)

Bruff asks how they might figure out where the Diamond is now, and notes that he... (full context)

...the explosion—which the others promise her was quite timid). Rachel decides to follow Franklin and Bruff to trace the Moonstone in London, and Betteredge begins resetting the house to normal. Everyone... (full context)

...in London, a boy with incredibly large eyes meets them at the train platform and Bruff and Franklin go with him. Bruff explains that Mr. Luker has recently been seen with... (full context)

...and the two plainclothes police officers come out of the bank offices, and Franklin and Bruff watch Luker intently as he darts through the crowd, waiting for him to hand over... (full context)

Franklin and Bruff meet Bruff’s second associate, who has followed another man who also turned out to have... (full context)

Briefly, one of Mr. Bruff’s clerks stops in to report that his boss is sick and that he, the clerk,... (full context)

...future in detective work. Cuff explains what Gooseberry told him while Franklin was meeting with Bruff’s clerk: the sailor went to the Tower Wharf, where he tried to board a boat... (full context)

...Gooseberry returned to the pub, but nothing happened, and on his way to talk with Bruff he saw the mechanic approach the pub, see a light turned on upstairs, and leave... (full context)

...“Godfrey Ablewhite was too great a fool to have invented it,” and that Cuff and Bruff agree. Luker offered Godfrey “monstrous terms”: Luker would give Godfrey 2,000 pounds and then release... (full context)

In “Statement of Mr. Murthwaite (1850), In a Letter to Mr. Bruff,” Murthwaite reminds Bruff about their acquaintance and conversation about the Moonstone in 1848. He explains... (full context)

The Moonstone

Mr. Bruff Character Analysis

Mr. Bruff Quotes in The Moonstone

The Discovery of the Truth 2: 3 Quotes

The Discovery of the Truth 4 Quotes

Mr. Bruff Character Timeline in The Moonstone