# Mr. Vanborough — Man and Wife character guide

> Mr. Vanborough in Man and Wife by Wilkie Collins.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Vanborough

**First appearance:** 0001-prologue-the-irish-marriage

## Snapshot

A man who broke one wife's heart to marry into a title, Mr. Vanborough built his respectability on a desertion he assumed time would bury.

## Who they are

Mr. Vanborough disowned and deserted the woman who bore his child, then married Lady Jane and climbed toward the peerage with the strictest attention to propriety. He offered money instead of his name, and the refusal he received became the seed of everything the novel's next generation must untangle. His past is the original crime that the plot keeps returning to, and his comfortable second marriage is the lie his daughter's existence is designed to expose.

## Relationships

### [Lady Lundie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/man_and_wife_se/characters/lady_lundie)

_family_

Lady Lundie is the sister of Mr. Vanborough, and their relationship is strained by past family conflicts.

### [Lady Lundie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/man_and_wife_se/characters/lady_lundie)

_family_

Lady Lundie is the sister of Mr. Vanborough, and their relationship is strained by past family conflicts.

### [Lady Lundie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/man_and_wife_se/characters/lady_lundie)

_family_

Lady Lundie is the sister of Mr. Vanborough, and their relationship is strained by past family conflicts.

## In the story

### [The Villa at Hampstead](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/man_and_wife_se/chapters/i-the-villa-at-hampstead)

Denies his wife, Mrs. Vanborough, when confronted by Lady Jane Parnell, revealing his treachery.

### [Chapter II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/man_and_wife_se/chapters/ii)

Expresses deep dissatisfaction with his wife and his marriage, revealing his ambition for a peerage and his desire for a wife with high connections.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/man_and_wife_se/chapters/iii)

The husband who learns his marriage is legally void and struggles with the decision of whether to assert his freedom.

### [Chapter IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/man_and_wife_se/chapters/iv)

Attempts to hide his wife from Lady Jane; denies his marriage when directly questioned.

### [The March of Time](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/man_and_wife_se/chapters/ii-the-march-of-time)

Marries Lady Jane Parnell, enters Parliament, and enjoys social success after his first wife's death.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/man_and_wife_se/chapters/v)

Marries Lady Jane Parnell and rises in society, entering Parliament and gaining favor; his desertion is cited as the cause of his first wife's death.

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/man_and_wife_se/chapters/vi)

Now in Parliament, wealthy and well-connected but soured, disliked, and passed over for favors despite his abilities.

### [Chapter VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/man_and_wife_se/chapters/vii)

Visits the villa where he once lived with the woman he wronged, stands on the spot where he last saw her, and later commits suicide after reading of Delamayn's peerage.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/man_and_wife_se/characters/mr_vanborough
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/man_and_wife_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/man_and_wife_se/characters