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== Plot introduction ==
The novel begins in London with a secret meeting between two legal men. A bribe reveals the confidential details of a correspondent who is the link to a vital hidden document. Meanwhile, young John Mellamphy is growing up in the remote countryside with his mother Mary, ignorant of the name of Huffam. Gradually it becomes clear that they are threatened by the search for the document.
==Plot details==
#An attempted burglary tempts Mary to show her hand. She possesses a [[Codicil (will)|codicil]] to a [[Will (law)|will]] which is valuable to the Mompesson family, owners of a nearby estate. Meanwhile, John begins to suspect he is descended from the '''Huffam'''s, the original owners of the estate. Mary is put under further pressure by the death of her protector in London, Mr Fortisquince, and by subsequent treacherous advice which persuades her into a loss-making property speculation. She reluctantly visits Sir Perceval Mompesson, who wishes to buy the codicil. At the Hall, John encounters Henrietta Palphramond and her [[governess]], Miss Quilliam. The codicil is not sold, but later an attempt is made to abduct John; it is possible that his death would alter the inheritance of the estate. To escape, John and his mother travel to London.
#With dwindling savings, John and his mother are forced into successively poorer lodgings and are pursued by [[bailiffs]]. They find refuge with the Isbister family, but flee when they discover they are amongst the [[London Burkers|body-snatchers of Bethnal Green]]. They discover Miss Quilliam, who takes them in. Mary decides to sell the codicil to the '''Mompesson'''s, but then fears betrayal and they flee to Fortisquince's widow. The codicil is purchased on condition that John goes to a school in the north. More debts wipe out Mary's gains and force Mary into a [[Fleet Prison|debtors' prison]]. John meets with cruelty and danger at the school and escapes back to London. He finds Mary who has got out of prison only by becoming a prostitute. On reencountering John she leaves that life but, still penniless, she ultimately dies of [[Tuberculosis#Other names|consumption]].
#John seeks out Henry Bellringer, who is a relation of a school friend. But instead he finds himself among a gang of thieves, living in a part-built mansion. There he reads his mother's journal, which gives tantalisingly incomplete details of his parentage, of the death of his grandfather, and of the legacy. If John dies, others could inherit. Eventually John escapes from the gang and a kindly household takes him in. But their act is not what it seems, for they are part of the '''Clothier''' family, to whom the codicil was unwittingly sold. With John as their [[ward (law)|ward]], they aim to inherit by having him sent to an [[insane asylum]]. It is there John meets Peter Clothier, whom he now knows as his father.
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