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Evelyn Howard
John Cavendish is a middle-aged man Hastings used to know as a boy. Hastings views John as affable but somewhat unintelligent, but the novel subtly mocks his condescending attitude toward his friend by implying that Hastings himself is no smarter than John. Having not seen Hastings in years, John invites him to live for a while at his family country home, Styles Court, where he himself currently lives with his wife, Mary Cavendish, and his stepmother, Emily Inglethorp. He and Mary have been living at Styles Court because they’re in a financial bind, partially because his stepmother won’t increase his allowance, but also because his father’s will stipulated that the family fortune should go to Emily while she’s alive, not to his sons—something Hastings thinks is unfair, though John himself has accepted the arrangement, since his stepmother treats him kindly and will eventually pass along the family money to him and his brother, Lawrence. And yet, things get complicated when Hercule Poirot investigates Emily Inglethorp’s murder and discovers that her fortune is actually slated to go to her new husband, Alfred. And though John wasn’t the one to kill his stepmother, Alfred and Evelyn—the real murderers—plant evidence to make it seem like he did. He’s therefore brought to trial, but Poirot gets him off the hook by revealing Alfred and Evelyn’s plan at the last minute. Throughout all of this excitement, John has carried on an affair with a neighbor, Mrs. Raikes, largely because he thinks Mary doesn’t love him. But when Mary is forced to watch him stand trial for murder, her affection toward him is renewed, and they start afresh as a couple in love.
John Cavendish Quotes in The Mysterious Affair at Styles
The The Mysterious Affair at Styles quotes below are all either spoken by John Cavendish or refer to John Cavendish. 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:
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Chapter 1: I Go to Styles
Quotes
He had married two years ago, and had taken his wife to live at Styles, though I entertained a shrewd suspicion that he would have preferred his mother to increase his allowance, which would have enabled him to have a home of his own. [Emily Inglethorp], however, was a lady who liked to make her own plans, and expected other people to fall in with them, and in this case she certainly had the whip hand, namely: the purse strings.
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“[…] The fellow must be at least twenty years younger than she is! It’s simply barefaced fortune hunting; but there you are—she is her own mistress, and she’s married him.”
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Chapter 11: The Case for the Prosecution
Quotes
“I say, that’s playing it a bit low down,” I protested.
“Not all. We have to deal with a most clever and unscrupulous man, and we must use any means in our power—otherwise he will slip through our fingers. That is why I have been careful to remain in the background. All the discoveries have been made by Japp, and Japp will take all the credit. […]”
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John Cavendish Quotes in The Mysterious Affair at Styles
The The Mysterious Affair at Styles quotes below are all either spoken by John Cavendish or refer to John Cavendish. 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:
).
Chapter 1: I Go to Styles
Quotes
He had married two years ago, and had taken his wife to live at Styles, though I entertained a shrewd suspicion that he would have preferred his mother to increase his allowance, which would have enabled him to have a home of his own. [Emily Inglethorp], however, was a lady who liked to make her own plans, and expected other people to fall in with them, and in this case she certainly had the whip hand, namely: the purse strings.
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“[…] The fellow must be at least twenty years younger than she is! It’s simply barefaced fortune hunting; but there you are—she is her own mistress, and she’s married him.”
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Chapter 11: The Case for the Prosecution
Quotes
“I say, that’s playing it a bit low down,” I protested.
“Not all. We have to deal with a most clever and unscrupulous man, and we must use any means in our power—otherwise he will slip through our fingers. That is why I have been careful to remain in the background. All the discoveries have been made by Japp, and Japp will take all the credit. […]”
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