Cometh Up as a Flower

Cometh Up as a Flower is a novel by the nineteenth-century Welsh writer Rhoda Broughton. Published in 1867, the novel attracted attention due to the candid thoughts of its female narrator, Nell Le Strange, concerning sexual desire, arranged marriages, and women’s position in society. While considered “sensation” fiction, Broughton’s novel lacks the elements of criminal conspiracy that mark the works of other sensationalist writers of the period, such as Wilkie Collins. The intrigue at the heart of Cometh Up is, instead, of the domestic sort: Will Nell marry the penniless soldier she loves or the wealthy aristocrat who loves her?

Once affluent members of high society, the Le Strange family’s fortunes are now dwindling. Nineteen-year-old Nell (Eleanor) and her older sister, Dolly, live in the deteriorating manor house of their widowed father, Sir Adrian Le Strange, whose health is also declining. The two sisters have nothing in common. Dark-haired Dolly has a petit figure, dresses with an elegance that defies her impoverished circumstances, and would gladly “sell [her] soul for gold.” Habitually dressed in frumpy clothes that suit her penchant for gardening, Nell stands nearly six feet tall, has red hair, and compares herself unfavorably to her beautiful sister.

Nell dotes on her beloved father and values the freedoms he allows her. She thinks, “If I had had a mother, I should have had to mend my gloves, and keep my hair tidy, […] and be initiated into the mysteries of stitching.” Relieved of these responsibilities, Nell spends her time in the estate’s neglected gardens and on short strolls through the neighboring countryside. It is during one such evening ramble in the graveyard that she sees a handsome stranger with golden, curly hair.



Four years older than Nell, Dolly is preoccupied with keeping up the pretense of respectability. She is determined to marry a man of means whose name and money will cloak her with the luster of gentility. Her younger sister’s disregard for proper appearances aggravates Dolly, and she tries to deter Nell from attending social events. To this end, Dolly hints to Nell that men would find her red hair and “broad mouth” unappealing.

While Dolly is away from home on an extended visit, Nell receives an invitation to a dinner party at the home of the up-and-coming Coxe family. She attends the party, where she encounters, once again, the handsome stranger with golden curls. His name is Richard (Dick) M’Gregor. A major in the army, he and Nell share an immediate, mutual attraction. Indeed, even dressed in her unfashionable gown, Nell turns heads, including that of Sir Hugh Lancaster.

Although stout and no longer young, Sir Hugh is besieged by smiling women who hope to catch his eye and snag his fortune. He is immune to their charms, however, and his lavish estate, Wentworth Park, remains “mistressless.” When he beholds Nell at the Coxe’s party, Sir Hugh decides he has finally met his match for marriage.



Nell considers Sir Hugh’s attentions following that evening a nuisance, because she has “been to a dinner party, and set up a lover” and desires nothing more. Her romance with Richard quickly progresses, although she hides it from her father. She sneaks out for secret rendezvous with him and admits she is free with her affection, even enjoying his kisses, for which she “forget[s] to be scandalized.” In short order, Richard proposes, and Nell happily accepts, heedless of his poverty.

Dolly returns home and discovers her sister has taken up with a poor soldier and spurned an affluent aristocrat. Much to her dismay, Dolly cannot convince Nell to put pragmatism before passion and marry Sir Hugh to salvage their family’s finances. Meanwhile, Nell’s father is delighted to learn of Sir Hugh’s interest in his daughter. Because Nell adores her “dear old dad” and knows his health suffers from money worries, she would like to comfort him by accepting Sir Hugh, but her heart forbids it.

A letter arrives from Sir Hugh’s mother inviting Dolly and Nell to be her houseguests at Wentworth Park. They are both eager to accept, but for different reasons. Dolly anticipates the social opportunities, and Nell thrills at the prospect of seeing Richard, whose name is also on the guest list. As Richard must rejoin his regiment soon, Nell welcomes this chance to be with him before he departs.



Following their first night at Sir Hugh’s estate, the guests assemble to set out for a picnic over a dozen miles away at Wilton Tower, the estate of another aristocrat. Nell wishes to make the trip with Richard, but Dolly maneuvers her into Sir Hugh’s dog-cart by telling Richard, out of Nell’s earshot, that her sister prefers to drive with the aristocrat. Once the party reconvenes on the picnic grounds, Richard is cool toward Nell, and Dolly shamelessly flirts with him. The drive back to Wentworth Park brings Nell more misery when Sir Hugh’s dog-cart overturns. Nell sustains minor injuries, and they are stranded at an inn for the night.

Richard returns to his army post, and Nell awaits his letters, but none arrive. Dolly, meanwhile, exploits the small scandal surrounding Nell’s night at the inn with Sir Hugh. She presses Nell to “marry him after all […] to stop people’s mouths” from spreading “naughty tales” about her. Believing Richard has jilted her, Nell agrees to be Sir Hugh’s wife. They wed, but Nell crassly regards the marriage as the sale of her “young flesh and blood […] for coin.” Although Sir Hugh is kind, Nell is wretched.

Richard reappears to tell Nell he has accepted a post in India. Each feels betrayed by the other, but they soon realize that Dolly schemed to divide them. When Richard produces a letter he received from Nell asking him to not write her, Nell declares it a forgery penned by Dolly. They profess their enduring love for one another, and Nell begs Richard to take her to India, but he refuses to be the instrument of her ruination.



Nell’s father dies. When she hears that Richard has perished in India, Nell herself begins to waste away and dies, presumably of consumption. Dolly thrives after “marrying a lord with £80,000 a year.”

The novel’s bleak ending fits with the biblical passage from which its title is derived: “Man that is born of woman is of few days and full of misery. He cometh up as a flower and is cut down” (Job 14). Unlike her hero, Rhoda Broughton refused to be “cut down” by Victorian expectations for women. She never married and published dozens of novels and short stories.