Chapter XXVI. Disowned. Practice Quiz — The Prince and the Pauper
by Mark Twain — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter XXVI. Disowned.
What puzzles King Edward at the beginning of Chapter 26?
He cannot understand why no one in the kingdom seems to be searching for the missing king — no couriers, no proclamations, no commotion over his disappearance.
What plan does Edward devise to prove his identity?
He writes a letter in three languages — Latin, Greek, and English — for Hendon to deliver to the Lord Hertford in London, confident Hertford will recognize his handwriting.
How does Hendon privately view Edward's letter-writing?
Hendon sees it as another symptom of the boy's delusion, describing the writing as "meaningless pot-hooks" that Edward fancies to be Latin and Greek.
What does Hendon admire about Edward despite believing him deluded?
Hendon admits that when the mood is upon him, Edward "doth thunder and lighten like your true King," showing a genuinely royal bearing and authority.
Why does Hendon believe Lady Edith denied recognizing him?
He concludes that Hugh must have influenced, commanded, or compelled Edith to lie, since he believes she cannot be naturally treacherous.
What is Hendon's reasoning about Edith's honesty?
He reasons that Edith "must have known my face, my figure, my voice" but since she said she did not know him, and she cannot lie, she must have been acting under Hugh's compulsion.
How does Lady Edith behave when she enters the room?
She is very pale but walks with a firm step, carries herself with grace and gentle dignity, and her face is sad. She checks Hendon's approach with a barely perceptible gesture.
How does Edith transform Hendon from an old friend into a stranger?
She seats herself and asks him to sit as well, using formal distance to remove "the sense of old comradeship" and make him feel like "a stranger and a guest."
What warning does Lady Edith give Hendon?
She warns him that Hugh is a tyrant with nearly limitless local power who will destroy Hendon if he stays, and that his claims to the Hendon identity are a direct threat to Hugh's title and possessions.
What does Edith say about the resemblance between Hendon and the "lost lad"?
She says it is "the more dangerous for that you are much like what our lost lad must have grown to be if he had lived," implicitly acknowledging the resemblance while maintaining her denial.
What does Edith reveal about the fates of Miles, Arthur, and Sir Richard?
She says that "Poor Miles, and Arthur, and my dear guardian, Sir Richard, are free of him, and at rest" — meaning she believes they are all dead and thus beyond Hugh's tyranny.
What does Edith offer Hendon to help him escape?
She offers him a purse of money to bribe the servants and flee before Hugh can destroy him.
What direct test does Hendon ask of Edith?
He asks her to let her eyes rest upon his so he can see if they are steady, then asks her directly: "Am I Miles Hendon?"
How does Edith respond when Hendon asks her to swear he is not Miles?
She gives a low but distinct answer: "I swear." — confirming her denial under oath despite the emotional weight of the moment.
What happens at the end of Chapter 26?
Officers burst into the room, a violent struggle ensues, and both Hendon and King Edward are overpowered, bound, and led to prison.
What parallel crisis do Edward and Hendon share in this chapter?
Both are denied recognition for who they truly are — Edward is an unrecognized king ignored by his kingdom, and Hendon is an unrecognized heir disowned by his own household.
How does Twain characterize Hugh Hendon's power in this chapter?
Through Edith's description: Hugh is "master in this region," his power has "hardly any limit," and the people "prosper or starve, as he wills." He is called "a tyrant who knows no pity."
What literary device does Twain use when the reader knows Edward and Hendon's true identities but other characters deny them?
Dramatic irony — the reader possesses knowledge that the characters within the story cannot prove or have acknowledged.
What does Hendon mean by "cobweb ties of loyalty and honour"?
He bitterly observes that loyalty and honor are fragile (like cobwebs) when people's bread and lives are at stake — they will obey Hugh rather than risk their survival for abstract principles.
What does the chapter title "Disowned" refer to?
It refers to Miles Hendon being formally denied and rejected by his own household — specifically by Lady Edith's sworn denial that she knows him, effectively erasing his identity and his claim to the estate.