<b>Ruth by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell</b>&nbsp;is a novel by an English novelist&nbsp;Elizabeth Gaskell, first published in three volumes in 1853.<br /><br />Ruth is a young orphan girl working in a respectable sweatshop for the overworked Mrs Mason. She is selected to go to a ball to repair torn dresses. At the ball she meets the aristocratic Henry Bellingham, a&nbsp;rake&nbsp;figure who is instantly attracted to her. They meet again by chance and form a secret friendship; on an outing together they are spotted by Mrs Mason who, fearing for her shop&#39;s reputation, dismisses Ruth.<br />Alone in the world, Ruth is whisked away by Bellingham to London where it is implied she becomes a&nbsp;<i>fallen woman</i>.<br /><br />They go on holiday to Wales together and there on a country walk Ruth meets the disabled and kind Mr Benson. Bellingham falls sick with fever and the hotel calls for his mother who arrives and is disgusted by her son&#39;s having lived in sin with Ruth. Bellingham is persuaded by his mother to abandon Ruth in Wales, leaving her some money.<br />A distraught Ruth attempts suicide but is spotted by Mr Benson who helps comfort her.<br /><br />When he learns of her past and that she is alone he brings her back to his home town, where he is a&nbsp;Dissenting&nbsp;minister, to stay with him and his formidable but kind sister Faith. When they learn that Ruth is pregnant they decide to lie to the town and claim that she is a widow called Mrs Denbigh, to protect her from a society which would otherwise shun her.<br />Ruth has her baby, whom she names Leonard.<br /><br />She is transformed into a&nbsp;Madonna&nbsp;type figure, calm and innocent once more. The rich local businessman Mr Bradshaw admires Ruth and employs her as a governess for his children, including his eldest daughter Jemima who is in awe of the beautiful Ruth.