Jacky Bast is a member of the working-class and eventually falls in love with Ruth Wilcox, who is a member of the upper-class. Henry Wilcox, Ruth’s husband, disapproves of their relationship and has Jacky fired from his job. This leads him to become bitter towards the upper-class and to start drinking more heavily. Jacky decides that he wants revenge against Henry, so he sneaks into the Wilcox estate with a shotgun and attempts to kill Henry. The attempt fails when Henry shoots Jacky in the shoulder as he runs away. Jacky is then arrested and sentenced to six months in prison.
After being released from prison, Jacky is happy because he believes that Henry will no longer be able to separate him from Ruth, but instead Ruth tells him her family has moved out of Howards End and she won’t be seeing him anymore.
Ruth Wilcox eventually died and left her estate to Jacky in her will.
After taking possession of Howards End, Jacky continued to live in poverty and eventually died of tuberculosis shortly after his triumph in court. After his death, the Bast family sold Howards End to Leonard Bast’s employer and later employer Charles Arrowby after receiving a large sum of money from selling it.
