Bleak House is the story of the Jarndyce family, who wait in vain to inherit money from a disputed fortune in the settlement of the extremely long-running lawsuit of Jarndyce and Jarndyce. The story, involves Esther Summerson, an orphaned young woman raised by an unfeeling godmother, the kind John Jarndyce, his other wards, Richard Carstone and Ada Clare, the aristocratic Lady Dedlock and her lawyer, Mr. Tulkinghorn, who discovers a secret from her past, along with other intricate mysteries involving blackmail and murder.