Commentary on Chapter 40 of The Blue Castle
I am a bit tired today, this commentary will be more basic than usual.
“The crayon enlargement of the boyish father she had never known.”
I am always here for lore about Valancy’s parents!
“The rattle of the beads on her mother’s sleeves, as they swung on the arms of the reed chair, almost drove her crazy. Nothing else was worrying her; but all at once it seemed that she simply could not endure that thin, insistent rattle.”
“A queer gleam suddenly shot into Mrs. Frederick’s stone-grey orbs.”
So, Amelia Stirling has grey eyes… I have been describing her as having “sea-blue” eyes in my fanfic, now I have to change all of them to “blue-grey”.
“Yes. Barney left home years ago—because of—of some trouble—some—disappointment. Now he will likely go back. So you see—I had to come home. He doesn’t love me. I can’t hold him to a bond he was tricked into.”
Uncle Benjamin looked incredibly sly.”
Lol, I love this last sentence.
“Then don’t worry, little girl.” How amazingly paternal Uncle Benjamin was! “Your family will stand behind you. We’ll see what can be done.”
“Thank you,” said Valancy dully. Really, it was quite decent of Uncle Benjamin.”
Valancy at the beginning of the book would see through Uncle Benjamin’s greedy motives, but I guess she is too depressed to notice it now.
“Do you really suppose that—Snaith—can actually be Dr. Redfern’s son?” gasped Mrs. Frederick.
“I see no reason for doubting it. She says Dr. Redfern has been there. Why, the man is rich as wedding-cake. Amelia, I’ve always believed there was more in Doss than most people thought. You kept her down too much—repressed her. She never had a chance to show what was in her. And now she’s landed a millionaire for a husband.”
Amelia hates and doubts her daughter even more than the other relatives do. Also our theory that Valancy couldn’t marry because of Amelia’s repression seems to be supported by the text.
“But—” hesitated Mrs. Frederick, “he—he—they told terrible tales about him.”
“All gossip and invention—all gossip and invention.”
Hahaha, “all gossip and invention”.
Mrs. Frederick’s reaction is interesting. She doesn’t immediately jump ships when she learns Barney’s family is rich, not as unguardedly as Uncle Benjamin does at least - it might indicate that her religious conservatism is more sincere than I have thought?
“He may be a millionaire, but Valancy is a Stirling.”
“Bless me, I must get in the habit of calling her Valancy. She isn’t a baby any longer.”
What is our prevailing theory for the origin of the Doss nickname? Her being sleepy as a baby?
“It was something of a large order to expect Mrs. Frederick to be kind and sympathetic. But she did her best. When supper was ready she went up and asked Valancy if she wouldn’t like a cup of tea. Valancy, lying on her bed, declined. She just wanted to be left alone for a while. Mrs. Frederick left her alone. She did not even remind Valancy that her plight was the outcome of her own lack of daughterly respect and obedience. One could not—exactly—say things like that to the daughter-in-law of a millionaire.”
Montgomery never fails with a chapter ending!
