Beware of Italics

ab. 1860 Silk dress (skirt and bodice) (Hungary)

あっついね

Oh the hypocrisy.

That's it, that's the chapter.

Death, the miracle worker, suddenly made the thing quite respectable.

Indeed.

It was the psychological moment—said Uncle James.

Yeah, he'd say that.

This was not—could not be—the girl who had sat all night in the woods with Barney Snaith—who had gone tearing bareheaded through Deerwood and Port Lawrence. This was the Valancy they knew. Really, surprisingly capable and efficient.

Really? The clan has never given her a chance to be capable or efficient in anything...?

Perhaps she had always been kept down a bit too much—Amelia really was rather strict—hadn’t had a chance to show what was in her. So thought the Stirlings. 

How the fuck are they right after all these years?

And Edward Beck, from the Port road, a widower with a large family who was beginning to take notice, took notice of Valancy and thought she might make a mighty fine second wife.

Take a chance, Eddie. I want to be present when she sends him somewhere. (Thinking back to Susan refusing Whiskers on the Moon.)

Dammit, I wish I could give Valancy a hug. She's a champ for not going off at all these people.

Isn't it absurd. Cissy herself didn't want a funeral, Valancy would prefer not to organise one, just give her the burial her friend would have wanted. And yet here we are.

I know Barney wanted to be away from all of it but I wish he was there. He seems a tad avoidant--is that the reason why he lives on that island?

“My child,” she said tremulously, “you’ll come home now?”

This is the most affectionate Mrs Frederick has ever been towards her daughter. Don't fall for it, Valancy!

And she was so tired she wished she could borrow a pair of legs from the cat.

Nothing funny about this situation but this is a funny line. I'm gonna start using 'I'm so tired I wish I could borrow a pair of legs from the cat' from now on.

Uncle Wellington being the pall bearer surprises me. I know it's just to keep up appearances but it's still surprising that he chose to be a pall bearer.

“We will just treat her as if nothing had happened when she comes back,” decreed Uncle Benjamin. “That will be the best plan. Just as if nothing had happened.”

“Cissy dead—Cissy dead,” he said vacantly. “I didn’t think it would ’a’ come so soon. Dead. She used to run down the lane to meet me with a little white rose stuck in her hair. Cissy used to be a pretty little girl. And a good little girl.”

to me, this reads less as “she used to have all these positive qualities and then she lost them,” but rather as a parent who’s shocked at how quickly their child grew up and died—like, part of the grief is that the time went so fast and he didn’t know to treasure it until it was too late.

It's time for hissin'! This bunch is much less hissy than some previous fosters, but at least we get a half-hearted hiss from Cassandra before Zeus tells me where to go.

(ex: chose to not watch anything pg13 until turning 13, no adult content until you were 18)