Victorians! discussion

Welcome to Week 4 of Armadale! I hope you are enjoying the book so far. I think you can see, even as we get into the rising action of this tale, the slowing of the narrative pace. Now that everyone’s histories are known, we are starting to see more descriptive passages, more detailed interaction between the characters. Indeed, the first two chapters, “The Norfolk Broads” and “Fate or Chance?” can be summarized together–our characters embark on a picnic!

If you will remember, Allan hosts this picnic in an attempt to please Miss Milroy. Mr. Pedgift, Jr., Rev. Samuel Pentecost, and his elderly mother join Allan and the Milroys. There is a lovely, detailed description of the Norfolk Broads here, which is something we have seen little of so far. Allan and Miss Milroy share a carriage with Mrs. Pentecost, and “Allan made love, and Miss Milroy sanctioned the manufacture of that occasionally precious article of human commerce, sublimely indifferent on both sides to a solemn base accompaniment on two notes, played by the curate’s mother’s unsuspecting nose” (244). This made me laugh!

Rev. Pentecost becomes ill after lunch and stays on the boat, attended by his mother, while the others explore a reed-cutter’s cottage. Allan is making promising inroads with Miss Milroy before he makes a fatal mistake–he reveals that he is thinking about Midwinter instead of her. Worse, she had halfway revealed that she was thinking of him! She turns her attention to Mr. Pedgift, much to Allan’s puzzled dismay. Mr. Pedgift, with highly advanced skills of self-preservation, evades this trap. As a modern son of Adam, Mr. Pedgift, when tempted by Eve, “would have handed the famous apple back with a bow, and a ‘Thanks, no; it might geet me into a scrape’” (259).

They reach their destination of Hurle Mere. Since neither Midwinter nor Miss Gwilt is there and Miss Milroy is being a brat (again), Allan gets off the boat and tells them to head back without him while he waits for Midwinter. Miss Milroy, as soon as the boat sets sail, regrets her brattiness and calls to him, but he can’t hear her.

Midwinter is found under a tree, being emo. He is once again overwhelmed by his sense of impending doom and begs Allan to let him leave. He quickly backs off this and says his question was folly because if Allan had said yes, “something else would have happened at the first stop” to stop him (264). Here we hearken back to our title with this reference to Fate. As the two men walk back to the meeting place, Midwinter goes ahead and then turns to his friend with wild eyes. The vista ahead is the pool of the Mere highlighted red by the setting sun, with the silhouette of a woman standing before it.

Midwinter pulls the paper with the dream written on it from his pocket and they review. Yes, it is the dream! Even Allan is a little creeped out until he sees the pony-chaise left for the governess. Then he laughs at Midwinter’s dramatic foolishness and starts toward the woman–after all, they can’t just leave her out there! After a few steps, he looks around and Midwinter has disappeared. When Allan gets closer, he is struck by the woman’s beauty. Hmm . . . might not have been the best time for Miss Milroy to play off her tricks on Allan!

Ch. X - “The Housemaid’s Face”

Midwinter returns to Thorpe-Ambrose alone and immediately starts packing to leave, but is stopped by the dual nature of his loyalty to Allan. He’s leaving because he’s afraid he will hurt Allan, but he is also incapable of hurting Allan by just disappearing. He resolves to write a farewell letter but is unable to express himself adequately. Sitting in his room, he overhears Allan and Pedgift discussing the new governess’s beauty. Pedgift is as immune to her charms as he was to Miss Milroy and warns Allan that there is something amiss in the Milroys’ cottage. Another overheard conversation between an estate serving man and a maid from the cottage confirms this, as the maid talks of Mrs. Milroy’s jealousy and how she will react to the beautiful governess. Unable to write, Midwinter finally goes to sleep.

He awakes in the morning to a letter from Mr. Brock, who has lost Lydia’s trail, just as she had planned. He sends Midwinter the incorrect description of Lydia and of course, it is her maid. Midwinter walks over to the cottage, armed with Brock’s letter, and sees the new governess walking with Miss Milroy. Miss Gwilt (of course) looks nothing like the description in the letter, but is very lovely. Miss Milroy is displeased to see him and flounces back to the cottage. Miss Gwilt asks Midwinter (who has remained silently staring at her) to tell Allan that she and Miss Milroy will visit him that morning.

Left to himself, Midwinter undergoes a seismic shift in his beliefs. His entire motive for leaving Allan was based on the Dream, and the certainty that the woman in the Dream was the complicit housemaid of years ago. Once she is taken from the equation, Midwinter’s conviction that he must leave Allan to protect him crumbles like a house of cards. The Dream goes from a warning from beyond the grave to just a dream, and he once again believes that his love for Allan is all the protection he needs. With a joyful heart, he goes to meet his friend.

Ch. XI - “Miss Gwilt Among the Quicksands”

Mr. Brock writes to Midwinter in relief that the governess is not the woman they are seeking, who, he adds in a postscript, was called Miss Gwilt. (I could almost hear the “dun-dun-DUH” at the end of that line)! He is also unable to visit for at least two months. Miss Gwilt’s letter to Mrs. Oldershaw reveals that Midwinter taxed her with the coincidence and she laid his fears to rest. She writes that Allan continues to admire her and Miss Milroy is left out in the cold–and, of course, she HATES her governess for this, which is understandable! Miss Gwilt actively dislikes Allan but this will not stop her from marrying him.

She goes on to say that she has two problems: Mrs. Milroy and Midwinter. She is afraid that Mrs. Milroy’s unfounded jealousy will cause her to send the governess packing. As to Midwinter, she is intrigued by his air of mystery and wonders at his history and how he came to be here, dancing attendance “on a fool” like Allan. She believes that Midwinter has fallen in love with her and worries about the complications that could cause. However, Allan has asked her for a private interview (code for an impending marriage proposal), so she is encouraged.

As an afterthought, she adds that a daft old man named Bashwood looked at her as a rabbit looks at a snake when they were introduced, but she has no idea why. Hmmm! Mrs. Oldershaw responds that Brock is also still a real threat, but she promises to keep him occupied by putting him back on the trail of the housemaid in London. Mr. Brock’s letter to Midwinter confirms that Mrs. Oldershaw followed up on her plan with the counterfeit housemaid and it is working.

Ch. XII - “The Clouding of the Sky”

It has been ten days since Miss Gwilt arrived. Allan is at the cottage and Midwinter awaits his return in the little room that had been Allan’s mother’s favorite retreat. The room no longer holds any terrors for Midwinter since he has abandoned his fear of the Dream. Midwinter had an earnest conversation with Allan in which he laid bare all of his fears and his plan to leave. He begged for forgiveness and for Allan to continue to trust in him. After reassuring himself that no one on the estate knew of Mrs. Armadale’s deception of her father for her marriage, he revealed the room to Allan. I love the ominous ending to this paragraph: “ . . . in this way had Midwinter’s victory over his own fatalism–by making Allan the daily occupant of a room which he might otherwise hardly ever have entered–actually favoured the fulfillment of the Second Vision of the Dream” (294).

When Allan returns from the Milroy’s cottage, he announces that he is in love, and with Miss Gwilt! Midwinter is taken aback by this and is very cagey in his response. He does not criticize his friend’s choice, but neither does he endorse it. Allan tries to discover the reason for his friend’s disapproval–is it her occupation, or her age (which they think is 27 or 28)? When Allan starts talking about marriage, Midwinter abruptly leaves. Allan is nonplussed, but stares out the window, wondering if she is thinking of him. She is, but not in the way he hopes. She is writing to Mrs. Oldershaw, “I have got him!” (297).

Ch. XIII - “Exit”

The next morning, Midwinter has reached a decision. He cannot be the best counselor to Allan, given his own feelings for Lydia, and he cannot bear to continue seeing her and listening to Allan rhapsodize about her, so he must leave.

Allan tells Midwinter that he knows almost nothing about Lydia. He has decided to question Major Milroy about her, convinced that he must have learned something of her background before hiring her. Midwinter cautions him to be careful in his approach and to write to Mr. Brock before taking any big steps. He then tells Allan that he is going walkabout for a couple of weeks and leaves in the rain. On his way out of town, he gives a poor, ragged urchin a shilling and buys meat for a starving dog.

Book the Fourth, Ch. I - “Mrs. Milroy”

Mrs. Milroy is waiting for a letter. We learn a little more about her. She was a beautiful young woman before she was ravaged by illness, and she cannot accept what it has done to her. More terrible than the physical effects of her illness are her attempts to hide it with wigs and cosmetics. She knows that she will not live much longer, but is determined that Lydia Gwilt will not take her place (although neither the Major nor Lydia has the slightest interest in that). The Milroys were happily married until she became ill and he lost his fortune. Then “the good that was in Mrs. Milroy’s nature shrank up under that subtly-deteriorating influence in which the evil grew and flourished. Month by month as she became the weaker woman physically, she became the worse woman morally” (313). She becomes a purveyor of misery to everyone in her orbit. At the moment, she is fixated on Miss Gwilt and has bribed her nurse to follow her and try to catch her in impropriety. So far, the nurse has failed. Mrs. Milroy writes to Lydia’s reference (Mrs. Oldershaw) for more information and the letter is returned because Mrs. Oldershaw has vacated the apartment. Lydia also receives a letter and the nurse steams it open. In it, Mrs. Oldershaw advises Lydia to be careful about the family history she makes up to satisfy Allan, and mentions assignations in the park. Mrs. Milroy is trying to figure out how she can use this information to her advantage when her daughter appears with her breakfast tray.

Ch. II - “The Man is Found”

Neelie confesses to her mother that she hates Miss Gwilt and that she had tried, unsuccessfully, to talk to her father about it. Mrs. Milroy insinuates that the major has feelings for Lydia. When Neelie protests, it draws down a vicious rant on her head. Neelie, starved for affection, begs forgiveness, which is granted only when Neelie tells her mother why she hates her governess, which she does. Mrs. Milroy couldn’t care less about her daughter’s blighted hopes; she tells herself that Lydia’s interest in Allan is a ruse. We learn that Allan did ask the major about Lydia’s past and just as Midwinter feared, he was too aggressive about it and was rebuffed. Neelie’s pain is immaterial to her mother, who totally disregards it as she focuses on her own feelings. She is going to write to Allan and tell him to talk to Lydia’s reference--and we all know who that is!

What do you think of the epistolary style? How do you feel about Lydia, now that she has appeared in the flesh? Quite a shake-up of Allan’s affections and plans for his future this week! Please share your impressions, questions, or predictions!

Cindy, I really like the tone of your summaries! I love the descriptions of Miss Milroy as a brat and Midwinter as emo - made me laugh, and so true!

I found the pacing in this section quite strange. The section about the picnic was really much longer than it needed to be, although I enjoyed the comedy created by the characters of the clergyman and his mother, and Mr Pedgift. Then later on when Allan was talking about his private interviews with Lydia and how they loved each other, I felt like I must have missed a scene or several! It's odd to have such an important event happen "offstage" and I would have liked to see something of Allan's and Lydia's interactions instead of just hearing of them through Allan's rose-tinted spectacles.

It was interesting to learn more of Mrs Milroy. I think Collins is good at creating acerbic bitter women, and I do also enjoy a sullen servant character! I wonder how old Mrs Milroy was when she got married - it said she was "unusually young", so maybe about 16? So she is now only in her early 30s and a similar age to Lydia, which must make her even more aware of the contrast between them.

Lorna wrote: "Cindy, I really like the tone of your summaries! I love the descriptions of Miss Milroy as a brat and Midwinter as emo - made me laugh, and so true!

I found the pacing in this section quite strang..."

Thank you! I like to have fun with them, but still stay mindful of the "serious" literary discussion we are having. :)

I hadn't really thought of the presentation of Allan's new romance, but you are right--it is a little odd, especially considering that we were given access to several important moments of his courtship of Miss Milroy. It seems like Collins is keeping the false Lydia offstage and only allowing the reader to see her au naturale. We get her authentic thoughts and feelings in her correspondence, but see nothing of her play-acting the part of the circumspect governess. It's like he wants our view of her to be undiluted by the false propriety she assumes for her schemes. It's an interesting choice! Do you think it is effective? Do you think seeing her acting the coy maiden with Allan would make her manipulativeness more reprehensible, or would her "mask" influence us on the side of lenience?

Yes, Collins is good at creating female characters that are complex and not the saintly, pious females so prevalent in Victorian literature. I'm almost afraid to hazard a guess at what "unusually young" translates to back then! I'm going to go with sixteen (hopefully it wasn't 15!).

Cindy wrote: We get her authentic thoughts and feelings in her correspondence, but see nothing of her play-acting the part of the circumspect governess. It's like he wants our view of her to be undiluted by the false propriety she assumes for her schemes. It's an interesting choice! Do you think it is effective?."

That's a good way of putting it, Cindy. I can't decide whether or not it's effective! It's 20 years since I read this book and I must say I didn't remember many details about it (apart from the fact that there were lots of characters with the same name!) but I remembered Lydia and I know she's a famous Collins character so on re-reading it I'm surprised how little she has featured by the halfway point of the novel. Her true character is so obvious to the reader from her letters that it's hard to imagine how different she must be in her direct interactions with people. I think on the whole I would find it more effective to be able to contrast the two. But maybe we will see much more of her in the second half of the book...

The long and languid descriptions which prolonged the ‘Norfolk Broads’ section accurately reflected the pace of life there which really hasn’t changed for hundreds of years.

I have been lucky enough to go to that area several times, (the latest was last year) and even today it feels like the 1950s.

Tall reeds, waterways and expansive lagoons ( the Broads) dominate the landscape and it really is a great place to relax and leave a busy life behind for a few days at least.

Apart from Norwich, a city to the north of the Broads, most people who live there reside in villages and towns that have hardly changed over the centuries.

Collins’ descriptions of the boat trips seemed remarkably similar to my own experiences of only a few years ago.

https://www.visitnorfolk.co.uk/post/t...

Here is a photo of a reed cutter’s home taken in 1886, not many years after Collins’ book was published.



….and a reed cutter at work today.

Thank you for those photos, Trev. The 19th century one is fascinating - I don't think I've ever seen a reed-cutter's home before. I had several childhood holidays on the Norfolk Broads in the 1980s, as did my grandparents with their daughters in the 1950s, and it certainly has an unchanging atmosphere. I also had a few days in Norwich earlier this year - it's a lovely part of the country.

Trev wrote: "The long and languid descriptions which prolonged the ‘Norfolk Broads’ section accurately reflected the pace of life there which really hasn’t changed for hundreds of years...."

Thank you for this information on the Broads, Trev. It's so nice to hear from people who have actually seen the places we're reading about! It's a beautiful place and seeing the cottage and all the pictures of the Broads via the link helps me envision their expedition with more clarity. As an American living on the Texas Gulf Coast, it's really hard to wrap my head around the concept of that longevity. We have a handful of buildings that go back to the 1850s, but that's it. And to see that reed cutter is still an occupation is fascinating!

I love the humour in this read. From chapter 9 “with the merciless dexterity of manipulation, did Miss Millroy work that sharpest of female weapons of offence, the tongue“

Or, chapter 11 my charming pupil pays me a compliment “with the face of a cat before she spits“. What humour!

I feel sorry for the disabled Miss Millroy.

I enjoy the epistolary format because it manages to reveal the true characters and plans of Lydia and Mrs. Oldershaw while also advancing the plot. Lydia is completely correct that Allan is a fool. He is good-natured, well-meaning, handsome, and wealthy, but he seems to have no emotional depth and certainly no understanding of women. Midwinter, on the other hand, seems to have almost too much emotional depth, swinging wildly from fear to fear, superstition to practicality, and now (good grief!) leaving Allan because he, too, has fallen in love with Lydia. Mrs. Millroy is an intriguing character. She is bitter, vengeful, and jealous, with a great determination to ruin Lydia. Perhaps she and Mr. Bashwood will prove to be Lydia's downfall.