Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

This section covers chapters 7 to 12 of the First Scene.

Chapter summaries (beware spoilers):
(view spoiler)[
7. Miss Garth and Norah meet in the garden, having said nothing about Magdalen’s performance at breakfast. Magdalen has disappeared, and Norah finds her arm in arm with Frank in the shrubbery. Magdalen apologises for using Norah as a model. Norah expresses her disapproval. Magdalen says Norah is hard on her and Frank. Norah says that Frank is worthless. Magdalen attempts to pacify Norah, who retreats to her room. Mr Vanstone appears In the shrubbery.

8. Mr Vanstone meets Francis Clare (sen), who tells him that society loves fools � his rich cousin in the City has offered to help Frank by offering him a lucrative job in London. Frank returns home and Mr Vanstone tells his family the news. Magdalen disappears again and returns looking pale and depressed. Miss Garth tells Mrs Vanstone that Magdalen is fretting over Frank’s departure. Frank comes to see them in the evening. Magdalen slips him a lock of her hair, and he looks confused.

9. Three months pass. Frank writes to Mr Vanstone saying that he preferred engineering to trade. Mrs Vanstone dreads July, and Magdalen seems languid and indifferent. In July Frank unexpectedly reappears, telling them his firm want to send him to China for five years on probation, to learn about the tea and silk trades. Early next morning Miss Garth walks om the garden and finds Frank and Magdalen drawing away from a kiss. Magdalen asks to talk to her father about business. She says she wants to marry Frank. Mr Vanstone says she is too young, to which Magdalen reminds him that he was almost as young when he met her mother. He agrees to speak to his wife. He comes back and asks her to speak to her mother. The next day Mr Vanstone says that they agree with her proposal, subject to Frank’s resolve being tested by a year in London. He explains his will and goes to seek Francis Clare’s consent.

10. Norah asks Magdalen to forgive her for what happened In the shrubbery. Miss Garth also apologises in more guarded terms. Magdalen goes outside to wait for her father. Mr Vanstone reappears looking worried, and saying that Mr Clare has laid him under an obligation. He says something has upset him, and needs to write to his lawyer Mr Pendril to summon him as soon as possible. He remembers an appointment with a miller in Grailsea first, and will go by the next train. Frank is summoned home to the cottage. Magdalen plays the piano, falls asleep and wakes in mid-afternoon. The ladies discuss Mr Vanstone’s errand of kindness to the miller. Magdalen goes out to hear Frank’s account of the conversation with his father. Mrs Vanstone goes into her husband’s study, which is in disarray. The footman appears, saying that a man has come to visit � this is a clerk from the railway at Grailsea station, saying that the afternoon train was involved in an accident, and Mr Vanstone is dead.

11. Life at the house goes on. Soon Vanstone� death is overshadowed by Mrs Vanstone’s illness. Miss Garth tells the sisters the news. Mr Clare comes to pay his respects, but Miss Garth tells him to wait two hours. When he returns, he expresses concern for Mrs Vanstone, who has seen a doctor. He believes her life is in danger, and another doctor is summoned from London. Frank arrives and asks after Magdalen. He comes again and asks after Mr Pendril, with an offer to accommodate Pendril at the cottage. Miss Garth falls asleep, and when she awakes a letter from Mr Pendril has arrived, saying that if there is any temporary improvement in Mrs Vanstone’s condition, he needs to see her so she can sign something important. The doctors decline this request. The London doctor tells Miss Garth that there is no hope. The baby is delivered, Mrs Vanstone dies and shortly afterwards so does the baby.

12. Mr Pendril asks to see Miss Garth. Mr Clare tells Frank that his employers� offer has been extended for another month. Pendril tells Miss Garth that Mr Vanstone made a will, which he shows her. He explains that it provided for the children at the time it was made but does not now. He asks if she remembers the 4th of March, and says that Vanstone’s legacy was substantial. He explains that the Vanstones� trip to London was so that they could marry there, and he shows her the marriage certificate. Pendril talks about Andrew Vanstone’s early life and says he first met him as a 19 year old.

(hide spoiler)]

Chapter 7.

I have a feeling ( classic book and classic movie feeling lol )that Norah is undergoing a conflict of emotions. She likes Frank but 'doesn't want ' to get involved with a 'failure'.

Nidhi wrote: "Chapter 7.

I have a feeling ( classic book and classic movie feeling lol )that Norah is undergoing a conflict of emotions. She likes Frank but 'doesn't want ' to get involved with a 'failure'."

Did you mean Magdalen? I don't remember seeing any evidence that Norah was interested in Frank.

Just realised that I have not been following the schedule properly, so I have amended the introductions for both this section and week 1.

I've been waiting for the reason for the girls to have No Name but was quite surprised when it was revealed. After deciding to read this a few years ago I stayed away from plot overviews and did not recall whether this No Name factor would involve one or both sisters.
My most prominent guess was that Magdalen would turn out to be neither a blood child nor legally adopted one and the explanation would involve Mrs. Vanstone's past and her blackmailer. While I expect the blackmailer to become involved in the story sometime in the remaining 600+ pages, I was way off in my guess. I can't believe I never considered the simpler and cleaner explanation that the girls were illegitimate. Collins' characterizations duped me into never being able to consider that the Vanstones woukd be "living in sin." Score one for Collins.
I look forward to learning about Mr. Vanstone's checkered past and the rest of the backstory. The Magdalen/Frank dynamic reminds me of some of Trollope's relationships where the woman is stronger, more dynamic and more interesting while the male is pleasant and attractive, but weak and meek. Frank is an especially weak and meek example.
I also look forward to seeing how Norah reacts to her change in status. Hopefully she will stop being such a pill.

Brian E wrote: "I've been waiting for the reason for the girls to have No Name but was quite surprised when it was revealed. After deciding to read this a few years ago I stayed away from plot overviews and did no..."

I did not see that explanation coming either! I felt like the story needed some kind of shake up so this will be interesting. Magdalen seems to be suffering some sense of guilt, so we will see how this impacts her. I'm not sure what she sees in the insipid Frank. Meanwhile, have we seen a crack in the stony exterior of Frank's father? I suspect he will be playing some role.

I, too, was starting to wonder where the title of the book came from and I didn't guess what came to be the case. So I'm guessing that the document that the lawyer was hoping to have signed by Mrs Vanstone was an adoption document for the girls? But that has me wondering, if Mr Vanstone's will was written at least 5 years ago, didn't he understand at the time that the girls wouldn't actually be included even though they were named on the will? Also, what happens to Mrs Vanstone's inheritance after she dies?

And we still don't know what the family affairs were as alluded to in the letter to Mr Vanstone that came from New Orleans. If that is what prompted them to go to London to get married, then what was it? Maybe Mr Vanstone was married before and was technically still married all this time and he just found out that that this other woman died and so now the Vanstones could get married? Hmm...I guess we shall see some of his history in the next chapter.

I'm still trying to figure out Frank. Does he not excel at his career opportunities out of sheer laziness and a weak character? Or because he simply doesn't have the mental aptitude?