Vanity Fair
Chapter 38: A Family in a Very Small Way
by William Makepeace Thackeray
Rebecca behaves as expected. Little Rawdon makes a new friend. Amelia devotes her time to little George. Amelia is affected by news from Dobbin's Sister.
Rebecca behaves as expected. Little Rawdon makes a new friend. Amelia devotes her time to little George. Amelia is affected by news from Dobbin's Sister.
he men set out in search of Rochford. They meet and Indian chief.
The author continues his work as a public speaker while still devoting himself to the prosperity of the Tuskegee Institute.
Thoreau describes the many sounds that can be heard from his cabin.
Having been with his garrison for a period, the recovered Captain Phoebus arrives in Notre Dame as the crowd gathers for punishment of Esmeralda. Upon seeing Captain Phoebus, the condemned Esmeralda collapses just before she is rescued by Quasimoto.
John Thornton settles his debts and he and Buck head east where they soon find a good fortune, but it does not last. Buck joins a new pack.
The narrator arrives in Tallahassee in time to hear a political economist speak. The narrator then goes on to describe Tallahassee itself.
Jane’s driver is late picking her up from the station at Millcote. When she finally arrives at Thornfield it is nighttime. Although she cannot distinguish much of the house’s facade from among the shadows, she finds the interior “cosy and agreeable.” Mrs. Fairfax, a prim, elderly woman, is waiting for Jane. It turns out that Mrs. Fairfax is not, as Jane had assumed from their correspondence, the owner of Thornfield, but rather the housekeeper. Thornfield’s owner, Mr. Rochester, travels regularly and leaves much of the manor’s management to Mrs. Fairfax. Jane learns that she will be tutoring Adèle, an eight-year-old French girl whose mother was a singer and dancer. Mrs. Fairfax also tells Jane about Rochester, saying that he is an eccentric man whose family has a history of extreme and violent behavior. Suddenly, Jane hears a peal of strange, eerie laughter echoing through the house, and Mrs. Fairfax summons someone named Grace, whom she orders to make less noise and to “remember directions.” When Grace leaves, Mrs. Fairfax explains that she is a rather unbalanced and unpredictable seamstress who works in the house.
On the day before Christmas a man is caught in a fight and looses a goose and his hat. Sherlock Holmes is trying to figure out who the hat belongs to, when a blue carbuncle is found in the goose.
Achilles and Hector finally meet on the field of battle.
While in college, Holmes visits a friend and strikes a tender spot when talking to his friend’s father. This leads him into his investigation of a mystery involving blackmail.
Heathcliff returns to Thrushcross Grange a few months after Catherine and Edgar were married. While Heathcliff stays at Wuthering Heights, Catherine and Isabella visit him; Isabella falls for Heathcliff in the process.
Mrs. Michelson is sent away on a hopeless errand. Upon her return, she and Laura are informed that Marian has left for Limmeridge house. Laura embarks in pursuit of her sister. Mrs. Michelson is made aware of the extent of Sir Percival's deceit.
Preparations for Jane and Rochester’s wedding do not run smoothly. Mrs. Fairfax treats Jane coldly because she doesn’t realize that Jane was already engaged to Rochester when she allowed him to kiss her. But even after she learns the truth, Mrs. Fairfax maintains her disapproval of the marriage. Jane feels unsettled, almost fearful, when Rochester calls her by what will soon be her name, Jane Rochester. Jane explains that everything feels impossibly ideal, like a fairy-tale or a daydream. Rochester certainly tries to turn Jane into a Cinderella-like figure: he tells her he will dress her in jewels and in finery befitting her new social station, at which point Jane becomes terrified and self-protective. She has a premonitory feeling that the wedding will not happen, and she decides to write her uncle, John Eyre, who is in Madeira. Jane reasons that if John Eyre were to make her his heir, her inheritance might put her on more equal footing with Rochester, which would make her feel less uncomfortable about the marriage.
The Jelly-Bean, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a short story following Jim Powell, an excessive gambler and outcast who has given up on polite society, as he tries to impress his new love interst, Nancy Lamar.
A story written in the form of a personal diary that investigates the strange disappearances of sheep into the Blue John Gap.
Sherlock Holmes is faced with the case of the Lord St. Simon marriage in which the bride disappears after the ceremony, excusing herself to her room claiming to have a sudden indisposition.
Both the Trojans and Greeks devise plans to spy on one another. However, only the Greeks are successful.
Poseidon continues to encourage Agamemnon and the Achaean army. Hera devises a plan to further assist the battered Achaeans.
David makes new friends and sees some old acquaintances.
The Achaeans once again have the upper hand. Hector and Paris prepare to re-enter the field of battle.
The Count of Monte Cristo arrives at Albert's home for breakfast, as promised three months earlier.
David arrives at Aunt Betsey's house.
Marian waits for the letter, and is met by the Count. Laura returns from the search for her brooch with news of her own strange encounter. Marian is awoken from a strange, dream-like state in which she has a vision of Walter.
The author explains the existence of motion and a few objections.