The Marble Faun
Chapter XVIII: “On the Edge of a Precipice”
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Kenyon, Hilda, Donatello, and Miriam search for the chasm.
Kenyon, Hilda, Donatello, and Miriam search for the chasm.
A skilled tailor longs to be a prince and steals the title from a prince that hasn’t been seen. He is set to different tasks and is proven to be the tailor, but has a happy ending.
Pip is visited by his benefactor, and although horrified by the implications, Pip feels a loyalty to his benefactor.
Jane closes her school for Christmas and spends a happy time with her newfound cousins at Moor House. Diana and Mary are delighted with the improvements Jane has made at the school, but St. John seems colder and more distant than ever. He tells Jane that Rosamond is engaged to a rich man named Mr. Granby. One day, he asks Jane to give up her study of German and instead to learn “Hindustani” with him—the language he is learning to prepare for missionary work in India. As time goes by, St. John exerts a greater and greater influence on Jane; his power over her is almost uncanny. This leaves Jane feeling empty, cold, and sad, but she follows his wishes. At last, he asks her to go to India with him to be a missionary—and to be his wife. She agrees to go to India as a missionary but says that she will not be his wife because they are not in love. St. John harshly insists that she marry him, declaring that to refuse his proposal is the same as to deny the Christian faith. He abruptly leaves the room.
Edmund arrives in Osbert’s cell, ready to enact the escape. Various obstacles arise during the attempted escape. Matilda and Mary learn of the fate of their loved ones.
Jurgis begins working at a steel mill, however the distance to work only allows him to see his family on the weekends. Marija and Elzbieta both find work as the family prepares for the upcoming winter. Jurgis experiences another tragedy.
Jane contemplates her supernatural experience of the previous night, wondering whether it was really Rochester’s voice that she heard calling to her and whether Rochester might actually be in trouble. She finds a note from St. John urging her to resist temptation, but nevertheless she boards a coach to Thornfield. She travels to the manor, anxious to see Rochester and reflecting on the ways in which her life has changed in the single year since she left. Once hopeless, alone, and impoverished, Jane now has friends, family, and a fortune. She hurries to the house after her coach arrives and is shocked to find Thornfield a charred ruin. She goes to an inn called the Rochester Arms to learn what has happened. Here, she learns that Bertha Mason set the house ablaze several months earlier. Rochester saved his servants and tried to save his wife, but she flung herself from the roof as the fire raged around her. In the fire, Rochester lost a hand and went blind. He has taken up residence in a house called Ferndean, located deep in the forest, with John and Mary, two elderly servants.
The author shares some of his Christmas experiences and memories regarding the meaning of the Christmas tree.
Isabella writes to Edgar to tell him of her impending death, and asks him to come and get Linton to take him back to the Grange. Nelly watches over Cathy while he is gone, and Cathy finds her way to Wuthering Heights while playing one day. Nelly and Cathy decide to keep her visit to Wuthering Heights from Edgar.
When Ona fails to come home from work one night, Jurgis learns that she is being taken advantage of by Connor, one of her supervisors. Jurgis attempts to kill Connor in a fit of rage, only to be arrested.
Most are shocked to find Sara well and the same even after a meal's deprivation.
Prior to departure, Mr. Micawber considers his prospects in Australia.
After receiving a visit from his nephew, Charles Darnay, the Marquis receives a painful message.
Herbert tells Pip the story of Miss Havisham.
For most of Jane’s first month at Lowood, Mr. Brocklehurst spends his time away from the school. When he returns, Jane becomes quite nervous because she remembers his promise to her aunt, Mrs. Reed, to warn the school about Jane’s supposed habit of lying. When Jane inadvertently drops her slate in Mr. Brocklehurst’s presence, he is furious and tells her she is careless. He orders Jane to stand on a stool while he tells the school that she is a liar, and he forbids the other students to speak to her for the rest of the day. Helen makes Jane’s day of humiliation endurable by providing her friend with silent consolation—she covertly smiles at Jane every time she passes by.
An impoverished young man named Aladdin is recruited by a sorcerer to retrieve a lamp from a booby-trapped magic cave. After the sorcerer attempts to double-cross him, Aladdin keeps the lamp for himself, and discovers that it summons a surly djinn that is bound to do the bidding of the person holding the lamp. With the aid of the djinn, Aladdin becomes rich and powerful and marries princess Badroulbadour. The sorcerer returns and is able to get his hands on the lamp by tricking Aladdin’s wife, who is unaware of the lamp’s importance. Aladdin discovers a lesser, polite djinn is summoned by a ring loaned to him by the sorcerer but forgotten during the double-cross. Assisted by the lesser djinn, Aladdin recovers his wife and the lamp.
A series of witnesses are called to testify against the Charles Darnay.
Mina and Jonathan marry. Mina and Lucy write each other. Dr. Seward tells more about Renfield. Arthur leaves Lucy to take care of is father. Dr. Jack Seward and Dr. VanHelsing care for Lucy who goes from better to worse.
A visit from Will's relatives causes great discomfort for Carol. Carol becomes pregnant, eventually giving birth to a son, Hugh.
Cruncher attempts to make amends for the work he has done outside of the bank. Carton wanders through the streets of Paris as he prepares for his visit with Darnay. Darnay's accusers are named in court.
Nelly sees Heathcliff embracing Isabella, which leads to a fight between Edgar and Heathcliff. Catherine, upset at the dispute between them and refuses to eat for two days.
Pip encounters an old nemesis at the marsh. Herbert arrives just in time.