Emerging from their embrace, Valancy and Barney begin to make plans for their future now that the truth has come out. Barney says that they will need to spend some time with his father who is aging and lonely. Valancy agrees but says that she can't live in his huge mansion. Barney teasingly says that she can't come down to that after her Blue Castle. He says that they will build a small house near his father's place in Montreal where they can spend winters. In the summer, they will return and live on their island in the Mistawis. Barney tells Valancy that they will spend the fall travelling because there are so many places around the world that he wants to show her, and see afresh through her eyes. Valancy happily agrees to all of this but says that Barney must promise her something: "Anything," said Barney recklessly. "Only one thing. You are never, under any circumstances or under any provocation, to cast it up to me that I asked you to marry me." The next chapter is a letter from Valancy's cousin Olive to her fiance Cecil, in which she is sulkily relating to him Valancy's good fortune: "It's really disgusting that Doss' crazy adventures should have turned out like this. It makes one feel that there is no use in behaving properly." She also relates to him that Doc Redfern gave Barney & Valancy two million dollars as a wedding gift and that they're going off on a belated honeymoon trip, first to Italy, then to Egypt, and then to Normandy. She concludes in disgust: "Uncle Ben is a scream. Likewise Uncle James. The fuss they all make over Doss now is absolutely sickening. To hear Aunt Amelia talking of 'my son-in-law, Bernard Redfern' and 'my daughter, Mrs. Bernard Redfern.' Mother and Father are as bad as the rest. And they can't see that Valancy is just laughing at them all in her sleeve." The book concludes with Valancy and Barney locking up their cabin as they prepare to leave on their wedding trip. Valancy is in tears at the thought of leaving for so long but Barney comforts her, saying that they'll be back and in the meantime will have a wonderful honeymoon. "Valancy smiled through her tears. She was so happy that her happiness terrified her. But, despite the delights before her--'the glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome'--lure of the ageless Nile--glamour of the Riviera--mosque and palace and minaret--she knew perfectly well that no spot or place or home in the world could ever possess the sorcery of her Blue Castle." Related Posts: “The only time when you and I really entered into literature, entered the kingdom of letters, was when each of us sat as a child absorbed in the magic pages of a book: in some snug corner of a quiet room or sheltered in some lost recess of the seashore with the muffled sound of the wind and sea to concentrate our thought — that is reading, that is literature.” ― Stephen Leacock, The Pursuit of Knowledge: A Discussion of Freedom and Compulsion in Education This image is from the 1939 film Goodbye, Mr. Chips starring Robert Donat as the titular schoolmaster. In the above scene, Mr. Chipping is on a walking tour in Austria when he happens upon Katherine Ellis, a young suffragette, while hiking in the alps. Stranded together in a dense fog, they begin to talk and shy Mr. Chips finds himself strangely drawn to the vivacious Kathy, who seems equally enchanted by him.
|
About MeI'm a lover of good books, classic movies, and well-written shows (as well as some pretty cheesy ones, to be completely honest). Categories
All
Archives
March 2024
Fun SitesOdds & Ends |