As described in the chapter summary, Barney tells an extremely haggard and woebegone Valancy that he's in love with her, but that he hadn't realized it until he thought she was going to get killed by the train. Valancy, conditioned by a lifetime of putdowns by her idiot family and sure that he's still in love with Ethel Travers, can't believe that he's motivated by anything but pity. Barney finally relates to her the story of his unhappy childhood; he had a well-meaning father who made a fortune in patent medicines and determined that his son would have all the advantages that he had lacked. To this end, he sent Barney to the best private schools and university where he assumed that Barney would be accepted and become part of the social elite in Montreal. What he didn't understand was that the Montreal upper class- with old names and old money- were none too welcoming to the nouveau riche, particularly when the riches in question were made in something as vulgar as patent medicines. Barney spent his school years being bullied and mocked mercilessly. And then, the final straw, his fiancee Ethel turns out to be a gold digger, planning on marrying him because her family is broke even though she secretly despises Barney and his father for the source of the wealth that she's so eager to get her hands on. I've said quite a lot about the hypocrisy of Valancy's relatives, but they're amateurs next to Ethel Travers and her family. The Stirlings are ready to be as obsequious and sycophantic as necessary to get on the good side of their- shockingly- rich and famous new relation. But it would never occur to them to be ashamed of Barney or consider him beneath them. Rather, they're more likely to never stop talking up, and bragging of, their connection with the Redferns to all of their friends and acquaintances. Ethel Travers and her ilk wanted to use Barney's wealth to keep them in their accustomed style while all the time secretly- and sometimes openly- despising him and his father. At least the Stirlings are honest, straightforward hypocrites.
We then have the requisite scene where Valancy refuses to believe that Barney is being sincere which, in my opinion, she carries on with just a little too long. I mean, the poor guy's dredging up all of his past miseries and humiliations to convince her of his feelings, above and beyond what he would do if he simply was being kind. Then Barney figures that she's protesting so much because she's embarrassed by the purple pills, too- also a tad unbelievable, given that she wasn't embarrassed when she thought he was a criminal- and becomes enraged. But this is rendered quite humorous by the description of Uncle Benjamin, eavesdropping at the keyhole and frozen in horror by the thought that Valancy may be destroying their chance to have a millionaire in the family. But Barney's rage convinces Valancy of his sincerity and all is well; they passionately embrace, much to the relief of Uncle Ben who slips away from his post at the keyhole to spread the good news to the rest of the family.
So we're nearly to the end of The Blue Castle- just one more chapter, to wrap everything up which I'll cover in the next post.