Emily Retires at Dawn After No Music Returns
Emily remains at her casement in watchfulness and solemn thought until the first pale light of dawn edges the mountain peaks and creeps across the nightshade. With no sign of the mysterious music returning, she concludes it will not come that night, and retires reluctantly to rest.
CHAPITRE I.
This chapter centers on Emily D’Urberville’s escalating terror and uncertainty as she navigates a covert midnight plan to visit her confined aunt Madame Montoni, arranged by the untrustworthy castle servant Barnardine. After agonizing over whether to trust Barnardine, Emily ultimately agrees to the meeting out of concern for her aunt’s wellbeing, only to be led through abandoned, ominous castle passages to a locked tower chamber where she is trapped, forced to confront the possibility that her aunt has been murdered and she is next as she hears Barnardine speaking with an unknown companion below.
The Midnight Message
The day after her prior distressing encounter, Emily learns from her maid Annette that Barnardine has indiscreetly shared details of Madame Montoni’s confinement in the portal chamber and her planned midnight visit with him. Barnardine has asked Emily to meet him alone on the castle terrace shortly after midnight to be led to her aunt, a request that immediately triggers a flood of vague, unshakable fears for Emily.
Emily’s Suspicions
Emily’s mind races with terrifying, conflicting suspicions: she fears Barnardine may have lied about Madame Montoni being alive, that he and Montoni may have already murdered her aunt to seize her French estates that would otherwise pass to Emily, and that the midnight meeting is a trap to kill her as well. She wavers between believing these fears are the exaggerated product of her anxious, overactive imagination and being convinced they are a genuine warning of danger, ultimately hesitating to agree to the meeting.
Annette’s Secret
When Emily asks who told Annette about her intended meeting with Barnardine, Annette refuses to reveal her source, demonstrating her ability to keep a secret, even as she expresses confusion over Barnardine’s insistence that Emily attend the terrace meeting alone, despite her own offer to accompany Emily and even bribe Barnardine to allow it.
The Gallery Key
Annette explains that Barnardine gave her a key to a door at the end of the vaulted gallery, which opens near the east rampart, allowing Emily to reach the terrace without passing the castle sentinels on duty. She notes this is why Barnardine requested the terrace meeting, as the route would not require them to open the heavy, noisy great hall doors that would alert Signor Montoni to their movements.
A Hesitant Descent
Agonizing over whether to attend the meeting through the daylight hours, Emily’s affection for her aunt and desire to confirm her wellbeing eventually override her fears. At midnight, after the castle clock strikes twelve, she descends from her chamber with Annette, travels through the silent, shadow-filled great hall to the vaulted gallery, gives Annette the lamp to hold at the outer door, and steps out alone onto the dark terrace, moving cautiously toward the meeting spot while listening for Barnardine and fearing the sentinels will hear her light steps.
The Terrace Meeting
Emily is startled by a deep voice near her, and recognizes it as Barnardine, who chides her for being late after waiting nearly half an hour. He tells her to follow him to the door he used to enter the terrace, and when Emily refuses to go further unless Annette can accompany her, Barnardine refuses outright, using manipulative talk of her aunt’s suffering to appeal to Emily’s pity, eventually convincing her to follow him alone.
Through the Chapel
Barnardine leads Emily along a dark passage to a second locked door, then down a short flight of steps into a roofless, ruined chapel overgrown with ivy and briony, its broken gothic windows and damp, greenish walls triggering unpleasant memories of Annette’s prior stories about the abandoned space. When Emily asks if they can take the chapel path to the portal instead of the stairs Barnardine has chosen, he refuses, claiming the chapel leads to the inner court which he will not unlock, and hurries her down a steep staircase into a passage adjoining the castle vaults.
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