A Room with a View

Miss Bartlett Calls for Lucy

The silence is broken by Miss Bartlett’s voice calling “Lucy! Lucy! Lucy!” She stands brown against the view, interrupting the moment between Lucy and George.

第六章 : Carriage Drive to Fiesole

Chapter VI follows a mixed party of English tourists and local Italian carriage drivers on a day trip from Florence to Fiesole. The group includes Reverend Arthur Beebe, Reverend Cuthbert Eager, Mr. Emerson, his son George Emerson, novelist Eleanor Lavish, Charlotte Bartlett, and Lucy Honeychurch, who is navigating complicated, unspoken feelings for George Emerson after an unsettling shared experience earlier in their trip. The chapter covers the chaotic drive up the hill to Fiesole, a public confrontation over the drivers’ open displays of affection, a search for the spot where Renaissance painter Alessio Baldovinetti stood to capture a famous valley view, the group’s split into smaller factions, and Lucy’s unplanned, emotionally charged encounter with George on a remote, violet-covered terrace.

Phaethon Picks Up Persephone Against Mr. Eager’s Objections

The excursion begins with carriages driven by Phaethon, a reckless young driver whom Mr. Beebe recognizes immediately as a classic figure of unbridled youth, unmarked by either the Ages of Faith or modern doubt. Phaethon asks to pick up his “sister” Persephone, a tall, pale young woman he claims is returning to her mother’s cottage with the spring. Mr. Eager objects, calling the request the thin edge of a wedge and warning against imposition, but the other ladies intercede, and Persephone is granted permission to join the carriage after it is framed as a great favor.