A Room with a View

The Secret Preserved

Lucy feels joyful relief that Mr. Emerson has not been told about the Florence escapade. The secret is known only to three English people in the world—Lucy, George, and Miss Bartlett, who made Lucy promise secrecy during their packing in George’s room. Lucy greets Cecil with unusual radiance upon returning home, feeling safe. She tells Cecil that George Emerson has “improved enormously” and mentions he is coming to tennis. When Cecil refers to the Emersons as his “protégés,” Lucy exclaims with warmth, recognizing that Cecil conceives relationships only in feudal terms as protector and protected. She longs to shout that the secret is safe forever and that Cecil will never hear. Cecil has paid no great attention to her remarks, and Lucy decides charm rather than argument must be her forte with him. At lunch, she feels she has received a guarantee that her mother and brother will always be there, and the sun will never be hidden.

Afternoon Music and Tennis

After lunch, Lucy plays Gluck’s “Armide” from memory—the music of the enchanted garden with its eternal dawn. Her audience grows restive, and Cecil asks for “the other garden—the one in Parsifal.” She closes the piano, but George has entered silently. She exclaims in surprise, gets very red, and reopens the piano to play Parsifal for Cecil. Miss Bartlett suggests the music is for Mr. Emerson, leaving Lucy uncertain. She plays a few bars badly and stops. Freddy proposes tennis, and Cecil refuses to play, claiming he will not “spoil the set.” Miss Bartlett agrees with his snub of George. Minnie offers to play despite her poor skills, but Sunday tennis is questionable. Mrs. Honeychurch declares Lucy must play as fallback. Lucy changes her dress and reflects on how much better tennis seems than piano—running in comfortable clothes rather than feeling “girt under the arms.” During the tennis match, George serves with anxious determination to win. Lucy remembers his sighing in Florence at Santa Croce and his declaration by the Arno: “I shall want to live.” He wins the set, and Lucy admiringly notes how beautiful the Weald looks—comparable to Fiesole above Tuscany and the South Downs like Carrara’s mountains. She notices more in England now even while forgetting Italy. Cecil, in a critical mood, disrupts the tennis by reading aloud from a bad novel by “Joseph Emery Prank,” pointing out split infinitives. Lucy misses her stroke from distraction. After their set, Cecil continues reading a murder scene, insisting others listen. George jumps over the net and sits at Lucy’s feet asking if she is tired. Their playful banter reveals tension—she says she minds being beaten, then notes the light was against her. George corrects that he never claimed to be a splendid player. Lucy jokes that people at this house exaggerate and get angry at those who don’t. Cecil reads that “the scene is laid in Florence,” and Lucy bursts into laughter recognizing Miss Lavish’s novel published under a pseudonym. George confirms he saw Miss Lavish the day he arrived at Summer Street. Cecil declares all modern books are bad, written for money. Lucy watches George’s dark head nearly resting against her knee, feeling a curious sensation of wanting to stroke it. George shares his father’s philosophical views about views—that all views resemble each other like crowds, and their power over us can be supernatural because something gets added to them, just as something has been added to those hills.