A Room with a View

Miss Bartlett’s Support for the Greek Trip

To Mr. Beebe’s astonishment, Miss Bartlett disagrees with his assessment of the Greek plan, stating she sees it as Lucy’s salvation. She explains that Lucy has been desperate to leave Windy Corner after painful recent experiences, and that she had tried to convince Lucy to stay with her in Tunbridge Wells for six months as an alternative, but Lucy refused. Miss Bartlett laments that their recent travel tour was a failure, as Lucy was unhappy in both Florence and Rome, and that she felt she was wasting Mrs. Honeychurch’s money on the trip. When Mr. Beebe asks why Greece specifically is necessary, Miss Bartlett insists she cannot sway Lucy on her own, as she knows she gets on Lucy’s nerves, and asks Mr. Beebe to join her in helping Lucy pursue the Greek trip.

Agreement to Assist Lucy

Miss Bartlett insists that helping Lucy go to Greece is absolutely necessary, lowering her veil to whisper intensely that Lucy must not remain at Windy Corner for a single moment longer, and that they must keep their plans secret from the household staff. She explains that she and Lucy are powerless to convince Mrs. Honeychurch to approve the trip on their own, and begs Mr. Beebe to join her effort. Mr. Beebe agrees to help, and the pair resolve to return to Windy Corner to finalize their plan. Though Mr. Beebe does not fully understand the full context of Miss Bartlett’s urgency, he is spurred to act by his vague sense that Lucy is trying to escape a negative influence, and his quiet, long-held belief in the virtue of celibacy over marriage, a belief intensified by his dislike of Lucy’s former fiancé Cecil Vyse. He frames his agreement to help as a way to support both Lucy and his own religious values.