第四章
Chapter IV, titled “A Visit to an Old Bachelor,” recounts the narrator’s day-long visit with Miss Matty and Miss Pole to Mr Holbrook’s country estate, Woodley. The visit rekindles Miss Matty’s memories of her early romance, culminates in Mr Holbrook’s unexpected announcement of a trip to Paris, and ends with Miss Matty’s decline into melancholy and the narrator’s concerned return to care for her.
The Invitation
A formal, old-fashioned note arrives from Mr Holbrook inviting both the narrator and Miss Matty to spend a long June day at his house, Woodley. He mentions that his cousin Miss Pole has also been invited so that the three ladies may share a fly to the property.
Miss Matty’s Reluctance
Despite the narrator’s expectation that Miss Matty would eagerly accept, she proves highly reluctant. She considers the visit improper and is half-annoyed when the others dismiss this concern. A more serious objection arises when she worries that her late sister Deborah would not have approved; it takes half a day of persuading before she relents, and the narrator immediately writes an acceptance to settle the matter.
Preparations for the Visit
The morning of the visit, Miss Matty asks the narrator to accompany her to the shop, where after much hesitation they choose three caps to try on at home so that the most becoming one can be selected to take on Thursday.
Arrival at Woodley
Miss Matty is in silent agitation throughout the drive to Woodley, having evidently never been there before. The journey follows paved, jolting lanes through quiet, pastoral country, and she sits bolt upright, gazing wistfully out at the prospect. The old-fashioned house stands among fields, with a garden where roses and currant-bushes meet, and the party alights at a little gate to walk up a straight box-edged path.
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