A Room with a View

The Meeting at the Rectory

The meeting at the Rectory passes off adequately enough for Lucy’s purposes. She stands between Mr. Beebe and Cecil, making a few temperate allusions to Italy during conversation, and George responds in kind. She is determined to demonstrate that she is not shy, and finds relief in the fact that George does not appear shy either. Afterward, Mr. Beebe offers his assessment of the young man: “A nice fellow. He will work off his crudities in time. I rather mistrust young men who slip into life gracefully.” When Lucy observes that George seems in better spirits and laughs more than before, the clergyman agrees, noting simply: “Yes. He is waking up.” This unremarkable exchange constitutes the entirety of their direct interaction, yet as the week progresses, more of Lucy’s defensive barriers gradually fall away, and she begins to entertain an image that carries physical beauty—though what precisely this means remains unspoken between them.

Miss Bartlett’s Arrival

In spite of receiving the clearest possible directions, Miss Bartlett somehow manages to bungle her arrival spectacularly. She is due at the South-Eastern station at Dorking, where Mrs. Honeychurch has arranged to meet her, but instead she arrives at the London and Brighton station and must hire a cab up at considerable expense. No one is at home when she arrives except Freddy and his friend, who must abandon their tennis to entertain her for a solid hour. When Cecil and Lucy return at four o’clock, they join Miss Bartlett and little Minnie Beebe to form a somewhat lugubrious sextette upon the upper lawn for tea. Miss Bartlett immediately begins expressing her regret: “I shall never forgive myself. I have upset everything. Bursting in on young people! But I insist on paying for my cab up. Grant that, at any rate.” Lucy points out that their visitors never do such dreadful things, while Freddy irritably reminds his cousin that he has spent the last half hour trying to convince Cousin Charlotte of this very point. Miss Bartlett insists she does not feel herself an ordinary visitor, and gazes at her frayed glove with evident discomfort. When informed the cab cost five shillings plus a shilling for the driver, she begins fumbling in her purse.