Reuniting with Miss Bartlett
George spots Miss Bartlett in the nave and informs Lucy. Lucy collapses at this news, realizing the gossiping Miss Alans must have informed her. Mr. Emerson pities her, but Lucy objects to this pity, declaring herself “thoroughly happy” and “having a splendid time.” She thanks the Emersons for their kindness and hurries to join her cousin. Miss Bartlett’s arrival in Santa Croce marks the end of Lucy’s encounter with the unconventional Emersons and restores her to the familiar world of propriety and cousinly supervision she knows best.
第三章 : Music, Violets, and the Letter “S”
This chapter centers on Lucy’s musical nature, the social dynamics at the Pension Bertolini, and the mysterious “S” that caused tension during dinner. The narrative interweaves Lucy’s piano performance with gossip about Miss Lavish’s novel-writing, the Emersons’ social missteps, and Lucy’s desire for independence as shown in her plan to ride the circular tram alone.
Lucy’s Piano Performance and Mr. Beebe’s Tunbridge Wells Recollection
Lucy finds solace and transformation through piano playing, entering what Forster describes as “a more solid world” when she opens the instrument. Unlike a dazzling executante, she possesses a quieter passion that slips between emotions like love, hatred, and jealousy. She chooses Beethoven sonatas and decides they shall triumph rather than despair.
Mr. Beebe watches Lucy play at the Bertolini and recalls discovering her talent at Tunbridge Wells, where she performed the first movement of Opus 111—a choice the vicar considered “perversity” but which Mr. Beebe recognized as extraordinary. He initiated the stamping that followed her performance. When introduced, he found Lucy off the piano stool to be merely a young lady who loved concerts, iced coffee, and meringues. He later told her that if she ever lived as she played, it would be exciting both for them and for her.
Lucy mentions her mother’s disapproval of her getting excited about music, recalling that she once said she liked her own playing better than anyone’s—a statement her mother never forgave.
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