Summary

Once again, the focus of this chapter shifts into the past, recalling the many visits Edward paid to Florence in her home. The room in which he regularly slept, distant from Florence’s, is described as being larger than any of the bedrooms in his home, and perhaps even bigger than the living room. He was regularly surprised, and at times intimidated, by the variety and expanse of food he was offered, and also by the highly competitive, driven nature of Florence’s father who, Edward also noted, was physically affectionate with Florence’s sister, but never with Florence herself. “He was a little frightened,” narration adds, “that Geoffrey Ponting thought he was an intruder, an imposter, a thief intending an assault on his daughter’s virginity, and then disappearing – only one part of which was true” (113). Eventually, narration reveals, Edward did take the...