Reading the Chunksters discussion

This is the thread for week 5, which covers the second Between the Scenes section and the whole of the Third Scene (chapters 1 to 4).
I couldn't split the Between the Scenes part, so this is a much longer chunk that week 4.

Chapter summaries (beware spoilers):
(view spoiler)[
BETWEEN THE SCENES

This section consists of extracts from Wragge’s chronicle of events, (Oct 1846) Wragge is with his family at Ruswarp. Magdalen’s training shows extraordinary results. Wragge thinks Magdalen would be a suitable host for an “at home with” entertainment. Magdalen agrees to this plan, but refuses to sign anything. Wragge admits to writing the anonymous letter Pendril agrees to stop searching for Magdalen on condition a letter from Norah is delivered. Magdalen writes a long letter to Norah.
(Nov) The Wragges and Magdalen are established at Derby. The entertainment is written and rehearsals are In progress. There is a shortage of capital so Wragge suggests a private performance for a potential sponsor, a local music seller.
(Dec – part one) The music seller, at a price, has agreed to stage performances at Derby and Nottingham, Magdalen asks Wragge to think of a stage name. (part 2) The first performance is well attended. The music seller suggests staging more, but Magdalen and Wragge decline. Magdalen mentions her enquiries, which worries Wragge.
(Jan 1847) After Nottingham, Wragge suggests performing at Newark, Magdalen asks for a week’s delay to pursue her enquiries, offering her entire share of the proceeds, which Wragge cannot refuse. His task is to find Michael Vanstone’s address, how long he has been there, whether he has sold Combe-Raven, what he does, who his friends are, how his son is living and whether there are any female relatives who might influence them. Wragge succeeds, and reports that Michael Vanstone is in Brighton, Combe-Raven has been sold. His habits are secretive, he speculates and invests in property. His only two friends are Admiral Bartram and his nephew George Bartram, who is Noel Vanstone’s cousin, son of Andrew and Michael’s sister. There are no female relatives but there is a housekeeper Mrs Lecount.
(Feb) Magdalen has gained confidence as a performer. She has written two letters to Michael Vanstone, the first unanswered and the second returned unopened.
(Mar) No more letters. Magdalen is now trying to earn as much as possible.
(Apr/May) More performances, they are now in Birmingham. Magdalen has £400 and Wragge has more. Magdalen says their business is at an end. Wragge consider his options.
(May) Everything has changed. The newspapers report Michael Vanstone’s death. Magdalen tells Wragge she wants to enquire into Noel Vanstone – where will he live, has he inherited everything and whether Mrs Lecount is in his service. Wragge heads for Brighton.
(June) Wragge reports back that Noel has left Brighton for London. Michael died intestate, so Noel has inherited everything. Mrs Lecount is with him and is dependent on his gratitude. Magdalen writes to Noel and gets a reply written by Mrs Lecount, who says any further letters will be returned unopened. Magdalen decides to leave Wragge and pursue the enquiries herself. She proposes to take Mrs Wragge as a chaperone, and arrange posi office addresses for Wragge to write to. They head for London. Wragge considers telling Noel what she is doing. Magdalen has only taken one of her boxes, and Wragge has opened and examined the other, which contains her costumes. The only one missing is that for a north country woman she based on Miss Garth. This causes Wragge to reassess his interests, gaining more respect for Magdalen’s ingenuity. Wragge sends an anonymous letter to Noel saying he is at risk from Magdalen and he will help if paid, suggesting a newspaper advertisement to “An Unknown Friend”. Wragge’s decision will depend on what Noel offers

SCENE TWO

1. We are at Lambeth Palace. Vauxhall Walk is just south of it. It is the respectable part of a poor area and contains private houses. One of these has been let to two ladies, Magdalen and Mrs Wragge. Magdalen looks at the house opposite, a bigger house with a front garden. Mrs Wragge enjoys her holiday freedom. Magdalen keeps watch and sees nothing. They dine, and Mrs Wragge falls asleep. At 8 p.m. Magdalen sees a woman emerge from the house, who looks like a servant. Magdalen goes out and follows her. The woman enters a stationers shop and asks for a railway guide, saying her master is heading to the country the day after tomorrow. The stationer says she will need a new guide which will be published the next day. Magdalen returns and finds Mrs Wragge awake but drowsy. Magdalen suggests she goes to bed. Magdalen considers her options and decides Mrs Garth will visit Noel in the morning.

2. Magdalen sends Mrs Wragge out shopping with a girl provided by the landlady. She asks the landlady about other occupants of the house and finds that they are alone with the landlady and her children. Magdalen prepares her costume. Unable to fully conceal her face she takes a veil. She descends and knocks on Noel’s door. She asks for Mrs Lecount and is told she has gone out. She then asks for Noel and is told he is not up yet. She says she will return and would like to see Mrs Lecount, saying she is Miss Garth. She is left with an hour to occupy and thinks of Norah, who has told her she is now a governess. Magdalen decides to drive to Norah’s employers and hires a cab. She sees a woman emerging with two children, and recognises her sister. She follows them into the park, makes a wide circuit and passes them. Norah does not recognise her. She follows, and one of the children starts an argument. A carriage passes and an old lady sees Norah – this is the children’s grandmother. They all depart in the carriage. Magdalen hires another cab back to Lambeth. She calls at Noel’s again, and is led in past a glass tank containing frogs and toads. She hears a woman behind telling her not to be scared. Mrs Lecount is not what she expected. Having asked if Magdalen is Miss Garth, Mrs Lecount tells her they are leaving for the seaside the next day. She asks why “Miss Garth” has visited, Magdalen asks if the name is familiar, to which Mrs Lecount says no. Magdalen says she was Andrew Vanstone’s governess and is acting in their interests of the orphaned girls. Mrs Lecount hardens immediately, and says that Noel’s wishes were expressed clearly in her letter. Mrs Lecount offers to mention her name to Noel, as it is one of his good days. She returns saying Noel will see her. Mrs Lecount talks about her late husband, a Swiss naturalist, and says her main interest is science. A bell rings and they go to Noel’s parlour.

3. Mrs Lecount introduces Miss Garth to Noel. Magdalen sees a frail man in a dressing gown eating strawberries, surrounded by an exotic collection of treasures. He asks her to take a seat. Mrs Lecount offers to retire but Noel says no. He talks about his father’s love of bargains. He asks if the girls are good looking. Magdalen says she has a favour to ask, saying her purpose is to warn him against the path he is taking. Mrs Lecount intercedes saying this may harm Noel, and Magdalen says she has no wish to offend, but that he knows nothing of the girls’ character. She says he has nothing to fear from the elder, but warns him against the younger sister. She asks him to accept that he has been hard on the girls, asking why he has not considered the proposal in Magdalen’s last letter, which she has seen. Noel says he is not swayed by morals and is only interested in money. Mrs Lecount asks him to repeat his father’s offer of £100 each. Magdalen forgets herself and tells her this is an insult she will remember, using her own voice. She decides to leave, telling Mrs Lecount she means well but is doing harm not good. Mrs Lecount withdraws. Noel offers Magdalen strawberries and says he feels for the girls and is willing to offer Magdalen a loan. She tells him he has misjudged them, and says that resolution burns Magdalen like fire. Mrs Lecount has not left the room. She furtively cuts off a piece of Magdalen’s dress, withdraws and re-enters. Noel says he is resolved to give Magdalen nothing. Mrs Lecount asks him to think, and to let her speak to Miss Garth. Magdalen rises, saying she is not in the daughters’ confidence and will show them what she is capable of. She leaves, and Mrs Lecount asks how she contact her. She gives the post office address in Birmingham. Mrs Lecount tells her “I hold you in the hollow of my hand”. She asks if Magdalen ever played house of cards. Magdalen leaves, passing a postman carrying Wragge’s letter to Noel.

4. Mrs Lecount returns to the parlour, and tells Noel that she knows that the woman was Magdalen. He says his father would have called the police. She says he wouldn’t, and reminds Noel to read the letter. Noel asks her to call the police. Mrs Lecount reads the letter and tries to calm him. She counsels him to wait, and to lay a trap for the information. She proposes he should offer the money but not pay it. She offers to write the reply, but he insists on writing the amount. Noel thinks about what he will offer. Meanwhile Magdalen returns to the house in her disguise. She slips inside but meets Mrs Wragge on the stairs, pushes past her, goes in and removes her costume. Mrs Wragge starts shouting Thief. Magdalen attempts to calm her. Mrs Wragge describes the woman who passed her, and Magdalen suggests she is dreaming. Mrs Wragge says it must be a ghost, sent to judge her on her enjoyment of being away from her husband and spending money. Magdalen considers what she has gained and lost. She packs the costume into her bonnet box and decides to send it back to Birmingham, with a note saying she took it by mistake. Having sent it, she looks in on Mrs Wragge, who screams, thinking she has seen the ghost again. Magdalen takes her out for a walk and sees Mrs Lecount delivering Noel’s letter.

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This was a moderately interesting section in which I'm not sure that much really happens. Here's some thoughts on some of the events and developments:

1) Magdalen's masquerade was a bit silly at times. I actually thought she was craftier and a better actor than she showed while she was losing the battle of deceit with the more experienced Mrs. Lecount.

2) Getting to know the Michael Vanstone entourage was a very welcome occurrence and made some of the sillier aspects of the masquerade scene more tolerable. We got to know:
- Noel, his son and heir who managed to not only inherit all of Michael's bad traits but to develop many more bad traits on his own initiative;
- Mrs. Lescount, Michael's henchwoman who has managed to not only continue in that capacity with heir Noel but has upped her degree of influence and control with this new generation;
- Michael Viscount, previously known only through comments of the omniscient narrator, is revealed through insights into his personality from statements by both his heir and henchwoman.

3) Magdalen's continued tolerance and even guarded trust of both Wagges still astounds me, but I've come to accept it (as I have no choice if I want to try to enjoy the rest of the book). I am surprised that Wagge did show some acting knowledge but I still think Magdalen would not have known if he has any competence at all when she hired him as acting coach.
Mrs. Wagge, though sympathetic, has revealed herself as imbecilic at best. I found it incredible that Magdalen would leave Mrs Wagge to wander around London or, even worse, alone in their let house. I would not leave her alone near anything I owned - she seems like she could accidentally destroy anything.

4) Despite some of my comments, I am enjoying the book even if the this section was only of moderate quality. I think it's time for Collins to bring back Norah, at least for awhile, and through her or some other existing or new character, add another plot thread to the Magdalen/Wagge/Uncle Michael entourage primary plot thread. I still think a touch of variety would be of help to the overall pacing of this story.

While I said in the above post that "Magdalen's continued tolerance and even guarded trust of both Wagges still astounds me," after reflection, I find that it no longer does.
I know why Magdalen continues to tolerate and guardedly trust Captain Wagge - the otherwise fairly savvy Magdalen is just an extremely poor judge of character. Look at the worthless person she has chosen as the recipient of her love and devotion - Feckless Frank. I think Collins has given her this flaw to counter her other obvious strengths and uses it to put her in dramatic situations that help add some 'sensational' events to the story.

Brian E wrote: "This was a moderately interesting section in which I'm not sure that much really happens."

I think "moderately interesting" is a good description of this section

I am finding that I much preferred the first two or three sections when we were with the Vanstone family, wondering over the mysteries of the London visit and the New Orleans letter, and the humorous scenes involving the play over the past couple of sections where Magdalen is on her own with the Wragges.

Now I see why the plot line of having Magdalen join up with Wragge in the acting department was introduced - just so she would have the opportunity and means to use her disguise as an in to obtain information from the younger Vanstone. Also, when she had an hour's time to kill and she decided to go see Norah while out on a walk with her charges, I was taken by surprise that they were so close in distance. I guess not knowing the region at all, I'm having a hard time with where everyone is in relation to each other and I had assumed that Magdalen was quite a distance away from her sister and Miss Garth.

I am finding I like these in between scenes, and especially this last one with Wragge's journal entries. I do enjoy seeing Wragge weigh his options at each turn so that he comes out on top as a swindler, so again, it will be interesting to see how the dynamics between Wragge and Magdalen play out.

I also like seeing the introduction of Mrs Lecount as a strong suspicious adversary. Setting Noel aside for the time being since it appears that Lecount is pretty much in charge of guiding his actions, we now have three people likely all vying for the same monetary reward while at the same time all being suspicious of one another. And speaking of Noel, I'm having a bit of a difficult time figuring him out. He is a miser and possesses horrid traits, but at the same time Lecount seems to have power of influence over him. She mentioned backing off when on minor details when he became agitated, but apparently only after having influenced him on the much bigger issues at hand. So is Noel just not very smart in realizing that Lecount is influencing him? Does his delicate health have anything to do with that?

When Magdalen briefly went out of character during the interview with Noel Vanstone, I initially thought nothing of it since she was pushed into a rage and her emotions got the best of her. But on reflection, I think back to how composedly she carried herself after the death of her parents and all that came to pass afterwards. So I'm not sure her outburst with Noel was really in character? I don't know.

As to Magdalen being in love with Frank, I honestly thought her love for him would fade as they were forced apart and she was out on her own in the world. I pretty much thought that she had fallen in love with him simply because they had been acquainted since they were children and she was isolated from being exposed to other options. But it appears that she still longs for him.

Oh, and I completely agree with you, Brian, on leaving Mrs Wragge alone to wander about the streets or in the rented rooms with any of Magdalen's things! I don't know what Magdalen was thinking when she decided that was a good idea. I hope it comes to bite Magdalen in the butt. That would be great - Magdalen thinking she's smart enough to fool all these people with a disguise, only to be reckless in thinking that Mrs Wragge's simplicity is only to be ignored.

I do agree that Mrs. Lecount is a "strong, suspicious adversary." She kind of reminds me of my grammar school principal, Sister Thomas. As you mention there are 3 people vying for the money. Magdalen is sure outnumbered but doesn't know it because she counts the Captain on her side.

Another thing that went through my mind during the masquerade scene was "Is this all she had planned?" Magdalen seemed to have want to be alone to hatch some kind of clever plan to get Michael or Noel to give the sisters a good part of the estate. Instead, even though she should have known what Michael's previous attitude was, her plan seemed to consist of talking to Michael or Noel to voluntarily give the money up merely because it was the just and right thing to do, I thought she had some creative solution, maybe some secret family knowledge, but no, just some overwhelming faith in her ability to serve as the Great Convincer.
i'm learning that much of what I viewed as Magdalen's 'savviness." is actually only what Lou Grant would have disdainfully referred to as "spunk."

I would like to comment more but I have been reading ahead too far to remember what I expected at this stage.

Brian E wrote: "Another thing that went through my mind during the masquerade scene was "Is this all she had planned?" .... I thought she had some creative solution, maybe some secret family knowledge, but no, just some overwhelming faith in her ability to serve as the Great Convincer."

"The Great Convincer" lol. I'm hoping she has more up her sleeve than what we've seen! I also assumed she had more planned, I wasn't sure what, but definitely more than merely trying to further persuade the man.

Brian E wrote: "Another thing that went through my mind during the masquerade scene was "Is this all she had planned?" ."

Haha, this was my feeling exactly, Brian!

I’m hopeful that a reconnection with Norah happens soon. Or something unexpected.

Can you imagine this section as a movie? I think it would literally be unbearable and prompt a lot of eye rolls! I completely agree with both of your comments - Magdalen is just preposterous with her ridiculous 'eye ailment', etc. and it's no surprise that she couldn't pull off her ruse. What on earth is going to happen with her scrap of dress, though? I do wonder if she has more in mind than just a robbery, perhaps unlikely but I wonder if she is plotting some type of murder or something! She does take her fate and that of her sister's as a deep violation of justice not just for them, but also of their beloved father, so this could take a darker turn.