The Death of Mrs. Westaway

Harding is annoyed that Hal and Ezra missed the meeting with Treswick. Given that the meeting was on a Friday, they now must wait until Monday to resolve the situation. As such, everyone will need to remain in Penzance over the weekend. While Mitzi and the children may return home, Ezra, Abel, and Harding must also remain. Even though they are not beneficiaries in the will, they are named as executors. Ezra and Harding speculate that this is another act of spite by their mother. Ezra is angry and swears at one of the children; as Mitzi takes the children away for lunch, Ezra regrets his angry outburst. Later, driving back to Trepassen House, Hal and Ezra talk about Harding and his family. They agree that perhaps the family do not “realize how lucky they are… in some ways” (124). Ezra sorrowfully mentions the death of Maud and expresses genuine grief. Hal feels guilty for twisting the truth about her mother’s death and “playing with people’s past tragedies” (125). Ezra asks about Hal’s father. She admits that she never knew him and has no particular interest in tracking him down.

In 1994, Maggie writes in her diary. Abel has returned home from school for the winter but Harding and Ezra are away. She notes how Abel seems to treat her coldly, even after a summer together when she, Abel, Ezra, and Maud were so close. She feels as though she has nowhere to go.

Stepping out of Ezra’s car, Hal’s tarot cards and the photograph slip out of her pocket. Ezra is intrigued by her cards and her job, but the photograph gives him pause for a moment. He hands the photograph back to Hal.

Harding, Abel, and Ezra share their annoyance at their mother and the compelled weekend stay. Hal worries that her lies and deception will not stand up to the “protracted legal wrangle” (128) that her uncles seem to believe is inevitable. Additionally, she will almost certainly not have Mr. Smith’s money any time soon. As she tries to interject, Ezra talks over her and suggests that the men simply “let it go” (129) and free themselves of their mother’s final spiteful imposition. Hal desperately announces that she does not want the house; she only ever wanted to pay some of her debts, not become embroiled in a legal tangle. Harding seems intrigued but Abel and Ezra denounce the plan. Abel suggests that they think about the best course of action over the weekend and then meet with Treswick.

Hours later, Hal struggles to put together a plan. She walks around the garden and returns to the cluster of trees. She investigates the small lake at the center of the cluster and spots a little building on an island in the middle of the water. She is surprised by Edward appearing behind her; he has come to fetch her for dinner. He smokes a cigarette as they walk slowly back to the house and explains that the building on the lake was once a boathouse. He also mentions that, in recent years, Abel tried to repair his relationship with his mother. All the family is already seated around the dinner table, except for Ezra. Mrs. Warren serves a “gray and unappetizing” (133) stew. Ezra finally joins the dinner and agrees that the food is not good. After the meal, they drink coffee and eat cookies in the drawing room. Ezra reveals to the group that Hal is a tarot card reader. As she explains that she does not truly believe in magic and superstition, Ezra encourages Hal to perform a reading. She performs a tarot reading for Kitty, whose flush of embarrassment during the reading tells Hal that she is fixated on the idea of a youthful romance. After the applause, Abel volunteers himself to go next. Hal performs a quicker tarot reading for Abel: The cards seem to suggest a bad relationship in the past and a betrayal, causing Abel to stand up and leave the room in evident distress. Edward chases after him. The children are sent to bed and Mitzi explains Abel’s reaction to Hal: Abel proposed to Edward but discovered that Edward had been sleeping with a woman. Hal regrets the reading, but Ezra blames himself. Hal is reminded of her mother and Mitzi comforts her, thanking her as well for her offer to give up the inheritance. She insists that they will not allow Hal to “disinherit” (140) herself and reminds Hal that she has a family now. Hal fights back tears, excuses herself, and goes to bed in the attic room.

In 1994, Maggie writes in her diary. She is worried because her Aunt Hester knows that Maggie is pregnant with the child of her unnamed lover. Hester slaps Maggie and calls her “disgusting” (141) and unappreciative. Locked in the tiny attic room, Maggie is terrified, knowing Hester can keep her imprisoned for a long time. She remembers dark stories about the house, such as a boy who drowned in the lake and a maid who hanged herself. As she considers running away, she uses her mother’s diamond engagement ring to scratch the words “HELP ME” (142) into the window.

Hal lies awake in her room, still thinking about Abel’s tarot reading and the certainty that her lies will eventually be exposed. She stares through the window and examines the words scratched into the glass. Hal contemplates running away, not just from the house but from her life and her debts in Brighton. When she tries to leave the room, she discovers that the door seems to be locked from the outside. However, the door is merely jammed shut due to the damp and she can force it open. She takes her possessions and exits the attic room.

In 1994, Maggie writes in her diary. After being trapped in her room for three days, she is desperate to escape. She is “terrified and hungry” (146) but refuses to tell her aunt the identity of her baby’s father, even when Hester beats her. If she tells Hester the truth, she is worried that she will never see her friends again. She is also worried that Hester might kill her. Unwilling to risk revealing anything, she resolves to erase any mention of his name from the diary. She wants to contact him and hopes that they can run away together.

Hal creeps out of the house. The door is locked, so she must escape through a window. Halfway out of the window, an unseen person calls out to her, accusing her of sneaking away in the night like a “coward” (148). Mrs. Warren appears; rather than trying to stop Hal leaving, she is glad. She bids good riddance to Hal, just like her “trash mother” (148). Hal is shocked and furious. Mrs. Warren says that Hal’s mother was a “conniving little gold digger, just like [Hal]” (149) and then slams the window shut. Hal leaves the house, hitches a lift to the nearby town, and waits outside the station to catch the first train to London. She reflects on Mrs. Warren’s words and notes that the elderly housekeeper must know the truth about her parentage. Finally, she realizes that Mrs. Warren told her that she “should never have come back” (150).

The idea that Hal has been to Trepassen House before niggles at her thoughts during the long train ride. She thinks about the box of her mother’s possessions in her apartment; going through them had been too painful in the aftermath of her death, but now Hal is intrigued. She returns to her apartment and asks her neighbor whether anyone visited. He says no and her apartment seems empty, but she knows she cannot stay there. First, however, she searches through her mother’s old possessions. She finds a postcard from Penzance, a stack of letters, and a diary. Many of the pages have been ripped out and the entries abruptly stop, save for a single blank page removed at the very end of the book. Hal begins to read her mother’s handwriting, beginning with an entry from 1994 which discusses the return of the magpies to Trepassen House.

Hal finishes reading her mother’s diary which describes much of the period when Maggie was pregnant with Hal. She now understands that Hester cut Maggie out of the family and never mentioned her to Treswick, meaning that the lawyer mistook Maggie for Maud. However, the diary fails to explain why her mother lied to her, as well as the identity of her father. She re-reads the diary entries and finds an obscure reference to her mother’s lover: a man named “Ed” (157).

Hal lies awake in bed. She cannot stop thinking about her mother’s diary and she empathizes with everyone who was ever locked in the attic room. At the same time, she ponders the identity of the mysterious Ed who may be her father. She then reflects on her mother’s friend Maud. Something about Maud’s personality speaks to Hal, including her determination, humor, and generosity. She wonders whether Maud is still alive and whether she knows who Maggie’s lover was.