The Painted Veil

Kitty and Walter are borne in chairs on their journey to Meitan-fu, and a line of porters carry their things. Alone on her chair, Kitty ruminates about Townsend’s callous treatment of her and reflects that had he seen the true state of her helplessness, he might not have “left her to her fate” (101). She feels that she is “finished with life” at the age of 27 (101).

As they continue their journey, Kitty wonders whether Walter has ceased loving her. While she tells herself that it is impossible for love simply to evaporate and that he would not wish her dead, she catches a glimpse of “physical distaste” in his expression when he looks at her (103).

Kitty’s chair-bearers become animated and point towards an archway on a hillcrest, indicating the near end of their journey. She sees that they are by a cemetery and that a new coffin is being borne there. It is only a few minutes before they arrive.

When Walter and Kitty arrive at the house they have taken over from a deceased missionary, they meet a man called Waddington, who invites himself over for dinner. He informs them that people are dying at an accelerated rate, and Kitty thinks he is slightly drunk.

At dinner, Kitty judges Waddington as ugly but likeable. He proceeds to get drunker but is merry rather than offensive. Waddington brings up the subject of Townsend and asks Walter how he rates his chances of becoming colonial secretary. Kitty is uncomfortable and Walter is vague. Still, Kitty feels a sense of “awe” at their isolation from the world they are familiar with, as they are “three solitary creatures and strangers to each other” (110).

Kitty has strange dreams that combine the chair-lift journey with a reconciliation with Townsend and a forced parting. She wakes and goes to observe the dawn, which is shrouded in a ghostly white mist. She feels transported by the beauty of the scene.

Kitty spends most of her time in the house. She learns that the town’s inhabitants are dying at the rate of 100 a day and that the officer commanding the troops acts ruthlessly; he ensures that all the dead are buried and shoots an officer who hesitates entering a cholera-stricken house. Kitty entertains various plans of escape but rejects them all as far-fetched. She longs to humiliate Townsend as he humiliated her.

Kitty brings up the subject of Townsend with Waddington. Waddington confirms that Townsend is all style and no substance and that he only cares about himself. He thinks that Townsend has the potential to ascend to the positions of colonial secretary and then governor because the government service does not want “clever men” but rather “men who have charm and tact and who can be counted on never to make a blunder” (116). Waddington then says that the secret of Townsend’s success is his wife’s counsel. He adds that Dorothy knows of Townsend’s affairs and even jokes that she would befriend his conquests if they were not “so uncommonly second-rate” (117).

While Kitty consciously accepts Waddington’s account of Townsend’s worthlessness, when she sleeps, she dreams of Townsend and realizes that she still loves him.

Waddington and Kitty become closer and are relieved that they can talk honestly with each other. Waddington speaks some Chinese and admires aspects of Chinese culture. Kitty realizes that she previously “never heard of the Chinese spoken of as anything but decadent, dirty and unspeakable” (120).

At dinner, Waddington is shocked to find Kitty and Walter eating fresh green salad, raw vegetables being a cholera risk. The dish has become a habit with them ever since the cook sent it in one night, and Kitty, ignoring Walter’s warning that she will kill herself, takes the salad in a spirit of “courting death” (122). Walter copies her.

Waddington asks Kitty to walk with him. On the way up the hill, they see a dead body, which shocks Kitty. Waddington asks frankly why Kitty is here. He can see that she is not in love with her husband and even that her husband has some contempt towards her. While Waddington speculates that Kitty and Walter are both seeking death, Kitty is afraid to be open with him. Although Waddington does not like Walter, it emerges that Walter is doing a good job stemming the cholera tide.

Waddington informs Kitty that the French nuns in the nearby convent know of her existence. Although Waddington is a nonbeliever who nominally belongs to the Church of England, he gets along with the nuns. He invites Kitty to the convent and informs her that the nuns are fond of Walter.

Kitty is brought to the nunnery in a chair. She is surprised to find Sister St. Joseph cheerful and welcoming, and as Kitty’s French is poor, Waddington acts as translator.

Kitty meets the mother superior, a woman of middle age who speaks good English. She gives Kitty a frank appraisal. For her part, Kitty finds it difficult to define the woman, although she is certainly impressed by her.

The mother superior gives Kitty a tour of the convent, where sites of Catholic worship intermingle with human misery. There are two patients to every hospital bed, and the convent must accommodate an influx of orphan girls whose parents do not want to deal with them now that there is an epidemic.

Kitty praises the chapel despite its garishness and is moved by the sight of the babies the convent has taken in. The mother superior praises Walter and says that Kitty must be a real comfort to him. After the tour, Kitty is in tears. When Waddington asks her what is wrong, Kitty dismisses her feelings as “only foolishness” (142).

Kitty is moved by her visit to the chapel—especially the fact that the convent continues to do its charitable work despite the cholera epidemic. While she appreciates the nuns’ love for Walter, she feels that she still loves Townsend, even though he is inferior to Walter.

Kitty admires how the nuns remain calm amidst so much human loss. She is moved by how they speak of Walter’s affection for the babies in the orphanage; she recalls that he wanted her to have a child, but she could never imagine he would be capable of tenderness with a baby. However, she also senses an aloofness to the nuns and believes that “they [hold] something back” from her (145). Kitty feels as though they consider her a “casual stranger” who does not belong in their spiritual life.

Kitty engages Walter in a frank discussion. She admits that he was right about Townsend’s worthlessness and asks him if he can be her friend, especially in the face of so much destruction. Walter claims that he does not understand Kitty. When she asks whether he despises her, he replies that he despises himself.

Kitty finds Walter when he is working late into the night. She wonders again if his plan in bringing her here was to end her life. She asks him why he despises himself, and he replies that it is because he loved her. She tells him that it is unfair to blame her for the fact that he projected a depth onto her that she did not possess. She dismisses herself as a “silly woman” and says that she is not worth being unhappy over (152). Walter does not answer, and Kitty wonders whether he is suffering from a broken heart.

Kitty returns to the convent early the next morning and asks to work. She finds the mother superior grieving the loss of a nun. The mother superior thinks that Kitty looks too pale to work and suspects that she might be expecting a baby. Kitty blushes and denies the claim, saying that she is strong and would feel more useful working.

Kitty finds “refreshment” in her work and uses the cooking and sewing talents her mother taught her to assist with the children in the orphanage. Although she comes to the children full of racist prejudice, she soon grows fond of them. She even learns a few words of Chinese. The exception is a disabled child who disgusts Kitty and yet longs for her caresses. However, under the tutelage of Sister St. Joseph she learns to approach the child. After this, the child no longer approaches Kitty.

Kitty becomes friendly with Sister St. Joseph, who tells her of her simple Breton farming background. She asks about Kitty’s life in London and tells her that she is lucky to have such a good husband as Walter.

Kitty finds that she feels intimidated by and reverent towards the mother superior, who Sister St. Joseph confirms comes from a well-connected family in France. However, when the nuns came to China on their mission to rescue unwanted baby girls, they lived in abject poverty until funds from benefactors arrived. Mr. Waddington was one of the benefactors, but Sister St. Joseph disapproves of his living with a Manchu concubine related to the imperial family.

Kitty finds that she is happy in her work and feels liberated at not having dreamed of Charles Townsend in a week. She joins in boisterous games with the children, and the mother superior praises her beauty.

On her day off, Kitty goes with Waddington to a Buddhist monastery. She finds the monastery peaceful but spooky, feeling that its opulence is in decline and that one day soon the monks will all go away.

When they sit, Kitty confesses to Waddington that she feels that there is a wall between her and the nuns. Although the nuns are kind to her, she remarks, “[E]ach day when the convent door closes behind me I feel that for them I have ceased to exist” (171). She asks Waddington why he never told her he lived with a Manchu princess. He explains that the woman fell in love with him and tracked him down whenever he sent her away. He now accepts that he is with her for life. He imagines that he will retire in China. Kitty feels as though she is just beginning to understand the meaning of life, saying, “[M]y soul hankers for the unknown” (174). She longs to see the Manchu lady, and Waddington agrees that she can visit.

The next day, Kitty faints. She fears that she has cholera. However, the nuns insist that she is pregnant and that she should go home and rest.

Walter comes home early on hearing that Kitty is unwell. She tells him that she is pregnant. He asks if he is the father. Kitty feels that it would be easy to lie and please Walter. However, she cannot bring herself to do it and tells him she does not know. She is devastated when she thinks about how much Walter likes babies and cannot keep herself from crying.

Walter suggests that Kitty should go, as she will be more liable to catch cholera in pregnancy. Kitty wants to continue working at the convent. She also says that she has nowhere in the world to go, as there is “no one who cares a row of pins if [she is] dead or alive” (193). Walter says that she may stay if she chooses and that they “can let the future take care of itself” (193).