Emily of New Moon · Chapter
Friends Again explained
Emily learns that Lofty John has relented and will not cut down the bush, thanks to her visit to Father Cassidy.
What happens
Emily learns that Lofty John has relented and will not cut down the bush, thanks to her visit to Father Cassidy. Lofty John makes a bargain with Emily: she must ask him politely to spare the trees and continue visiting him. Emily complies, and the bush is saved. She also receives a letter from Father Cassidy, which Aunt Elizabeth opens and questions. The chapter ends with a later meeting in Shrewsbury where Emily and Father Cassidy share a secret understanding.
Themes in this chapter
Secrecy and Truth
Emily's secret visit to Father Cassidy and the hidden understanding between them create a theme of secrecy, while Aunt Elizabeth's discovery forces a confrontation with the truth.
Imagination and Creativity
Emily's dramatic delight in the secret understanding and her feeling of living in an epic highlight her imaginative nature.
Friendship and Loyalty
The reconciliation between Emily and Lofty John, as well as the support from Father Cassidy and Cousin Jimmy, underscore themes of friendship and loyalty.
Characters to notice
- Emily Byrd Starr
Emily successfully negotiates with Lofty John to save the bush, receives her first letter from Father Cassidy, and later meets him in Shrewsbury.
- Lofty John
Lofty John relents and agrees not to cut down the bush after Emily asks him politely, and he spreads the story of her appeal to Father Cassidy.
- Father Cassidy
Father Cassidy writes a letter to Emily and later meets her in Shrewsbury, sharing a secret understanding about the bush.
- Aunt Elizabeth Murray
Aunt Elizabeth opens Emily's letter from Father Cassidy and questions her, but is relieved the bush is saved.
- Cousin Jimmy Murray
Cousin Jimmy expresses his gratitude to Emily for saving the bush.
- Rhoda Stuart
Rhoda Stuart criticizes Emily's boldness in appealing to Father Cassidy.
Key passages
“So you’ve clean wiled the heart out av Father Cassidy’s body... ‘The sweetest scrap av a girl I’ve iver seen,’ says he to me.”
Lofty John tells Emily that she has charmed Father Cassidy completely.
Lofty John acknowledges Emily's influence over Father Cassidy.
“If ye’d come and said that to me afore ye’d have had no need av your walk to White Cross.”
Lofty John implies that if Emily had asked him politely earlier, she wouldn't have had to go to Father Cassidy.
Lofty John reveals that a simple polite request would have sufficed.
“I tasted the flavour of that half-stolen interview all the way home, and felt quite as if she were living in an epic herself.”
Emily savored the secret meeting and felt like a character in a grand story.
Emily's imaginative delight in the secret encounter.