Riceyman Steps · Chapter
XIII: Disappearance of T. T.’s explained
The chapter details the aftermath of Henry and Violet's deaths, including the media frenzy, the inquest, and the arrival of Henry's brother, Reverend Augustus Earlforward.
What happens
The chapter details the aftermath of Henry and Violet's deaths, including the media frenzy, the inquest, and the arrival of Henry's brother, Reverend Augustus Earlforward. Elsie and Joe navigate their new life together, with Elsie feeling guilt over the deaths while Joe remains optimistic. The funeral and the inheritance proceedings are also covered.
Themes in this chapter
Miserliness and Obsession
Henry's miserly character is indirectly blamed for the tragedy, with Elsie holding him responsible for Violet's death and the inquest revealing his cancer.
Illness and Mortality
Henry dies of cancer at the junction of the gullet and stomach, and Elsie's theory about wedding cake causing cancer underscores the theme of mortality.
Class and Social Mobility
Elsie and Joe are seen as characteristic of the Clerkenwell district, and the inheritance passing to Augustus highlights class dynamics and social mobility.
Characters to notice
- Elsie
Elsie feels responsible for both deaths, believing her wedding cake caused Henry's cancer, and she is questioned at the inquest but supported by Dr. Raste.
- Joe
Joe is joyful and unapprehensive, walking with Elsie through familiar streets, carrying nothing while Elsie lugs the grip-bag.
- Dr. Raste
Dr. Raste testifies at the inquest that Elsie called him in for Joe, saving her from opprobrium.
- Reverend Augustus Earlforward
Henry's brother, a Wesleyan missionary, arrives from the West Indies, claims the inheritance, and questions Elsie at the inquest.
- Mr. Belrose
Mr. Belrose offers an epitaph on the Earlforwards, saying 'They didn't have a lot of luck,' and takes the keys of T. T.'s.
- Miss Raste
Miss Raste is devastated when Elsie initially refuses to work for her family, but Elsie later agrees to see Mrs. Raste.
Key passages
“He knew his soul as intimately as a pretty woman knows the externals of her body.”
Joe had deep self-awareness, comparable to a woman's familiarity with her own appearance.
Describes Joe's confident and introspective nature.
“The affair, like all affairs of destiny, was excessively complex.”
The situation, like all matters of fate, was very complicated.
Reflects on the complexity of the Earlforwards' fate.
“She added one more to the uncounted theories of the origin of cancer, and nobody yet knows enough of the subject to be able to disprove Elsie’s theory.”
Elsie contributed a new, unprovable theory about cancer's origin.
Highlights Elsie's guilt and the ignorance about cancer at the time.