# XIII: Disappearance of T. T.’s explained — Riceyman Steps

> Chapter companion for Riceyman Steps by Arnold Bennett.

## 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.

## Character check-ins

### 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 lines

> 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._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/riceyman_steps_se/chapters/part-v-xiii-disappearance-of-t-t-s
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/riceyman_steps_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/riceyman_steps_se/chapters