VII explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Deception and Identity

  Penelope realizes Hughes is the blackmailer behind Adèle's troubles; Hughes tries to deceive her about his intentions and Labar's accusations.

• Gender and Agency

  Penelope is physically overpowered and abducted by Hughes; her resistance is overcome by force, highlighting her lack of agency in the situation.

• Crime and Justice

  The chapter involves abduction, blackmail, forgery, and police suspicion; Penelope fears imprisonment and struggles with the criminal entanglements.

Characters to notice

• Penelope Noelson

  Feels unfairly victimized and trapped; wrestles with suspicion of Labar and Hughes; deduces Hughes is the blackmailer; refuses his marriage proposal and is abducted.

• Larry Hughes

  Forcibly abducts Penelope; tries to persuade her he is her friend; accidentally reveals his connection to Adèle; proposes marriage and threatens her when refused.

• Harry Labar

  Mentioned as having interviewed Penelope and accused her of forgery and bribery; Penelope questions his motives and truthfulness.

• Adèle Gertstein

  Referred to as the woman Hughes had a past with; Penelope realizes Hughes is blackmailing her and that she has been buying his silence.

• Tom

  Assists Hughes in the abduction; moves to the front of the car when ordered.

Key passages

• “The incidence of crime among fifty million people affects the average individual very seldom. Any ordinary man who has his pocket picked or the domestic silver stolen, has the feeling that he has been unfairly selected as the victim of a phenomenon. Why should such a singular misfortune happen to him? So it was with Penelope Noelson.”

  Crime rarely touches the average person, but when it does, they feel singled out and unjustly targeted—exactly how Penelope feels now.

  Opens the chapter by framing Penelope's sense of victimization as a common human reaction to crime.

• “She felt a sense of injustice that she should have become caught in a coil from which she saw no way of extricating herself.”

  She felt wronged by being trapped in a situation she couldn't escape.

  Highlights Penelope's helplessness and resentment.

• “If only things would work out so that she would not be involved. A selfish attitude no doubt, but one which she would have been something more than human to avoid.”

  She wished she could avoid involvement entirely—a selfish but understandable wish.

  Acknowledges her self-preservation instinct as natural.

• “How dare he assume that her silence was due to an affection for Mr. Hughes? Why, he had even hinted that⁠—that⁠—. She flushed hotly at the implication that she realised might have lain behind his guarded words.”

  She was outraged that Labar implied her silence meant she loved Hughes, and blushed at the unspoken suggestion.

  Shows Penelope's indignation and embarrassment at Labar's insinuations.

• “She thought of flight. That would, however, be taken as an admission of guilt. Besides, she had little money, and her common sense told her that Labar had probably foreseen and guarded against that very contingency.”

  She considered running away but knew it would look like an admission of guilt, and she lacked money; she suspected Labar had already anticipated that move.

  Reveals her practical assessment of her limited options.

• ““You are being shadowed,” he said. “There is a gentleman loitering a little aimlessly down the road, who I judge is interested in you.””

  Hughes warned her that a detective was watching her.

  Hughes uses the surveillance to pressure her into getting into his car.