# XII: Eleanore explained — The Leavenworth Case

> Chapter companion for The Leavenworth Case by Anna Katharine Green.

## What happens

The narrator visits Eleanore Leavenworth, who is distraught after a newspaper article accuses her of her uncle's murder. She protests her innocence and, in a dramatic act, leads the narrator to her uncle's bedroom where she kisses the dead man's lips and invokes divine judgment, convincing the narrator of her innocence.

## Themes in this chapter

### Appearance vs. Reality

Eleanore's dramatic display of innocence contrasts with the strong circumstantial evidence against her, highlighting the tension between how things appear and what is true.

### Guilt and Innocence

The chapter centers on Eleanore's vehement denial of guilt and the narrator's struggle to reconcile her actions with the accusations.

### Secrecy and Truth

Eleanore's refusal to explain certain facts (like the key) fuels suspicion, and the chapter explores the conflict between hiding information and revealing the truth.

## Character check-ins

### The Narrator

Visits Eleanore, confronts her about the accusations, and is ultimately convinced of her innocence after her dramatic display.

### Eleanore Leavenworth

Found in despair over newspaper accusations; protests her innocence and performs a ritualistic act at her uncle's bedside to prove it.

### Mary Leavenworth

Opens the door for the narrator at the beginning of the chapter.

### Horatio Leavenworth

The murdered man; Eleanore kneels at his bedside and kisses his lips.

## Key lines

> Sometimes I think the walls have ears, and that the very shadows listen.

Eleanore feels that her every word and action is being watched and judged.

_Expresses her paranoia and sense of being under surveillance._

> Could I do that if I were guilty? Would not the breath freeze on my lips, the blood congeal in my veins, and my heart faint at this contact?

Eleanore argues that her ability to kiss her dead uncle proves her innocence, as guilt would make such an act impossible.

_Key moment where she uses physical contact with the corpse to assert her innocence._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_leavenworth_case_se/chapters/xii-eleanore
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_leavenworth_case_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_leavenworth_case_se/chapters