The Nebuly Coat · Chapter
XIV explained
Westray returns to Cullerne and is interrupted by Miss Euphemia Joliffe, who is anxious about Mr.
What happens
Westray returns to Cullerne and is interrupted by Miss Euphemia Joliffe, who is anxious about Mr. Sharnall's absence. Westray dismisses her concerns initially, but as the night wears on and Sharnall does not return, he grows uneasy. After checking Sharnall's room and finding no clues, Westray decides to search the minster. There, in the organ loft, he stumbles over Sharnall's dead body, with the nebuly coat shining above.
Themes in this chapter
Decay and Preservation
The crumbling minster, the crack above the south transept arch, and the tie-rods meant to strengthen the tower highlight the tension between decay and efforts to preserve.
Secrecy and Identity
Lord Blandamer's visit while Miss Joliffe is at the Dorcas meeting, and the mysterious circumstances of Sharnall's death, underscore hidden motives and concealed truths.
Obsession and Madness
Westray's fixation on Sharnall's absence and the eerie atmosphere of the minter reflect the theme of obsession; Sharnall's earlier hallucinations about a man with a hammer hint at madness.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Westray
Returns to Cullerne by evening train; works on calculations for tie-rods; becomes anxious about Sharnall's absence; searches the minster and discovers Sharnall's body.
- Miss Euphemia Joliffe
Visits Westray to report Sharnall's absence; mentions Lord Blandamer's visit; goes to bed after Westray's reassurance.
- Mr. Sharnall
Missing throughout the chapter; found dead in the organ loft with his head on the pedal-note.
- Lord Blandamer
Visited Bellevue Lodge that afternoon but did not see Sharnall; left no message for Westray.
Key passages
“I haven't the least idea where he is... I suppose he has gone out somewhere to supper.”
Westray dismisses Miss Joliffe's concern, suggesting Sharnall might be out for supper.
Westray's initial indifference contrasts with his later anxiety.
“It was something soft and yielding that he had struck, something of which the mere touch filled him with horrible surmise.”
Westray's foot hits a soft object, and he immediately fears the worst.
The discovery of Sharnall's body is foreshadowed by this tactile horror.
“The moonlight that shone on the dead face seemed to fall on it through that brighter spot in the head of the middle light; it was as if the nebuly coat had blighted the very life out of the man who lay so still upon the floor.”
The moonlight through the nebuly coat window appears to have drained the life from Sharnall's body.
The nebuly coat is symbolically linked to Sharnall's death.