The Perennial Bachelor · Chapter
XXI explained
Victor works in a real estate office, dreaming of Lucy while she travels through Europe.
What happens
Victor works in a real estate office, dreaming of Lucy while she travels through Europe. Her letters alternately lift and crush his spirits, mentioning a charming Mr. Duncan. After two years, Lucy writes to break their engagement, announcing her betrothal to a French count. Victor is devastated, and Maggie comforts him, blaming Lucy's mother and urging him not to let love turn to bitterness.
Themes in this chapter
Unfulfilled Love and Marriage
Victor's love for Lucy remains unfulfilled as she breaks their engagement to marry a French count, leaving Victor heartbroken.
Social Class and Decline
Victor's modest salary and daily routine contrast with Lucy's wealthy lifestyle and her marriage to a titled European, highlighting class differences.
Characters to notice
- Victor Campion
Working in a real estate office, pining for Lucy, and devastated by her engagement to a French count.
- Lucy Hawthorn
Traveling in Europe, sending letters that alternately encourage and discourage Victor, and finally breaking their engagement.
- Maggie Campion
Comforts Victor after Lucy's letter, blaming Lucy's mother and urging Victor not to become bitter.
Key passages
“Victor, like Lucy’s ship, went up and down, as his angel’s voice called to him from across the sea that she was missing him so that she nearly died , or that the gentlemen of Ireland were the most awful flatterers, but somehow you couldn’t get angry.”
Victor's emotions fluctuated like a ship at sea, swayed by Lucy's letters from abroad, which alternately claimed she missed him terribly or complained about Irish flatterers.
Illustrates Victor's emotional instability and dependence on Lucy's correspondence.
“He sat at his desk and licked stamps, led prospective customers to small brick houses, and swept out the office when the janitor was drunk, through a pink and gold and forget-me-not blue haze—a rainbow dream of Lucy.”
Victor performed mundane tasks at his job while daydreaming of Lucy, seeing his surroundings through a romanticized haze.
Highlights Victor's dissatisfaction with his work and his idealization of Lucy.
““Victor! Here we are in la Belle France! Paris —I can’t believe it. It is all my fancy painted it and much , much more, such a whirl, the darlingest dresses, though I can’t expect your highness to be interested in them , such gloves, such bonbons! Then the Opera, which is divine , I nearly cried my eyes out at ‘Faust’ the other night, and driving in the Bois, and all Mamma’s friends being hospitality itself to us. And yet I am homesick—can you guess why?””
Lucy writes enthusiastically about Paris, describing the dresses, opera, and social life, but hints that she is homesick for Victor.
Shows Lucy's excitement about her travels and her teasing affection for Victor.
““I hate to write this letter, as I am so afraid it will hurt you, but I couldn’t bear to have you hear from anyone but me of my engagement. I am going to marry Count René de la Villeblanche, the son of one of Mamma’s great friends, and I am very happy. You and I were only children, weren’t we, Victor? I realize that now.””
Lucy writes to Victor to inform him of her engagement to a French count, dismissing their relationship as childish and asking for his understanding.
The letter that breaks Victor's heart and ends their romantic relationship.
““Don’t, Victor, don’t, she isn’t worth it.””
Maggie tries to comfort Victor by telling him that Lucy is not worth his tears.
Maggie's attempt to console her brother and her protective anger toward Lucy.