The Truth About Tristrem Varick · Chapter
XIII explained
Tristrem arrives in London under a fog, hoping to find Viola Raritan.
What happens
Tristrem arrives in London under a fog, hoping to find Viola Raritan. He receives no message, cables Mr. Meggs for her address, but learns Mrs. Raritan's address is unknown. He travels across Europe—Stuttgart, Munich, Vienna, Milan, Florence, Rome, Naples, Palermo—searching for Viola, but finds no trace. Eventually, a cable from his grandfather Dirck Van Norden tells him she is back in New York. He cables Alphabet Jones, who finally reveals the Raritans' bankers, but when Tristrem reaches Paris, he learns they have just left on the Orient Express. He resolves to pursue them to Stuttgart, Munich, or Vienna.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Idealism
Tristrem's obsessive search for Viola across Europe is driven by his idealistic love, despite obstacles and lack of forethought.
Fate and Individuality
Tristrem feels Fate is conspiring against him, yet he persists in his individual quest, reflecting the tension between destiny and personal will.
Characters to notice
- Tristrem Varick
Arrives in London, searches for Viola across Europe, receives cables, and continues his pursuit.
- Viola Raritan
The object of Tristrem's search; she and her mother have left Paris on the Orient Express.
- Mrs. Raritan
Travels with Viola; her address is initially unknown, then learned to be via Rue Scribe; she and Viola leave Paris.
- Meggs
Cabled by Tristrem; replies that he is uninformed of Mrs. Raritan's address.
- Alphabet Jones
Cabled by Tristrem for Viola's address; eventually replies with 'Brown Shipley, Founders’ Court.'
- Mr. Dirck Van Norden
Tristrem's grandfather; sends a cablegram telling Tristrem to come back to New York because Viola is there.
Key passages
“It was under cover of a fog of leprous brown striated with ochre and acrid with smoke that Tristrem entered London.”
Tristrem arrived in London during a thick, yellowish-brown fog that smelled of smoke.
Describes the atmospheric setting of Tristrem's arrival.
“He wanted Miss Raritan’s address, and until he got it a comet that bridged the horizon would have left him incurious as the dead.”
He was so focused on finding Viola's address that nothing else could capture his attention.
Highlights Tristrem's single-minded obsession.
“I am as one accursed, he thought, and that night he saw himself in dream stopping passers in the street, asking them with lifted hat had they seen a girl wonderfully fair, with amber eyes.”
He felt cursed, and dreamed of stopping strangers to ask if they had seen a beautiful girl with amber eyes.
Reveals Tristrem's despair and fixation.
“Something there was which kept telling him that she was near at hand, waiting, like the enchanted princess, for his coming.”
He felt a persistent intuition that Viola was close by, waiting for him like a fairy-tale princess.
Shows Tristrem's hopeful yet delusional state.
“Come back, it ran; she is here.”
The cable said: 'Return; she is here.'
The message from Dirck Van Norden that redirects Tristrem's search.
