The Wonderful Visit · Chapter
LIII: The Epilogue explained
Mrs.
What happens
Mrs. Mendham, now the vicar's wife, shows a visitor the new De la Beche monument in the churchyard and casually dismisses the graves of 'Thomas Angel' and 'Delia Hardy'—which actually contain only the ashes of the Vicar's stuffed ostrich. She recounts a sanitized, scornful version of the Angel's story, portraying him as a deformed, half-witted fiddler who imposed on the late Vicar and died in a fire trying to save a servant girl. She notes that the Vicar never recovered from the loss of his stuffed birds and died within a year, haunted by delusions of angels.
Themes in this chapter
Social Hypocrisy and Conformity
Mrs. Mendham's account completely reframes the Angel's story to fit conventional, dismissive narratives—calling him deformed, half-witted, and a fraud—while she proudly shows off an expensive monument, embodying the village's shallow values.
The Fragility of Wonder
The miraculous visit is reduced to ashes and gossip; the Vicar's delusions of angels are seen as madness, and the true wonder is buried under a mundane, scornful retelling.
Characters to notice
- Mrs. Mendham
Now the vicar's wife, she shows the visitor the new monument and provides a dismissive, reductive account of the Angel and Delia's deaths, revealing her shallow concern for social status and her inability to grasp the wonder of what occurred.
- The Angel
Referenced only through Mrs. Mendham's scornful retelling: a 'hunchbacked fiddler' who imposed on the Vicar, played by ear, and died in the fire trying to save Delia. His true nature is completely misunderstood.
- The Vicar
Mentioned as having died within a year of the fire, never recovering from the loss of his stuffed birds, and plagued by 'queerest delusions about angels.' His transformation is noted but trivialized by Mrs. Mendham.
- Annie Durgan
Implied as the 'sly little drab' Mrs. Mendham refers to—the servant with whom the Angel was 'carrying on.' Her grave is marked as 'Delia Hardy.'
Key passages
“Really there is nothing beneath them but the ashes of the Vicar’s stuffed ostrich.”
The graves of 'Thomas Angel' and 'Delia Hardy' contain only the cremated remains of the Vicar's taxidermied ostrich.
Reveals the ironic, hollow memorial to the Angel's true nature.
“He was a curious person, a hunchbacked fiddler, who came from nobody knows where, and imposed upon the late Vicar to a frightful extent.”
Mrs. Mendham describes the Angel as a strange, deformed musician who tricked the Vicar.
Shows how the village has reinterpreted the Angel as a con artist rather than a supernatural being.
“He had the queerest delusions about angels and that kind of thing. It made him odd company at times.”
The Vicar, after the fire, spoke of angels and seemed mentally disturbed.
Highlights the Vicar's shattered perception and the village's inability to accept the truth.