# Through the Wall explained — The Wyvern Mystery

> Chapter companion for The Wyvern Mystery by J. Sheridan Le Fanu.

## What happens

Alice awakens in the night to mysterious sounds and a sense of dread. Her fears are realized when a hidden door opens and a blind, disfigured woman enters her room, attempting to attack her with a knife. Alice escapes and flees the house with Mildred Tarnley, seeking refuge in the woods.

## Themes in this chapter

### Secrecy and Deception

The hidden door and the intruder's stealthy entry underscore the theme of concealed truths and hidden dangers within the household.

### Isolation and Entrapment

Alice's terror and her flight into the woods highlight her sense of entrapment within the Grange and her desperate need for escape.

### Mortality and Aging

The blind woman's disfigured appearance and Charles's reflections on her changed, grizzled hair evoke themes of physical decay and the ravages of time.

## Character check-ins

### Alice Maybell

Alice is terrorized by nocturnal sounds and a violent intruder, fleeing the house in a state of panic.

### Mildred Tarnley

Mildred Tarnley comforts and escorts Alice out of the house into the woods, showing unexpected tenderness.

### Tom Ward

Tom is summoned by Alice to help her master, responding with a calm that contrasts with Alice's terror.

### Charles Fairfield

Charles is mentioned in Alice's thoughts and is present during the aftermath, grappling with guilt and horror over the blind woman's fate.

### Ry

Ry is invoked by Alice in her distress, referred to as 'darling' and 'saviour'.

## Key lines

> What a fool I am! ... Everything frightens me now, I've grown such a coward. Oh! Charlie, Charlie—oh, Ry darling!—when will you come back to your poor wife—when shall this dreadful suspense be over and quiet come again?

Alice berates herself for her fear, longing for her husband's return to end her anxiety.

_Alice's internal monologue reveals her emotional vulnerability and dependence on Charles and Ry._

> Oh maddening picture of degradation and cruelty! To what had they both come at last?

Charles is overwhelmed by the horrifying sight of the blind woman's injuries and the moral ruin of their situation.

_This reflects Charles's guilt and despair over the violence and decay in their lives._

> Now you're just drivin' yourself distracted, you be. What for need ye fear her? She's crazy, I'll not deny, but she's blind too, and she can't follow ye here, if she was so minded.

Mildred Tarnley tries to calm Alice by pointing out that the blind woman cannot pursue them outdoors.

_Mildred's practical reasoning contrasts with Alice's irrational terror._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_wyvern_mystery_se/chapters/xxxvi-through-the-wall
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_wyvern_mystery_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_wyvern_mystery_se/chapters