# XXIII explained — Tracks in the Snow

> Chapter companion for Tracks in the Snow by Godfrey R. Benson.

## What happens

The narrator reflects on his final interview with William Vane-Cartwright in gaol, bound to silence about much of it. He considers the influences that shaped Vane-Cartwright's character—his eccentric parents, early loss of fortune, exile to the East, and the coldness of Peters—and reconstructs the likely course of his crimes, from the murder of Longhurst to that of Peters. The chapter concludes with a farewell to the surviving characters: the narrator and his wife settled in their rectory, Callaghan departed on unknown travels, Thalberg's business grown, Trethewy as gardener, and the marriages of Peters' nephews to Miss Denison and the narrator's daughter.

## Themes in this chapter

### Guilt and Innocence

The narrator grapples with Vane-Cartwright's guilt, the possibility of mitigating circumstances, and the moral weight of his crimes.

### The Past and Secrets

The chapter delves into Vane-Cartwright's past, his upbringing, and the long-buried secrets that led to murder.

### Class and Character

Explores how Vane-Cartwright's upbringing, loss of fortune, and social aspirations shaped his ruthless character.

## Character check-ins

### William Vane-Cartwright

The narrator visits him in gaol; reflects on his character, upbringing, and crimes; describes him as hard, selfish, and without bowels.

### James Callaghan

Visited the narrator recently; has since departed for unknown destinations, possibly the East.

### Eustace Peters

Remembered not as he died but as he lived; his coldness and unkindness are highlighted as contributing to his own murder.

### Reuben Trethewy

Now the narrator's gardener; his daughter is a board-school mistress in London.

### Melchior Thalberg

Continues his law business in the City; his business has grown despite losing clients after the trial.

### Miss Denison

Married to the elder of Peters' nephews; the narrator hopes the reader has thought of her.

## Key lines

> I have an unbounded hatred for that prevalent worship of strong men which seems to me to be born of craven fear. Yet it extorts my most unwilling admiration of this man that, when safety depended so much upon inaction, the only action he took was such as at once was appallingly dangerous and yet was the only way to avoid an even greater peril.

The narrator despises the cult of the strong man, but admits a grudging admiration for Vane-Cartwright's daring and composure under threat.

_Reflects the narrator's conflicted view of Vane-Cartwright's criminal resolve._

> It seems as if he might have murdered his partner and murdered his host with cruel deliberation and gone unpunished; but since one day without a second thought he refused a common courtesy to a suffering woman and a harassed girl, he had set in motion the cunning machinery of fate.

Vane-Cartwright might have escaped justice for two murders, but a single act of discourtesy triggered the chain of events that led to his downfall.

_Highlights the ironic role of small unkindnesses in the narrative's resolution._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tracks_in_the_snow_se/chapters/xxiii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tracks_in_the_snow_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tracks_in_the_snow_se/chapters