Wired Love · Chapter
XI: Miss Kling Telegraphically Baffled explained
Miss Kling grows suspicious of the activities among her lodgers and attempts to gather information about Clem, Quimby's wealthy friend, but is repeatedly thwarted.
What happens
Miss Kling grows suspicious of the activities among her lodgers and attempts to gather information about Clem, Quimby's wealthy friend, but is repeatedly thwarted. Meanwhile, Nattie reflects on the difference between her relationship with C on the wire and with Clem in person, feeling that Cyn now shares what was once hers alone. The chapter includes a rainy Saturday visit from Clem to Nattie's office, where they communicate via telegraph and reaffirm their connection, though Nattie remains uneasy about her place beside the more vivacious Cyn.
Themes in this chapter
Technology and Romance
The telegraph wire serves as a medium for intimacy and confession, with Nattie and Clem finding it easier to express feelings via Morse code than in person.
Jealousy and Unrequited Love
Nattie feels jealous of Cyn's share of Clem's attention; Quimby is secretly jealous of Clem while being pursued by Celeste.
Gossip and Social Surveillance
Miss Kling's attempts to spy and pump information from Mrs. Simonson, Celeste, and Quimby reflect the theme of social surveillance.
Characters to notice
- Betsey Kling
Miss Kling is uneasy and suspicious, trying to pump Mrs. Simonson, Celeste, and Quimby about Clem and the social gatherings, but is baffled at every turn.
- Nathalie Rogers
Nattie feels that Clem, while fulfilling her expectations of C, is not exactly what C was to her; she is timid in his presence and jealous of Cyn's share of his attention.
- Clem
Clem visits Nattie at the office on a rainy Saturday, teases her about preferring him on the wire, and they communicate via telegraph, reaffirming their mutual liking.
- Cyn
Cyn learns telegraphy with Jo, is free and brilliant in Clem's presence, and Nattie feels overshadowed by her.
- Quimby
Quimby is jealous of Clem, suffers from the telegraph clatter, and endures Celeste's attentions; his antics with candy lead to a rule that he must sit in the corner.
- Celeste Fishblate
Celeste tells Miss Kling that Miss Archer and Mr. Stanwood are in love, and she devotes herself entirely to Quimby, believing he is attracted to her.
Key passages
“Miss Betsey Kling was quite uneasy in her mind about this time, not only because the Torpedo refused to see himself in the light of that other self, and fled whenever he saw her approaching, but also because some subtle instinct told her, that under her very nose, was going on something of which the details were unknown to her, and that listen as she would, could not be ascertained.”
Miss Kling was anxious because the Torpedo avoided her, and she sensed a secret happening right under her watch that she couldn't uncover no matter how hard she listened.
Establishes Miss Kling's suspicion and the central mystery of the chapter.
“But yet—she sometimes felt that a certain something that had been on the wire was lacking now; that Clem, while realizing all her old expectations of C, was not exactly what C had been to her.”
Nattie felt that the special quality of her telegraphic relationship with C was missing now that Clem was physically present; he matched her hopes for C but wasn't the same as C had been.
Highlights Nattie's internal conflict between the idealized wire relationship and reality.
“And then their eyes met, and Nattie hastily rose and walked to the window, for no ostensible purpose, and Clem said, going after her, 'It is nicer talking on the wire, isn't it?'”
After exchanging looks, Nattie quickly got up and went to the window without a clear reason, and Clem followed, remarking that communicating via telegraph was easier.
Shows the awkwardness and intimacy of their in-person interaction compared to the wire.
