#the gothic novel vibes are solidly back

[kingedmundsroyalmurder]

Kilmeny will not marry Eric because she is mute, so Eric starts thinking about if there is a way to cure her muteness. He asks Janet Gordon if they have ever taken Kilmeny to a doctor. She says no, Margaret wouldn't hear of it. Thomas wanted to, when Kilmeny was young, but it was forbidden and everyone bowed to Margaret's every whim.

Margaret Gordon sounds like she terrorized the entire household, to be honest. Janet said a couple chapters ago that she did her best to shield her from sorrow, but I think perhaps the result was that Margaret was simultaneously smothered and spoiled and made it everyone's problem. No wonder Kilmeny is so good at reading shifting moods.

We then learn that there is more to the story of Margaret Gordon than Mrs. Williamson (hey, remember her? Been a hot minute since we heard about her, now that Janet has taken on the role of kindly elderly female dispenser of plot and wisdom. Her name is Elizabeth, by the way.) Anyway, there is more to the story than Mrs. Williamson knew. When Margaret came home after her marriage fell apart, her father was terribly angry. He hadn't wanted her to marry Ronald Fraser, but she did anyway. And her father "called her a hard name".

There's been some discussion about what that name was -- I saw suggestions of whore, harlot, and jezabel, all of which seem plausible. And Margaret refused to say a word in response to this, even after he realized he had been cruel and apologized and asked her forgiveness. And Margaret refused to speak another word to anyone from that moment until after Kilmeny was born. She also spent all her time sitting in her room staring at the wall.

So, you know, doing well!

When her father is dying, he begs her to come to him one last time. She refuses, and so he has Thomas and Janet bring him to her. He says he cannot go meet his dead wife (her mother) until their daughter has forgiven him for calling her such a dreadful name. He begs and pleads and prays and she refuses to speak a single word to him. Her stubbornness has become a curse, forcing her to stay silent even when -- as she tells Janet later -- she wanted to speak. But she did not. And he died, unforgiven.

Kilmeny was born soon after, and the love and magic of motherhood melted the curse and Margaret spoke again. But it was too late, she could never forgive her father now, and when she realized Kilmeny wasn't going to talk she went half mad thinking this divine retribution for her sin of silence. As Janet puts it, "Kilmeny can't speak because Margaret wouldn't."

So there's a lot to unpack here. Most obviously, this is the culmination of the whole 'Kilmeny has only ever existed as an extension of her mother' theme we've been working. It's also another example of the way that women are only ever supporting characters to the men in their lives -- Margaret's sin was specifically that she wouldn't forgive her father. That stubbornness then cursed her daughter.

But we move on swiftly from that to Eric's favorite activity: not taking no for an answer. He says they will send for David Baker anyway, and will have him examine Kilmeny and also tell him an edited version of the story so that he has all the facts. Janet agrees -- again, we aren't asking Kilmeny's permission here -- presumably because she's realized that arguing with Eric will only lead to more tedious arguing with Eric and that he, unlike you, has nothing better to do with his day than argue this point.

Eric does, at least, tell Kilmeny of his plan, and we end the chapter with the following exchange:

But a rosy glow of hope flashed over Kilmeny’s face when Eric told her what he meant to do.

“Oh, do you think he can make me speak?” she wrote eagerly.

“I don’t know, Kilmeny. I hope that he can, and I know he will do all that mortal skill can do. If he can remove your defect will you promise to marry me, dearest?”

She nodded. The grave little motion had the solemnity of a sacred promise.

“Yes,” she wrote, “when I can speak like other women I will marry you.”

Four chapters left. Let's see how much more ridiculousness we can cram into four chapters before our inevitable ending point!