Splendors and Glooms

After a lavish dinner at a fine restaurant, Lizzie Rose and Parsefall attend the puppet show. Parsefall is mystified by the performance, and after it’s over, he runs backstage to talk the performers into letting him join them. Lizzie Rose tries to stop him, saying he’s just a child, but Parsefall won’t hear it. After a moment, he runs back out to the audience, angrily stating, “they don’t want me. Let’s get out” (150).

Parsefall struggles to sleep that night, hurt from the rejection at the show and sick to his stomach from eating so much at dinner. He falls asleep to a nightmare about Grisini sitting in his old rocking chair. Parsefall wakes, glad to find Grisini isn’t there and unnerved to find Clara’s puppet staring at him with an uncanny consciousness, “as if she saw through his skin to the nightmares he carried inside” (153). Intending to break the puppet, Parsefall grabs Clara off the mantle, only to find himself comforted by holding her. He can hear her thoughts and realizes she feels trapped, so he resolves to finish stringing her tomorrow. He falls asleep dreaming of the show they could do together.

A few days later, Parsefall brings Clara out for his first performance. Dancing on her strings makes her feel free and alive. The audience applauds and cheers after her performance, and Clara’s capacity to sense what Parsefall feels continues: “[Clara] felt Parsefall’s triumph ripple through his hands and down her strings” (159).

One day while mending clothes, Lizzie Rose finds a letter to Grisini in the pocket of Parsefall’s coat. It’s from Cassandra, asking for the children to visit her. Cassandra tells Grisini that she wants to provide the children with her legacy if they are suitable. Lizzie Rose is enthralled by this idea: “a legacy meant rescue, luxury, and the promise of happiness” (163). Lizzie Rose doesn’t know how to respond since Grisini is gone, so she keeps the letter to think on it.

Parsefall continues to perform with the puppets, and with each passing day, Clara feels more alive and better understands Parsefall’s fear of Grisini and love for Lizzie Rose. One day, Clara’s father approaches Parsefall’s show. He grips Clara, shouting questions about where Parsefall got her. In that moment, Clara realizes her father loves her: “she was precious to him, and she wanted to weep for joy” (167). Even so, she silently begs Parsefall to take her away because she doesn’t ever want to go back to her family’s home. Parsefall runs, escaping Clara’s father.

Since Clara’s disappearance, her father has been a wreck. He has spent as little time at home as possible because he can’t bear his wife’s grief atop his own. After Parsefall gets away from him, Dr. Wintermute remembers Grisini’s address from the letter he wrote inviting him to Clara’s birthday party and goes there. He finds Lizzie Rose, who remembers him, and the two discuss Clara. Lizzie Rose doesn’t tell him her suspicions about the puppet. Before Dr. Wintermute leaves, he sees the picture Parsefall stole from his house. Lizzie Rose begs him not to tell the police because it isn’t what it looks like, but Dr. Wintermute leaves, clutching the picture.

Lizzie Rose intercepts Parsefall on his way home and explains the situation with Dr. Wintermute. She’s made arrangements for them to go to Cassandra’s to receive her legacy. Parsefall argues that Cassandra sounds too good to be true, but Lizzie counters that they have no choice: “we must go away, and we must go tonight, before the coppers come” (187). Parsefall agrees if Lizzie Rose will pack the puppets. Reluctantly, Lizzie Rose agrees.

The train ride to Cassandra’s home is long, and both Lizzie Rose and Parsefall are uncomfortable for much of it. When they arrive at their destination, a coachman greets them and helps load their things on to his wagon.

At home, Dr. Wintermute lies awake, feeling guilty for so quickly condemning Lizzie Rose. He vows to return to her home, apologize, and see if he can help her. The thoughts feel foreign, but he “found, to his surprise, that it eased him a little” (194).

Cassandra’s home is an imposing castle with a leaning tower that looks unstable. Cassandra watches the children’s approach, wondering, “which was the more promising, the greedier, the more vulnerable?” (203). She forced Grisini to tell her everything about Clara, and she hopes the children brought the puppet because casting a spell to make Clara take the phoenix-stone would be simple, if tiring.

Lizzie Rose luxuriates in the grandeur and beauty of Cassandra’s home, appreciating the fine food and clothing provided for her. She overhears the servants saying nasty things about how she and Parsefall are nothing but dirty beggars, and she sweeps through the kitchen, head held high. Meanwhile, Grisini is in his room at the house, where he is regaining strength while making everyone think he is bedridden. He catches a glimpse of Lizzie Rose out the window. Soon, Grisini tells himself, he will have the phoenix-stone’s power.