Splendors and Glooms

Lizzie Rose waffles between feeling grateful for her situation and guilty for enjoying the privilege so much. On the fourth day, Cassandra sends for the children and offers them almost anything from her house as a Christmas gift. The children may go wherever they like, except the tower, and take whatever they want, except for her phoenix-stone. She makes a deal of showing the locket to Parsefall and telling him it could be easily taken while she sleeps. Lizzie Rose doesn’t want to be upset that Cassandra seems to like Parsefall more, but inside, she shakes, “as if Madama’s partiality had wounded her in some way” (233).

In puppet form, Clara pictures herself warning Lizzie Rose and Parsefall about the phoenix-stone. She feels like she doesn’t get through to Lizzie Rose, but Clara slips into Parsefall’s dream, where she finds him crying about the death of his sister. Before she can warn him, she’s thrust back to herself as Grisini enters the room. The puppet master demands Parsefall steal the phoenix-stone for him. Parsefall agrees if Grisini will leave he and Lizzie Rose alone afterwards. Grisini makes the deal and leaves with the final warning that if Parsefall truly wants to be free, “you will have to bring me that stone” (241).

Later, Parsefall sleepwalks to the tower room, where he picks the door’s lock. The door bolts from the inside, and he remains there, feeling safe from Grisini.

The next morning, Lizzie Rose wakes with a headache and sets to finding something to take from the house. As she explores, Parsefall sneaks into Cassandra’s room. He’s about to steal the phoenix-stone when Cassandra wakes, arms flailing, and yells “Get away! Get out!” (250).

Cassandra comes to her senses, realizing she stopped Parsefall from stealing the phoenix-stone. Frustrated, she pretends to be unaware of his reason for being there and tells him to pick an object from the table to keep. Parsefall selects a pistol, finding it out of gunpowder. When Cassandra suggests they order some, Parsefall’s smile catches her off guard, and she chastises herself for starting to like him because if her plan works, “she would be his doom” (254).

To tempt him into wanting the stone, Cassandra lets him touch it. Parsefall does but jerks away quickly. He likens the stone to the Bottle Imp—a show he performed with Grisini. In the story, an imp in a bottle grants wishes that never come out right, eventually dragging the wisher to Hell. Parsefall wants no part in such magic and leaves.

Despite Cassandra’s insistence the children take whatever they want, Lizzie Rose resolves to be like the youngest daughter in a fairy tale—taking humble things and not wishing for things that feel extravagant. After showing off the books and seashell she chose, Cassandra scoffs at the choices, asking Lizzie Rose what she wants most in the world. After picturing herself happy living with Parsefall in a comfortable home, Lizzie Rose is reminded of her family, and she answers that “I want the people I love not to have died” (264). The last object Lizzie Rose shows is a portrait of a school friend of Cassandra’s. Cassandra is initially angry, but she can’t help telling the girl’s story when Lizzie Rose asks.

After her mother deserted her family, Cassandra and her father went to Italy, where Cassandra made friends of a sort with the girl in the picture. Both girls had the same birthday, and when Lizzie Rose says it’s the same birthday as Clara’s too, Cassandra sends her away without finishing the story: “I’ve spoken too long and told too much” (272).

As a puppet, Clara rests beside Parsefall while he sleeps in the tower room. Cassandra summons her once again, but unlike before, Clara’s thoughts stay clear, and she’s able to resist the summons. Cassandra comes to the tower and, on finding the door bolted, flies into a rage. Clara silently shouts for the woman to go away because she isn’t welcome, and in the hall, Cassandra collapses. The noise wakes Parsefall, who’s terrified Grisini found him. When the noise in the hall fades, Clara turns back into a puppet. Though Parsefall tries to calm down, “it was almost dawn before he slept” (276).

The next day is Christmas, and Lizzie Rose wakes to learn Cassandra is unwell and bedridden. Unwilling to let the day be sad, she fetches her mother’s old ice skates from the trunk they brought from London and goes out on the nearby frozen lake. Skating reminds her of her parents and makes her feel free, and for the first time in a long time, “her mind was peaceful and clear” (283).

Christmas at the Wintermute house is a solemn affair. Dr. Wintermute finds his wife at breakfast, slumped and despondent. She wants to visit the graves of their children, but he refuses, adding that their past trips were mistakes because they “mourned our dead children at the expense of the one who lived” (286). They argue about who’s to blame for Clara’s disappearance, neither finding an answer.

In the evening, Lizzie Rose and Parsefall eat dinner together. Lizzie Rose can tell something troubles Parsefall, but no matter how she asks, he won’t tell her. She wants to help him, but she realizes it’s up to him: “she couldn’t protect him—not if he went on hiding from her” (294). Instead, she offers to learn the new puppet shows, and Parsefall agrees, finally looking the least bit cheerful.