Tipping the Velvet

Nan awakes in Florence’s parlor. Ralph, Florence’s brother and the man Nan saw, asks Florence who Nan is. As Nan listens, she realizes Florence doesn’t remember her, and then she tells Florence she’s a friend of Ms. Derby’s. Nan introduces herself as Nan Astley.

As they reminisce about Ms. Derby and her mandolin, Ralph asks about Ms. Derby. Nan answers in generalities, trying to avoid detection. As Ralph tries to figure out where Nan and Florence have met before, Florence tells him it was on Green Street where Ms. Milne lived. Nan tries to explain her situation, lying again and saying a wealthy man took her in before abandoning her. Nan asks for help, and Florence points out they are in her home, not at work. Nan convinces them to let her stay the night.

Florence works throughout the night, going through papers, and then goes to bed at 11 o’clock, reminding Nan that she must leave by eight in the morning. Nan thanks Florence and Ralph, calling him her husband. Florence confesses that Ralph is her brother and that Cyril, the baby, is their adopted son.

In the morning, Nan finds it difficult to leave. Nan convinces her that she will but needs more time to rest. Ralph has left money for a room, and Florence gives her a list of hotels and hostels. Rather than leave, however, Nan stays and cleans their house, privy, and front step. She goes to the market, buying provisions for a dinner that she begins to cook. As she cleans, she sees a neighbor outside who tells her that Florence and Ralph need the help, considering they neglect their own home to help others. Annie, a friend of Florence and an “assistant at a sanitary inspector’s” (369), comes by. They chat, and Annie notices Nan’s female clothes and masculine haircut. Florence surprises them when she comes home, and Nan hides in the pantry. Nan comes out and, as soon as Ralph arrives, begs to stay on to take care of Cyril and keep house. Florence offers a week-long trial and then a share of the family salary if she works out.

As Nan continues to clean and work in Florence’s house, she remembers her life of leisure at Diana’s house. Thinking about one of Diana’s friends who dressed up as Marie Antoinette when the French queen allegedly installed a farm at Versailles and acted as a farmer, Nan imagines herself as the queen playing at poverty and labor. She continues to contrast Florence’s home with Diana’s, detailing the small size of Florence’s house and the large group of friends and family who stop by, including Florence’s sister, Janet, and eldest brother. Her friends plan political movements and charity works, even in the tiny and cramped space Florence shares with Ralph, Cyril, and Nan.

Nan trades in her original clothes for a different dress and shoes, which Ralph compliments. His compliments don’t matter to Nan because she remains convinced that she has no one to flirt with. Florence and Ralph continue to do their work, and Nan grows closer to them. She sees how thin and serious Florence has become, and Nan cooks more food in earnest, trying to make her look healthier. Nan makes a series of oyster dishes for Ralph and Florence, which leads Florence to proclaim that if anything would be served in paradise, it would be oysters. They all discuss what they would eat in paradise and who would be there. Florence includes Nan in her paradise, asking who else would make her oysters. Later, Nan sees Florence looking sadly at a picture of Eleanor Marx. Nan doesn’t know who she is, and Ralph explains she’s a well-known socialist speaker and author.

Nan helps Florence with her charity work, and she gives money to a woman with a child—Florence notes that it was a kind act, but one that could make the woman uncomfortable with the other women at the Guild. Discussing why she does charity, even in the face of insurmountable challenges, Florence cites Cyril’s future. Florence then reads from Leaves of Grass. Nan says that the lines are awful, and she recites them as though she were on stage. Florence confesses that she has been sad because of Lillian, a girl Florence met the day Nan didn’t show up for the lecture on women’s rights and labor. Lillian died after giving birth to Cyril and being abandoned by her lover. After finding out that Florence is a lesbian, Nan confesses that a woman had reduced her to poverty, not a man. Florence tells Nan that Annie suspects that Nan is a lesbian. Nan grows jealous, especially of Lillian and her memory.