The Blue Castle Read Along- Ch. 18-21

Well, we're back for another week of The Blue Castle!  Grace and I realized we forgot to mention what this week's reading was - whoops!  Yes, that's right - four chapters again!  Is this too slow for a weekly quota?  I for one (Katherine) am getting rather impatient with this few chapters (I say few, but it's really not the number, just the length of chapters and the little we cover in each).  Lucy Maud Montgomerey likes to be more detailed and spends multiple chapters on the same event, so I'm finding myself not having too much to comment on each week.  Will you all be mad if we go up to.......oh I don't know.......eight chapters per week???

Let us know in the comments!

Katherine's Thoughts

Well, Well, Well!

I'm taking the risk of now reminding you all that.......I TOLD YOU SO!!

........And you're response to that annoying reminder is probably this:

But, yes - by the intriguing confessions of Valancy in these chapters we now know she and Barney are officially destined to get together!

(hums wedding march)

It's a shame that Valancy's family won't aplaud her efforts to take care of Cissy, but instead keep trying to save face with their social standing!  Uncle James surely felt his attempts to convince Valancy to return would have had better success than their sad ending among the asparagus patch!  (I'm sorry, Uncle James, but that was quite funny)

I feel so torn between Valancy's duty to honor her Mother, and her duty to care for Cissy, who is very lonely and dying. However, Dr. Stalling's opinion that Valancy's mother needs her is a misrepresentation of the facts.  Her mother has plenty of relatives around to offer her help, as well as Cousin Stickles' living under the same roof.  I think the Stirling family's biggest quarrel with the whole affair is the scandalous idea that a niece/daughter of theirs has gone to keep house in a drunken, non-religious man's home, nursing his daughter who's had a child out of wedlock.  (And I'm not saying the former is not a valid concern, because it is.  I'm sure I wouldn't want a daughter of mine constantly exposed to that type of behavior either.)

As far as Cissy goes, it isn't right to treat her as an outcast and socially cut her off because of one wrong choice.  Now if Cissy was continuing in these choices, we'd have different circumstances.  What's more, she is dying, and her father needs a housekeeper.  Valancy's only motive in taking Roaring Abel's position as housekeeper is to be a true friend to Cissy in her time of need, and make sure she's properly cared for.  So there, you have it!  An impossible situation!  I still don't know how I'd answer the question of what I'd have Valancy do here, but this is just a fictional scenerio for now so I still have time to ponder.

Grace's Thoughts

Aside from Roaring Abel's various stages of drunkenness, Valancy's new situation sounds like a veritable paradise! It is amazing what a change of scenery can do, I myself have felt the positive effects of it!

I love Roaring Abel's admonition to sing whilst you work, I am forever humming or singing while I go about my business. But I can very well see Valancy's rebuttal! Sweeney Todd anyone?!

~

That escalated quickly... moving on!

~

I must say poor Cissy; her tale is so woeful and the Stirling's relief at her dying soon so they could have Valancy back is awful!!

~

I am so glad Valancy finally had a conversation with the mysterious Mr. Snaith! And a compliment too!!

"Miss Stirling, you're a brick! A whole cartload of bricks. To come here and look after Cissy-- under the circumstances."

Barney sounds like a very interesting man; intelligent, kind, thoughtful, handsome with a shameless streak in him. I love that he refuses to listen to John Foster!

~

I am glad Valancy has found herself a new church where she can worship genuinely and from the sound of him, I like her new pastor. He sounds like someone who will be a spiritual leader, a quality which Dr. Stalling lacked.

~

I have been to a couple of English Contra dances in my days and boy, am I glad they were the mild affairs they were and not like Valancy's experience! I can sympathize with Valancy's fear, though my fear wasn't of rowdy and possible dangerous partners, but from the fact that my partners were boys....period!  

That moment when Valancy saw Barney across the room and she knew everything would be alright was just perfect!!!

~

We always want a knight to rescue us and gallop off together on his white steed. Here we have an un-shaved knight in work clothes (but still a saving knight) driving off into the night in Lady Jane Slosson! What could be better? Horses are overrated anyways, though you don't have to worry about running out of gas. But then you wouldn't get the opportunity of sitting all night with your favorite person, listening to the night noises and dreaming of the future.

~

I think this quote from John Foster is sooooooo true...

"If you can sit in silence with a person for half an hour and yet be entirely comfortable, you and that person can be friends. If you cannot, friends you'll never be and you need not waste time in trying."

~

Yes!!! SHE LOVES HIM!!!!!! We knew it all along, but now she does too!!!

~

I think it's just so perfect that Uncle Wellington and Olive were the ones who found them stranded!

 I love how Valancy starts teasing Uncle Wellington and Barney just jumps right it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your Thoughts

What was your favorite part from this week?  Wasn't Barney's rescue, oh, so serendipitous???  Do you agree Valancy and Barney are destined to be together?

See you next week for Chapters 22-25!  Oh, and don't forget to tell us what you think about moving up the number of chapters per week.

Love, Katherine & Grace