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Billy Weaver
The story’s antagonist is the unnamed landlady who runs the Bed and Breakfast that Billy chooses to stay in. Although she appears to be sweet, friendly, and generous, the story’s plot twist reveals that she is a cruel woman, or insane, capable of horrifying and wicked crimes. Throughout their evening together, Billy is increasingly curious about the landlady’s previous guests, Christopher and Gregory, and it becomes apparent that the landlady is hiding a secret with regard to them, and when they left her Bed and Breakfast. Billy is sure that he has seen their names in the newspaper headlines, and that Christopher went missing in a tragic accident. Although the landlady denies this, she makes several creepy and objectifying comments about the boys’ appearance. When the landlady explains that she has a taxidermy hobby, and shows Billy her stuffed pets, the reader realizes that she has killed and stuffed Christopher and Gregory too, and displayed their bodies upstairs. The two young men have never been found, and she has never been caught, presumably because nobody suspects the landlady of such terrifying violence. At this moment, Billy notices that his tea “tasted faintly of bitter almonds,” and it becomes clear that the landlady has poisoned him.
The Landlady Quotes in The Landlady
The The Landlady quotes below are all either spoken by The Landlady or refer to The Landlady. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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The Landlady
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But the air was deadly cold and the wind was like a flat blade of ice on his cheeks.
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After all, she not only was harmless—there was no question about that—but she was also quite obviously a kind and generous soul.
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“Well, you see, both of these names—Mulholland and Temple—I not only seem to remember each one of them separately, so to speak, but somehow or other, in some peculiar way, they both appear to be sort of connected together as well.”
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He noticed that she had small, white, quickly moving hands, and red finger-nails.
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Now and again, he caught a whiff of a peculiar smell that seemed to emanate directly from her person. It was not in the least unpleasant, and it reminded him—well, he wasn't quite sure what it reminded him of. Pickled walnuts? New leather? Or was it the corridors of a hospital?
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“Left?” she said, arching her brows. “But my dear boy, he never left. He's still here. Mr. Temple is also here. They're on the fourth floor, both of them together.”
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“I stuff all my little pets myself when they pass away. Will you have another cup of tea?”
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The tea tasted faintly of bitter almonds, and he didn't much care for it. “You did sign the book, didn't you?”
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The Landlady Quotes in The Landlady
The The Landlady quotes below are all either spoken by The Landlady or refer to The Landlady. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Landlady
Quotes
But the air was deadly cold and the wind was like a flat blade of ice on his cheeks.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
After all, she not only was harmless—there was no question about that—but she was also quite obviously a kind and generous soul.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“Well, you see, both of these names—Mulholland and Temple—I not only seem to remember each one of them separately, so to speak, but somehow or other, in some peculiar way, they both appear to be sort of connected together as well.”
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
He noticed that she had small, white, quickly moving hands, and red finger-nails.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Now and again, he caught a whiff of a peculiar smell that seemed to emanate directly from her person. It was not in the least unpleasant, and it reminded him—well, he wasn't quite sure what it reminded him of. Pickled walnuts? New leather? Or was it the corridors of a hospital?
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“Left?” she said, arching her brows. “But my dear boy, he never left. He's still here. Mr. Temple is also here. They're on the fourth floor, both of them together.”
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“I stuff all my little pets myself when they pass away. Will you have another cup of tea?”
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The tea tasted faintly of bitter almonds, and he didn't much care for it. “You did sign the book, didn't you?”
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