The Woman in White: The Second Epoch: Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary & Analysis

Marian’s diary picks up again on the 11th of June, the summer after Laura and Sir Percival’s wedding. She is writing from Blackwater Park, which is Sir Percival’s home in Hampshire and now the home of the two sisters. Laura and Sir Percival are still in Italy and Marian eagerly awaits their return the next day. Sir Percival and Laura will also bring Count Fosco and Madame Fosco, Laura’s aunt, to stay at Blackwater for the summer. Marian does not care who they bring as long as she is reunited with her sister.

Marian is not very taken with Blackwater Park, which she arrived at the evening before. It is surrounded by dark trees and Marian finds the setting claustrophobic. The servants are friendly, however, and she is pleased with her room. As she writes in her room, she wishes that she was a man so that she could ride out to meet Laura and Sir Percival on the road. Being a woman, though, she must wait patiently at the house for their return. She decides to fill in her diary with the events which have taken place since she last wrote six months ago.

She has received a note from Walter with news of his safe arrival in Honduras. She has also seen a clipping from a newspaper which announced the start of the expedition into the jungle, but she has heard nothing of him since then. She also hasn’t heard anything about Anne Catherick or Mrs. Clements, and even Sir Percival’s lawyer, Mr. Merriman, has given up the hunt for them. Mr. Gilmore, Laura and Marian’s lawyer, has unfortunately been taken ill and can no longer work. Marian hopes their new lawyer will be as reliable and friendly as he was to deal with. Mrs. Vesey has also been removed from Laura’s service, as Laura will have new servants at Blackwater, and has gone to live with her sister in London. Mr. Fairlie is, as usual, immersed in his art and delighted to have the women out of the house.

As for news from Laura, Marian has had regular letters from her throughout the trip, but she cannot tell whether Laura is happy or not. She does not discern from the letters that Laura has grown closer to Sir Percival but there is no evidence that he mistreats her either. Laura also writes that she has met with Count Fosco and her aunt and that her aunt is very different from her younger self—she is very quiet and reserved now—but Laura says that the couple did not join them in Rome, as their plans changed at the last minute.

Since Laura does not write enthusiastically of Count Fosco, Marian—who trusts Laura’s instincts with people—thinks that he must be an unpleasant man. She decides to go to bed, excited about seeing Laura the next day.

Marian gets up the next morning and explores Blackwater Park. She finds that parts of the house—the upper floors and the “old wing”—are ruined and uninhabitable, but that the modern part of the house has been redecorated for the inhabitants to live in. Marian is pleased to see that the “good old times” have been “swept away” by 19th century furnishing and décor. Outside in the drive, there is a fountain with a statue of a monster on the plinth in the middle, which Marian passes and observes as she ventures out to explore the grounds.

Marian wanders out of the garden and follows a path through the trees which surround the mansion. The path ends suddenly at the water’s edge, and she sees the stagnant, murky lake of Blackwater, which is infested with frogs, toads and snakes. A little further along the bank there is a small hut, and Marian rests inside it before the walk home.

Sitting in the little shed, Marian is startled to hear something breathing nearby. Frightened, she rises and, glancing around, finds a wounded dog huddled underneath the bench. Horrified at the sight of the poor creature in pain, Marian gathers the dog up and rushes it back to the house.

Marian calls for help from the servants when she arrives with the dog. The first servant who appears is a large, “stupid looking” girl who laughs when she sees the injured dog and says that someone called Baxter has shot it. Marian asks her who Baxter is, hears that he is the groundskeeper, and dismisses the girl. The housekeeper, Mrs. Michelson, whom Marian likes, then arrives to help her.

Mrs. Michelson is shocked when she sees the dog and says that the animal belongs to Mrs. Catherick. Mrs. Catherick, Anne Catherick’s mother, came to Blackwater to enquire if there was any news about her daughter. While they treat the dog, Marian remembers her promise to Walter that she will try to solve the mystery of Anne Catherick if ever the opportunity arises. She resolves to follow this lead and find out anything she can in this direction.

Marian asks Mrs. Michelson if Mrs. Catherick lives nearby, but the housekeeper tells her that Mrs. Catherick lives twenty-five miles away in Wellingham. Marian asks the housekeeper if she knows Mrs. Catherick well and the housekeeper seems surprised and says that she has never met her before, although she is aware of Sir Percival’s kindness to Mrs. Catherick’s daughter. Marian wonders if Mrs. Catherick stayed for long on her visit. The housekeeper says that—although Mrs. Catherick seemed to be a strange, yet respectable woman—she was talkative and seemed likely to stay a long time until a man came to the door and asked what time Sir Percival would be back. While the housekeeper was attending to this man, Mrs. Catherick slipped out and told another servant not to mention her visit to Sir Percival.

Marian and Mrs. Michelson both think this is very odd, and the housekeeper remarks that Mrs. Catherick did not talk about her daughter much but asked a lot of questions about Sir Percival and his new wife. While they are talking, the dog passes away.

Marian returns to her diary in the early evening, still restlessly waiting for Laura’s return. She thinks about the poor dog and wishes that this had not happened on her first day at Blackwater, as it feels like a bad omen. Thinking back to her conversation with the housekeeper about Mrs. Catherick, she resolves to sneak out one day and visit her at Wellingham to get information about Sir Percival. While she is writing, she hears a carriage downstairs and rushes away to meet Laura.