APS TOGETHER
Day 5
Chapter 2, pp. 83-102 (from “When Mrs. Copperfield arrived in Mrs. Quill’s room" through “Mrs. Quill was dignified and remote and did not give her the lavish thanks which she had been expecting.”)
December 7, 2020 by Claire Messud
“The Lord has spared me more than he has Pacifica,” says Mrs. Quill. “She hasn’t been spared a single thing. Still, she’s not as nervous as I am.” Like Mrs. C, Mrs. Quill admires Pacifica’s toughness. In Bowles’ world, women’s happiness requires money, or men, or steely fortitude.
“Such an awful, dreadful mean thing to be alone in the world even for a minute.” Toby and Mrs. Quill dance around each other in the Hotel Washington bar, pretending to have resources. He wants money; she wants romantic attention. Both are disappointed, but Mrs. Quill is undone.
Luckily, Mrs. C is wealthy, & comes to pay Mrs. Quill’s bar bill. There, irritated, she explains to the assistant manager that the rich “want to be liked for their money too and not only for themselves.” An observation I have found true all my life.
