Summary
Chapter 19
As Maisie and her father wait for the Countess to arrive, he tells her that he and the Countess are planning on going to America. He invites Maisie to go with him, which surprises her greatly, and she replies, "Dear papa, I'll go with you anywhere" (114). He does not seem to accept this answer, and moves on to talking about Maisie's mother. He threatens, as Maisie's mother has done, that her other parent does not care for her at all and will throw her out of the house. As he talks, Maisie realizes that her father is trying to get her to not come with him to America while still looking like a caring father—meaning this would be the last time she ever sees him. Beale moves on to criticizing Mrs. Beale and Sir Claude, saying that they're using Maisie as a "pretext" and turning the girl into "a monster" (117). He threatens that they too will throw her out when she is no longer useful. Maisie brings the topic back to America, saying again that she wants to go if not going would mean never seeing her father again. Beale gives her a disgusted grimace, but suddenly leaps into action when he hears the Countess arrive at home.
By the time the Countess comes in the front door, Beale and Maisie are a picture of familial bliss snuggled together on the couch. From the moment Maisie sees the Countess face to face, she begins referring to her almost exclusively as "the brown lady" (119). It seems that Maisie is very disturbed by the Countess's race, and she is suddenly repulsed by her relationship to Beale and everything in the house that had once seemed lavish and lovely. The Countess attempts to be friendly to Maisie, complimenting her and offering her food. Maisie mentions going to America, and the Countess and Beale begin to argue; the Countess clearly did not think Beale would offer for his daughter to accompany them. Beale tells the Countess that Maisie has said she doesn't want to go, and throughout the argument Maisie has a growing desire to leave. She finally asks to be sent home, and a cab is called for her. As she gets in the cab, Maisie says that she doesn't have any money to pay. Beale tells her to get her stepmother to pay, but the Countess gives Maisie a handful of coins—more than she could possibly need for the cab ride home.
Chapter 20
When Maisie gets to her mother's house, it is clear that the Countess gave her too much money for the cab fare. Susan Ash takes one coin, and Maisie goes to sleep with the rest of the money tied in a handkerchief under her pillow. The next day, Mrs. Beale takes the money from Maisie, calling the coins "wages of sin" (123) and saying they must be sent back to the Countess.
A few days pass, and Sir Claude suddenly announces to Maisie that he is taking her and Susan Ash to Folkestone, a port town in south-east England. Maisie thinks that "He had yielded to the action of the idea pumped into him for weeks by Mrs. Wix" (125), namely of removing Maisie from the care of either of her parents and raising her himself, presumably along with Mrs. Wix. In Folkestone, Maisie thinks a lot about relationships and wonders whether they will go to France and be joined by Mrs. Beale.
Suddenly, Ida shows up while Maisie and Sir Claude are in the garden of the hotel where they are staying. Ida reveals that she found the letter Sir Claude had left for her in London and quickly changed her plans to follow them. She asks to speak to Maisie alone, which Sir Claude hesitates to allow. Ida, like Maisie's father at the Countess's house, plays the loving parent, cuddling and praising Maisie. Ida does not seem to want to change their plans, saying that she is planning to go abroad after leaving them because she is sick. Ida presses Sir Claude again to leave them alone, and Maisie supports her, thinking of the Captain and chanting, "She's good, she's good!" (133). In a huff, Sir Claude leaves the garden.
Chapter 21
Maisie and Ida converse alone in the garden of the hotel in Folkestone. Ida starts off in a fairly sweet manner, telling Maisie that she can't understand all that has happened between her and Sir Claude and that she needs to go to South Africa because she is sick. She repeats as usual that Maisie's father wishes Maisie were dead, and she also says that both Beale and Sir Claude wishes she (Ida) were dead. Maisie sees her mother moving her hands subtly and thinks that she is about to be given a coin; however, she cannot tell what amount of money it is.
Ida's good temper turns suddenly when Maisie brings up the Captain and the way he had complimented Ida when Maisie spoke to him in the park. Ida closes herself off to Maisie, stands, and calls her daughter an idiot. Maisie tells her mother that she thought Ida liked the Captain, and she feels devastated at the idea of Ida giving up "such a loyalty as that" (138). Ida sees this, and it enrages her further. When Maisie says that she had assumed the Captain would go with her mother to South Africa, Ida is stunned into a long silence. Finally, she insults Maisie a last time, turns, and walks away alone.
When Ida has left the garden, Maisie sits down alone on the bench; she sits for a long while as it turns to night. When Sir Claude appears in the doorway, accompanied by the sound of a gong, she goes to meet him. She confirms what Sir Claude can plainly see: her mother is gone. Sir Claude tries to keep the tone light by offering his arm to escort her inside. As they walk, Maisie tells him about Ida going to South Africa and about how she seemed like she was going to give Maisie money. He suggests that Ida may not have been holding a coin but "a ten-pound note...rolled up in a tight little ball, you know - her way of treating banknotes" (140). Maisie is upset at the thought of missing out on that much money, and also disquieted because Sir Claude's knowledge of this habit, which Maisie did not know about, reveals how much Maisie does not know about her parents and their relationships.
They go on to dinner, then Maisie accompanies Sir Claude to smoke on a terrace. Sir Claude says they must get Maisie on a schedule of going to bed at a reasonable hour, but he doesn't force the issue and seems to want to stay up himself. Sir Claude says something that Maisie feels he had been waiting to say: "I'm free—I'm free" (140). Maisie repeats this back to him. He tells her that they will go to France the next day, and then he again repeats the phrase, "I'm free—I'm free" (141). He sends Maisie up to bed, and she goes willingly, excited at the prospect of going to France.
Chapter 22
The next day, Maisie, Sir Claude, and Susan Ash travel to France. They arrive in a city called Boulogne, which is on the northern coast of France. They enjoy sightseeing, eating and exploring. Sir Claude explains to Maisie that they need to live there, rather than Paris or another fancier city in France, to save money. He implies that they might move away from their current location when Mrs. Wix arrives. He tells Maisie that this should be soon because she sent him a wire saying she had talked to Maisie's mother. Maisie thinks that he must be communicating with Mrs. Beale as well because she saw multiple telegrams, but she doesn't ask about it.
The next day the weather turns to rain. Sir Claude and Maisie go to get Mrs. Wix, who has arrived in France after a rough trip due to the weather. They take Mrs. Wix back to the hotel, and Maisie is eager to show Mrs. Wix what she has learned about France once it stops raining. Still, they enjoy the food and beautiful rooms of the hotel. The chapter ends with Mrs. Wix announcing that Ida had sent her: "Her ladyship packed me off—she almost put me into the cab" (146).
Chapter 23
Mrs. Wix explains the situation further: Ida came to visit Mrs. Wix at her own lowly house and gave her a ten-pound note to go to France. Sir Claude hints to Maisie that this could have been the money Ida took out and then put away while talking with Maisie in the garden. Mrs. Wix says that she was sent so that Susan Ash can go back to England. Sir Claude suggests that he will take Susan Ash back, as he was the one who took her to France in the first place and she shouldn't have to venture back alone. Maisie and Mrs. Wix are both very against this plan. Sir Claude asks whether Ida was alone when she visited Mrs. Wix, and Mrs. Wix blushes as she replies that there was a man waiting in the cab. Mrs. Wix and Sir Claude talk about Ida further, agreeing that Sir Claude is free and that Ida seems to have completely given up responsibility for Maisie. Mrs. Wix says that she "almost admire[s]" (149) Ida for her recent decisions. Sir Claude steers the conversation back to who was in the cab; Mrs. Wix says that it wasn't the Captain but that she doesn't want to talk about it in front of Maisie. Sir Claude and Maisie say that it is just fine to do so, so Mrs. Wix says it is someone named Mr. Tischbein. Both Sir Claude and Maisie seem to take this lightly.
Mrs. Wix slightly offends Maisie with what she says next; she tells them that she has been sent so that Maisie can be raised by "a decent person" (150), implying that Sir Claude is not decent enough to raise her properly. She elaborates that she is also intended to save Sir Claude from himself and keep him decent. Sir Claude tells Mrs. Wix that she is "too hard on Mrs. Beale" (151). When Sir Claude distractedly looks for his hat, Maisie sees it first and runs to give it to him. They stare at each other, both holding the hat, until Mrs. Wix interrupts to ask whether he is really going back. Maisie adds the question of whether his going back would be to see Mrs. Beale. Sir Claude deflects the question, saying they'll talk about it tomorrow and that he needs to go outside for a while. Before he can leave, Mrs. Wix accuses him of being afraid of Mrs. Beale and he agrees with her. Sir Claude leaves and Maisie thinks about how he is also afraid of her mother, and perhaps of Mrs. Wix as well.
Chapter 24
It continues to rain, keeping everyone cooped up in the hotel. Sir Claude meets with acquaintances, as he has multiple times over their days in France. Mrs. Wix is cold to Sir Claude, not wanting him to go back to England to see Mrs. Beale. Sir Claude shows Maisie and Mrs. Wix a letter he just received; the letter is sent from Mrs. Beale, but it contains another letter sent to her by Beale saying that he is leaving her. Mrs. Wix is horrified at the scandal, while Sir Claude is pleased. Maisie is silent through all of this, and when Sir Claude offers her the letter to look at, she is relieved that Mrs. Wix doesn't let her see it. Sir Claude calls Mrs. Beale "free" (155), but Mrs. Wix launches into a tirade about this. When Sir Claude implies that she is being hypocritical by supporting him leaving his wife but not Mrs. Beale in a very similar situation, Mrs. Wix slaps him.
Sir Claude repeats that he has to go to see Mrs. Beale, especially after this news, calling it "common courtesy" (155). They continue to argue for quite a while. Eventually, Sir Claude says that Mrs. Wix simply can't make the decision for him; he will set them up to enjoy France totally while he is gone, but he is going. Mrs. Wix begs for him to do what she has always planned: go off with her and Maisie alone somewhere. Sir Claude does not quite know how to answer this passionate plea, so he tells Mrs. Wix to be nice to Maisie, and then he leaves.
Analysis
As a modern reader, it is difficult to read Maisie's racist impressions of the Countess in Chapter 19. She repeatedly calls the Countess "the brown lady" (119) and states that "She literally struck the child more as an animal than as a 'real' lady; she might have been a clever frizzled poodle in a frill or a dreadful human monkey in a spangled petticoat. She had a nose that was far too big and eyes that were far too small and a moustache that was, well, not so happy a feature as Sir Claude's" (119). This antiquated, discriminatory language toward people of African descent is all the more shocking and disturbing coming from a child. It must be imagined that Maisie's racist thoughts are the product of her upbringing, another negative effect of her parents' and guardians' speech and behavior being passed down to her. It is also important to note that James created the Countess as a confident, financially self-sufficient character, showing that any negative characterization comes from Maisie rather than the author or narrator.
Ida's presence in Folkestone in Chapters 20 and 21 mark a turning point in the story: the last time either of Maisie's biological parents is involved in the story. This makes it an apt time to examine Jame's moral message regarding family. The story raises questions about three kinds of relations: biological, legal, and emotional. By the removal of Ida and Beale from Maisie's life, James shows that biological relation is not the last word in creating a stable family. The major question for the remainder of the book is whether legal relatedness will take any precedence over emotional relatedness in Maisie's choice of a guardian, as well as to whom, out of Sir Claude, Mrs. Wix, and Mrs. Beale, she has the strongest legal and emotional relationships.
Letters are a motif in What Maisie Knew, particularly in this section of the novel. Throughout the book, letters are used to represent relationships. Communication by letter makes it easy to keep relationships secret, though it also makes relationships subject to obstruction by others. This can be seen earlier in the novel when Mrs. Wix tries to stay in communication with Maisie but is thwarted by Miss Overmore/Mrs. Beale as well as when Sir Claude keeps his relationship with Miss Overmore/Mrs. Beale a secret from Maisie by communicating with her mostly through letters. In this section of the book, Sir Claude and Miss Overmore/Mrs. Beale again communicate through letters, showing their continued romantic relationship. Of particular importance is the letter—or rather, letters—in Chapter 24. Miss Overmore/Mrs. Beale sends a letter to Sir Claude which includes a letter from Beale to her effectively breaking off their marriage. The symbol of a letter within a letter shows how adultery and lies have muddled relationships between multiple characters.
Another motif that recurs at multiple points in this section is the blushing and paling of characters. This communicates information about characters' emotional states. Characters are shown to pale in moments of shock or horror and blush in moments of embarrassment or passion. For example, when Beale asks Maisie if she'll join him in moving to America at the beginning of this section, James writes, "Planted once more before him in the middle of the room she felt herself turning white" (114). This shows her displeasure at the idea, even though she answers affirmatively. An example of a character blushing comes later in the section when Sir Claude asks Mrs. Wix whether Ida was alone when she came to call. The text reads, "Mrs Wix was red now: his good humour wouldn't keep down her colour, which for a minute glowed there like her ugly honesty" (148). In this case, Mrs. Wix's blush reveals her embarrassment for Sir Claude and her strong feelings about Ida's immorality.
Violent imagery is used frequently in this section of the novel to depict Ida and Beale's behavior toward Maisie. In Chapter 21, Ida brutally tells Maisie that "Your father wishes you were dead" (135), and two chapters later Sir Claude remarks that "[Ida] has chucked our friend here overboard not a bit less than if she had shoved her, shrieking and pleading, out of that window and down two floors to the paving-stones" (149). By describing both Beale and Ida wishing or causing the death of Maisie, James communicates that Maisie's relationship with her biological parents is completely finished. The vivid, violent language also communicates how severely James treats Ida and Beale's choice to abandon their child.
