Summary
Chapter 25
After Sir Claude and Susan Ash leave, the weather gets better, so Mrs. Wix and Maisie spend Sir Claude's money enjoying France. They go for long walks, eat delicious meals, and have conversations as usual. Finally, after not bringing it up for a while, Maisie asks Mrs. Wix why they can't live with Mrs. Beale and Sir Claude. Mrs. Wix says this would be very inappropriate. They battle back and forth about what it means to be free and whether their relationship is immoral. Maisie still does not seem to fully understand the nature of Sir Claude's relationship with Mrs. Beale and the social stigma around adultery. Mrs. Wix and Maisie go so far as to accuse one another of giving the other one up. Maisie brings up the Countess and Mrs. Wix says that she pays Maisie's father. Maisie tells her about getting the cab fare from the Countess and having to send it back. While Mrs. Wix didn't know about this, she says that she did know about Maisie having stayed for an hour with her father at the Countess's house; she found this out from Sir Claude, who learned it from Mrs. Beale. They turn again to the topic of Sir Claude and Mrs. Beale, and now both Maisie and Mrs. Wix are yelling and on the brink of tears. Mrs. Wix says that Sir Claude pays Mrs. Beale just like the Countess pays Beale, and then she leaves Maisie. Maisie, alone again, sits down on a bench and sobs.
Chapter 26
Maisie and Mrs. Wix's fight continues the next day. They go out together to continue exploring France, and Mrs. Wix constantly criticizes Maisie's moral sense. Sometimes she does this explicitly, but she mostly does it through vague questions like when she asks out of the blue, "Have you absolutely none at all?" (168). Maisie does not fully understand Mrs. Wix's criticism, because she still does not understand why her role in Sir Claude and Mrs. Beale's relationship would be so taboo. Eventually, Mrs. Wix breaks down, admitting that she feels she has lost her own innocence by getting involved in the sordid matters of Maisie's four guardians. She also seems to feel guilty for how much Maisie has been exposed to. Maisie tries to clarify whether what Sir Claude is doing is actually a crime, and Mrs. Wix says that it is, even if he says he is "free" (171).
The next day, Sir Claude still does not return or send any word, which Mrs. Wix chalks up to Mrs. Beale having forbidden him to write. Mrs. Wix and Maisie go out again, and as they walk Mrs. Wix asks Maisie whether she is jealous of Mrs. Beale. Maisie hadn't thought of this before, but she reflects that she has often been jealous of her. Maisie remarks that she doesn't know what she would do if she found out Mrs. Beale was being unkind to Sir Claude, and Mrs. Wix says she knows what she would do: kill Mrs. Beale. Both of them cry, and when Mrs. Wix confesses her love of Sir Claude, instead of saying "So do I" Maisie says "Oh, I know" (173). They return from their walk feeling united once again, and when they enter their hotel room they find Mrs. Beale standing there surrounded by bags. She opens her arms to Maisie and says "I'm free, I'm free!" (174).
Chapter 27
Maisie asks whether Mrs. Beale has come without Sir Claude, and Mrs. Beale says that she has come ahead of him because she was so eager to see Maisie. When Maisie asks whether Sir Claude is going to come soon, Mrs. Beale replies that they "must make him" and to "give him time" (175). Mrs. Beale, contrary to her usual attitude, is friendly to Mrs. Wix, saying that Sir Claude can't do without her and seeming upset that Mrs. Wix wouldn't want to shake her hand. Mrs. Beale speaks lightly as if nothing is strange, saying that her belongings have been put in Sir Claude's room and inquiring about the dress code at meals at the hotel. As she exits to prepare for lunch, she tells Mrs. Wix, "Dear lady, please attend to my daughter" (177).
When Mrs. Wix and Maisie are left together, they discuss Mrs. Beale's moral sense and the game she is playing by being kind to Mrs. Wix and coming to France without Sir Claude in the first place. Mrs. Wix predicts that Sir Claude will return to them soon. Maisie asks in confusion about who has the money to pay for their hotel; Mrs. Wix says Mrs. Beale has no money because even Maisie's father, who was supposed to be supporting her, gets his money from other women. She concludes that Mrs. Beale's only recourse, having been left by Mr. Farange, is to live "on other men" (179).
Chapter 28
At lunch, Mrs. Beale's beauty attracts attention from others at the hotel. Mrs. Beale continues to be overly sweet to Mrs. Wix. During lunch, she suggests that she is the most suited of Maisie's four potential guardians to raise the girl. The narrator implies that Maisie could do without a father figure, since she isn't a boy. After the meal they go out touring with Mrs. Beale; Maisie and Mrs. Wix are uncomfortable that they aren't able to communicate privately with the other woman constantly present. Since Mrs. Beale is more cultured, she is able to explain a lot of what they are seeing. All the while, Maisie worries about Sir Claude being alone in England.
Mrs. Beale takes Maisie into Sir Claude's hotel room before dinner. Mrs. Beale announces that she is going to divorce Beale and marry Sir Claude. When Maisie asks about his marriage to her mother, Mrs. Beale says that she isn't her mother anymore: Sir Claude has made an agreement with Ida that he will stop supporting Ida financially and take full responsibility of Maisie. Maisie tells Mrs. Beale that she doesn't think Mrs. Beale or Sir Claude will get their divorces. When Mrs. Beale presses her, Maisie says that Mrs. Wix told her this. Mrs. Beale says that he will certainly get the divorce, and that she left him in England precisely because he hadn't gotten it yet. Maisie asks if Mrs. Beale actually likes Mrs. Wix, and Mrs. Beale asks that Maisie find out whether Mrs. Wix likes her.
At bedtime, Maisie asks Mrs. Wix whether she likes Mrs. Beale. Maisie suggests that Mrs. Beale has been trying to win Mrs. Wix over to the idea of her taking care of Maisie, rather than Sir Claude. Mrs. Wix says that it wouldn't be as immoral as the two of them taking care of Maisie, but that she would still rather Sir Claude have sole guardianship. Mrs. Wix remarks that Maisie is talking in a very bold and mature way. Maisie seems pleased by this and continues to push the matter of whether Mrs. Wix would accept Mrs. Beale as Maisie's sole guardian. When Mrs. Wix asks Maisie if she would like that arrangement, Maisie says that she would not: she wants "[Sir Claude] alone or nobody" (185). Mrs. Wix asks, "Not even me?" (185) and Maisie replies, "Oh, you're nobody!" (185).
Chapter 29
When Maisie wakes up the next morning, she realizes that she has been allowed to sleep in much later than usual. Mrs. Wix is sitting in the room, dressed and wide awake. She reports anxiously that Sir Claude has returned and is in his room with Mrs. Beale. Maisie thinks that Sir Claude may have let Mrs. Beale come to see Maisie but will send her home now so that he, Maisie, and Mrs. Wix can live together. Mrs. Wix and Maisie begin to fight again, especially about the positive or negative effects of Maisie bringing Sir Claude and Mrs. Beale together. Maisie says that she thinks Sir Claude must have gotten his divorce from Ida, but Mrs. Wix says that it couldn't have happened so fast.
Maisie decides she is going to go into Sir Claude's room to see him. Mrs. Wix tries to dissuade her, but Maisie enters his room confidently. She finds Sir Claude, but not Mrs. Beale, there. Contrary to his usual greeting of holding his arms open to her immediately, this time he simply looks at Maisie for a moment. After this pause, he says to Maisie "Here I am, you see, again—as I promised you" (191). Maisie thinks to herself, "It was not as he had promised them—he had not promised them Mrs. Beale" (191), but instead she simply says that Mrs. Wix had alerted her that he had arrived. Maisie asks whether Mrs. Beale is in the room attached to Sir Claude's bedroom, and he tells Maisie that he hasn't seen Mrs. Beale yet. He says that he doesn't care where she is, as all he wants is to spend time with Maisie. He tells Maisie that he and Mrs. Beale have had a fight, though he doesn't specify what it was about. He suggests that they go out to breakfast together. He asks about inviting Mrs. Wix along, but they both agree that they want to be alone. In the hallway, Sir Claude speaks French with a hotel employee, asking for them to send breakfast up to Mrs. Wix.
Chapter 30
Maisie and Sir Claude sit together in a cafe, drinking coffee and eating rolls. Sir Claude tells Maisie about being in London, and Maisie notices that Sir Claude seems more nervous than she's ever seen him. They discuss whether they will all—Sir Claude, Mrs. Beale, Mrs. Wix, and Maisie—be eating together later in the day. When Sir Claude asks what Mrs. Wix has told Maisie about him and Mrs. Beale, Maisie plays dumb and simply says "Nothing" (195). After a pause, Sir Claude changes his question, asking if Mrs. Wix has tried to affect Maisie. Maisie again avoids the question, saying that Mrs. Wix has been enjoying how nice Mrs. Beale has been to her over the past few days. Maisie shows Sir Claude that she doesn't trust him by being skeptical that he hasn't seen Mrs. Beale yet since arriving in France. Sir Claude again says that he has come to see Maisie, not Mrs. Beale. They both agree that Mrs. Beale is not going to go back to London on her own accord.
After getting more food and drink from a waiter, Sir Claude exclaims that he came back to ask Maisie something. Maisie thinks that he is going to ask whether she would be happy living with just Mrs. Beale and Mrs. Wix. He says that was not his question, but he gets fixated momentarily on the idea that Mrs. Wix now approves of Mrs. Beale raising Maisie so long as he is not involved. He accuses Mrs. Wix of having affected Maisie and says that he doesn't love Mrs. Wix, even though he knows that she loves him. Mustering up his willpower, he finally asks Maisie his question: "Should you see your way to let [Mrs. Wix] go?...Should you see your way to sacrifice her?" (199). He suggests that Maisie should live with him and Mrs. Beale abroad. Maisie worries about what would happen to Mrs. Wix then, and Sir Claude callously says that everyone has their difficulties. They discuss Maisie's education, with Sir Claude insulting the education Mrs. Wix has been providing. They pay for the meal, and Sir Claude presses Maisie again on whether she would ever live without him. Maisie promises she wouldn't, so Sir Claude asks her to make the decision about living with him and Mrs. Beale. Maisie asks to have some time to think, and they decide that they won't go back to the hotel right away. Maisie also says that she'd like to see Mrs. Wix before deciding. The chapter ends with Maisie again bringing up how she brought Sir Claude in and Mrs. Wix together, which makes Sir Claude momentarily brighten from his nervous state.
Chapter 31
Since neither Maisie nor Sir Claude want to go back and face Mrs. Wix and Mrs. Beale, they go on a long walk around Boulogne. They come upon a train going to Paris and Maisie suddenly asks to go. She tells Sir Claude to get tickets, and they try to do so in a hurry, knowing the train is leaving in just two minutes. The train leaves while they are still negotiating about the tickets, and they silently watch it pull away. When train has disappeared, Maisie lays out her deal: she can give up Mrs. Wix if Sir Claude can give up Mrs. Beale. Sir Claude seems very afraid, and he doesn't give an answer. They look for a long while at a boat going back to England, still not wanting to face the women at the hotel.
Finally, Sir Claude and Maisie return to the hotel. Upon arriving, they see Mrs. Wix's bags packed in the hall as if she is leaving. Sir Claude says that Mrs. Wix must have thought Maisie had already given her up, causing Maisie to panic and repeat "I must see her" (207). Maisie and Sir Claude again discuss the terms of their deal, but neither of them make any absolute promises about sacrificing Mrs. Wix or Mrs. Beale. Maisie suggests that they should both wait for the women to go on their own accord, but Sir Claude says that Mrs. Beale will never do so.
Mrs. Beale finds them and announces that Mrs. Wix is leaving because Sir Claude and Maisie left for so long. She says that she and Mrs. Wix had a big fight, and she herself criticizes them for being out such a long time without sending any word. Mrs. Beale reports that Mrs. Wix is so upset with Maisie "for having no moral sense" (209) that she is leaving her. Mrs. Wix enters the room and passionately denies this. She pleads with Maisie to come with her. Maisie turns to Sir Claude and pleads, "Will you come?" (210). Mrs. Beale tries to make Maisie feel guilty, then commands her to go to her room. Mrs. Wix commands Maisie not to go, and Maisie stays in place. Mrs. Wix asks whether Maisie has lost her moral sense, and Maisie feels confused, as if she has forgotten a lesson. Despairingly, Maisie repeats, "I don't know" (211).
Mrs. Wix accuses Sir Claude of killing Maisie's moral sense; he counters he hasn't killed something but rather "produced life" (211). Sir Claude reveals his proposal to Maisie and tries to make Maisie admit that she is willing to give up Mrs. Wix. Mrs. Beale tries to hug Maisie, and Maisie closes her eyes as Sir Claude tries to get Mrs. Beale to release her. Maisie reveals her part of the deal: that Sir Claude would have to give up Mrs. Beale. Mrs. Beale calls it "rubbish" (212), and turns directly to Maisie to ask whether she really made such a proposal. Maisie begs Mrs. Beale directly to give up Sir Claude. Sir Claude and Mrs. Beale try to get Mrs. Wix to leave, saying she had already planned to do so, but Mrs. Wix is now adamant that she won't separate from Maisie. She tells Maisie that she will take her, causing Mrs. Beale to physically grab Maisie again. Mrs. Beale criticizes Mrs. Wix for having lied about leaving, but Maisie stays focused on Mrs. Beale, begging her again to leave Sir Claude. Mrs. Beale tells Maisie that she was the one who brought them together, and both Maisie and Sir Claude repeat this. Mrs. Beale says that she believed Maisie loved her; Maisie says that she loves Sir Claude and Sir Claude tells Mrs. Beale that Maisie hates her.
The conversation suddenly turns to the financial concerns of raising Maisie. Mrs. Beale says that Mrs. Wix can't raise Maisie because she doesn't have the money, but Sir Claude says he can get money from Maisie's father. Mrs. Beale says she's already tried to no avail, and Sir Claude says that they'll try again together. Sir Claude says that they're not good enough to raise Maisie, and he moves toward where Maisie and Mrs. Wix are standing. Mrs. Beale blocks the door, but Sir Claude tells her to stand aside and let Mrs. Wix and Maisie through. Mrs. Beale makes a last attempt, saying that she is Maisie's mother and Sir Claude her father. Maisie again pleads for her to leave Sir Claude. Sir Claude turns to Mrs. Beale and says that he can't give her up. She mocks him for this, but he seems pleased with the pronouncement.
Suddenly, the fight seems to be over. Maisie says goodbye to Sir Claude and he says goodbye to her. Mrs. Beale angrily says goodbye to Maisie and exits the room. Then Maisie follows Mrs. Wix out of the hotel and all the way to the boat. After they have ridden for a while, Mrs. Wix asks Maisie if Sir Claude watched them leave from the balcony. Maisie says he didn't.
Analysis
Contemporary readers might be confused by James's use of the phrase "making love" in this section of the book, as when James writes, "There was a phrase familiar to Maisie, so often was it used by this lady to express the idea of one's getting what one wanted: one got it—Mrs. Beale always said she at all events always got it or proposed to get it—by 'making love'. She was at present making love, singular as it appeared, to Mrs. Wix" (180). To understand what is going on in the plot at this point, a reader must look to the transformation of this phrase over time. Up until the late 19th century, the phrase was defined as wooing someone or making them fall in love with you. This was Mrs. Beale's goal in this chapter; while Mrs. Beale does not want Mrs. Wix to be romantically in love with her, she wants the woman to like and accept her. It was in the early 20th century that the phrase came to take on the connotation of sexual intercourse, meaning it is possible for James, who published the novel in 1897, to have intended for the phrase to be a double entendre.
James escalates the suspense over who Maisie will choose as her guardian at the end of Chapter 28. Maisie and Mrs. Wix argue about whether Maisie should be raised by Sir Claude and Mrs. Beale, and Maisie professes that she wants to be raised by "[Sir Claude] alone or nobody" (185). When Mrs. Wix inquires, "Not even me?" (185), Maisie replies, "Oh, you're nobody!" (185). While Maisie's eventual choice of Mrs. Wix has been foreshadowed by the girl's trust of the governess ever since their first meeting, this moment subverts the reader's expectation, building tension and intrigue. Maisie's statement might even be read as attempting to push Mrs. Wix away to test her love.
As Maisie and her guardians spend the final chapters of the book in Boulogne, France, James includes certain phrases in French without translation (though some copies of the book have footnotes provided by the editor). As the novel was written in the late 19th century in England, James likely assumed that educated readers would be able to translate the French phrases. While many of the uses of French serve merely to create a rich setting and show Sir Claude and Mrs. Beale's comfort in France due to their levels of education, a particular situation at the end of Chapter 29 warrants further analysis. As Sir Claude and Maisie leave to get breakfast together, Sir Claude stops an employee of the hotel where they are staying to ask for food to be sent to Mrs. Wix. The employee responds, "Soyez tranquille...Et pour Madame?" (193) This translates to "Rest assured...and for your wife?" (222). This shows that the hotel is treating Sir Claude and Mrs. Beale as husband and wife, likely because they requested for her bags to be taken to his room. Sir Claude feigns confusion, responding, "Madame?" (193), perhaps because he fears Maisie would understand the underlying significance of what the employee has said.
Morality is one of the major themes of What Maisie Knew, and it is particularly strong in the last chapters of the novel. Mrs. Wix begins to passionately question Maisie's morality in Chapter 26, asking her repeatedly if she has a "moral sense" (168). Mrs. Wix seems to be questioning Maisie's morality because Maisie does not denounce Sir Claude and Miss Overmore/Mrs. Beale's relationship. Maisie likely does not react strongly to Sir Claude and Miss Overmore/Mrs. Beale's affair because of how many examples of adultery she has seen in her childhood. This underscores the moral of the novel, which is that mistreating children or exposing them to trauma has long-lasting negative effects.
James makes heavy use of tactile imagery in the final scene of the novel in which Mrs. Wix, Sir Claude, and Mrs. Beale battle to be Maisie's guardian. James writes, "[Mrs. Beale] threw herself upon the child and, before Maisie could resist, had sunk with her upon the sofa, possessed of her, encircling her" (212). The negative language used to describe the way Mrs. Beale is touching Maisie shows that young girl does not have a positive association with the woman and sees through her ploy of possessing her to ensnare Sir Claude. Later, when Mrs. Beale realizes that Maisie is not going to choose her, James writes, "Maisie's back became aware of a push that vented resentment" (212). Specifying that Maisie's back felt the push from Mrs. Beale gives the reader a vivid understanding of Maisie's sensations, keeping the reader focused on her perception of the event occurring.
