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Originally Posted by Bookpossum
I have just reread the book as a refresher - one of the benefits of its being short! A few thoughts that have arisen from doing this with knowledge of the arc of the story:
- The first encounter between the two women took place at Irene's table "just in front of a long window whose gently moving curtains suggested a cool breeze." I hadn't remembered that when I came to the ending in front of another long window.
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Good catch.
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- The climactic scene: on rereading, I now think that Irene did push, or at least offbalance Clare. It also seemed to be premeditated, with the opening of the window, and the earlier thought to herself about Clare's death being a solution to her problem. She wasn't to know that Bellew would turn up and make a scene, but she was preparing a possible way of getting rid of Clare permanently by an apparent accident. "Irene finished her cigarette and threw it out, watching the tiny spark drop slowly down to the white ground below." And in the same way, she would extinguish the spark of Clare's life, though she told herself it was an accident.
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I've been wondering if in fact, Irene set things in motion with Bellew, also; whether Irene had sent Jack a note putting him on the trail, orchestrating his arrival at the party. A factor that seemed unlikely to me otherwise was that the servants would tell an enraged white man where the Redfields had gone. But when I reread the text, that seemed unlikely, as Irene had essentially decided to wait things out until March. So then I thought that
Clare might have been the agent and I think that might be likely. March was a deadline for her, also, and she would have wanted to get things moving if she were to jump ship, as it were. She seemed pleased and not shocked or afraid when Jack showed up at the party. She also could have given the servants the nod, "If my husband shows up, tell him where he can find me." The warring ends of Irene and Clare result in a win for Irene as the scenario plays out.
In any case, I don't see how Jack could have located the Redfields' home so readily without some aid, but perhaps it's like the unlikely meeting and recognition downtown, a necessary plot point it's best not to examine too closely.