The Silent Companions

Elsie anticipates Jolyon’s return for the Christmas holiday and is anxious to show him all her improvements to the house. Meanwhile, Sarah invites Mr. Underwood to the house to get advice about what to do about the companions. Elsie intercepts him before he speaks to Sarah and explains that she fears Sarah has some far-fetched ideas about the spirit world. She also tells Mr. Underwood to select a few children from the village who will return to London with Jolyon to apprentice in the factory, an idea Mr. Underwood wholeheartedly supports.

While Mr. Underwood speaks with Sarah privately, Elsie unwraps a package she believes contains her new dress. However, when she opens the box, on top of the dress is Beatrice’s rotting, decapitated head. Elsie looks up to see the Hetta companion staring at her. In shock and nauseated disorientation, she runs up the stairs and sees a new companion, who looks like Rupert. Her legs tangle in her dress, and she falls.

Anne and Josiah awaken to the servants screaming. The children are safe, but Hetta has a fever. When Josiah investigates, he discovers that someone mutilated the queen’s horse. Anne assumes Merripen is the culprit, as the servants say he is missing from the stables.

Elsie miscarries the baby and languishes in bed for days under the influence of opium. When she becomes more aware of her surroundings, Sarah tells her she and Mr. Underwood named the baby boy Edgar Rupert after Elsie’s father, but this doesn’t make Elsie happy. Sarah also confirms something Elsie thought she heard discussed during her stupor: The baby was born full of splinters. No one else saw the figure of Rupert but Elsie, but Sarah asked Mr. Underwood to perform an exorcism. He declined, instead joining forces with Jolyon to force Sarah to see a physician, who saw the infected cut on her hand and concluded that she was unwell from a fever; none of the men believed her claims, and Jolyon intends to separate the women by bringing Elsie back to London. Worse yet, Sarah says all the figures are back in the house despite Elsie burning them.

Josiah has always suspected Anne of dabbling in witchcraft, and he wonders if the horse mutilation is a sign of demonic activity in the house. Instead of telling him the full truth, Anne only confesses to hiring Merripen to work in the stables. Josiah becomes angry and sends their sons away to stay with relatives. His chances of advancement in court are ruined, and Anne feels ashamed and angry. She sees Hetta playing with the companions and shouts at her for making merry while the house is in crisis over what Merripen did. Hetta runs away, and Anne orders that all the curiosities she purchased, including the companions, be returned. However, Jane reports that the shop no longer exists. Anne covers the companions with sheets, but she still feels them, “watching. As if they know what has happened. As if it amuses them” (179).

Elsie’s diamonds go missing, and Jolyon blames Mabel. He convinces Elsie that the maids are behind all the strange occurrences in the house, including Beatrice’s murder. He claims that Elsie’s mind is vulnerable to trickery since she has experienced so much grief. Elsie can accept that the maids might have moved the companions, but there is no way they could have tampered with her unborn baby.

Before Elsie and Jolyon go to London, he announces his suspicions to the servants. Mrs. Holt defends Mabel, but Jolyon tells her she needs to replace some of her staff. He expects the diamonds to be found when they return at Easter. He leaves Sarah in charge while they are gone. As they leave, Elsie glances up to her room and sees a companion in the window that resembles Anne Bainbridge and is wearing the necklace. 

Anne attends church on Hetta’s birthday to give thanks for her child. She feels God is punishing her for interfering in his plan. As much as she longed for a daughter, she doesn’t think Hetta loves her. She returns home to find that Josiah has rushed away; Lizzy wonders if it has something to do with Samuels’s shop. When he returns, however, Josiah reports that one of the Bainbridges’ servants found Merripen and he will be tried for treason. Anne gasps at the thought of him being found guilty and being hanged, drawn, and quartered. Josiah feels no guilt for helping convict a child and blames Anne for all that has happened.

In London, Jolyon is still worried about Elsie’s mental health and suggests she see a doctor because she is “a member of the fairer sex […] not built to withstand these things” (195). Jolyon reminds Elsie that their mother went “mad” at the end of her life, but Elsie attributes her mother’s hallucinations to a high fever from typhus. Jolyon argues that mental illness may run in their family. Thinking about the past, particularly her parents, makes Elsie sick, and she goes to bed.

Elsie enjoys walking through the factory and watching the workers create the matches. However, parts of the factory trigger painful memories, like the spot where her father bled out onto the floor. This traumatic memory is balanced by a nice memory of when she first met Rupert. He visited the factory with two associates, and she was instantly drawn to him. Jolyon insisted Elsie attend the business meeting, but one of the men refused to proceed with her in the room, claiming that their language might be coarse and offensive to a lady. Rupert, however, respected her independence and insisted that she stay. In the present, Jolyon snaps Elsie from her memories by telling her she must return to The Bridge immediately because Mabel is dead.

Merripen’s execution is scheduled for the next day, and Josiah organizes a celebration for the servants since they aided in his capture. Watching the feast preparation sickens Anne, who knows Merripen’s death will be her fault. Anne worries that Hetta understands what is happening to her friend, and Lizzy says Hetta has been gathering herbs in the garden all morning. Though it is bitterly cold, Anne finds Hetta in the garden, nearly frozen to death. She puts the child in bed, stokes the fire, and covers her with heavy blankets.

That night, Anne sits up with Lizzy in the kitchen until they are roused by a loud banging at the door. At the same time, the servants return from their party, and everyone is drunk. Lizzy opens the door and finds Merripen’s sister, dressed in rags, crouched outside; she has come to beg mercy for him from Josiah. The drunken mob descends on her, claiming she should be hanged alongside her brother. Lizzy intervenes, but the servants knock her to the floor. Anne quickly grabs the girl and shoves her outside to safety. The girl grabs Anne’s necklace before running away. A servant named Mark threatens to tell Josiah what Anne did. This marks the end of the first volume of Anne’s diary.