Chapter 20 of 28 · 3'10"
Commander Beech storms in after Stella's trance and accuses Rick of meddling. "What have you been doing to the child?" he demands, then offers to buy Windward back. Rick refuses: "Stella will never be well until this house is cured." The fight is really about who gets to decide what Stella needs.
Rick Refuses to Sell the House
❝ Monologue · 7 lines Miss Holloway Remembers Mary
After Stella's trance at Windward, Commander Beech bursts in, furious, and demands to know what has been done to her. He blames Rick and offers to refund the whole purchase price to get the house back. Rick refuses and vows to cure the house. Later, Miss Holloway visits Stella at home and speaks with the Commander about Mary.
Two arguments run under the shouting. The first is legal and moral: Beech blames the newcomers for stirring up trouble, and Rick throws the accusation back, saying Beech knew the house's history and warned them only of "idle gossip." The second is about Stella herself. Beech offers the entire purchase price to make the Fitzgeralds go away, and Rick's refusal is a declaration: "Stella will never be well until this house is cured." The scene later hands Stella to Miss Holloway, who says she "could've cured it years ago if you'd let me have her" — making clear the two adults have been fighting over the child long before the Fitzgeralds arrived.
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
“No, thank you, Commander. I know this now: Stella will never be well until this house is cured.”
Refusing the refund, he takes on the whole problem: the cure is the house, not the girl.
Neutral
“I could've cured it years ago if you'd let me have her...”
A past conditional carries years of resentment, then trails off before the accusation lands.
Neutral
“Her skin was radiant, and that bright, bright hair.”
The repeated bright turns memory into something like worship, beautiful and a little chilling.
literary
“It won't be a short process. She's far more ill than you imagine.”
A cold diagnosis pushes hope away and punctures the other's ignorance.
Formal
Mary was a goddess. Her skin was radiant, and that bright, bright hair. How this room brings her back to me. The nights we sat talking in front of that fireplace... planning our whole lives. It wasn't flirtations and dresses we talked about. We were no silly, giggling girls.
Up next · 21bluff someoneThe scene: Lizzie Names the Dead Woman's NurseHe believes their move into Windward and their probing into its history stirred up whatever is troubling Stella. He calls their involvement meddling and holds them responsible for her collapse.
He says Stella will never recover while the house itself is 'uncured.' Rather than run from Windward, he wants to settle what is haunting it, so he turns down Beech's offer of the full purchase price.
A friend of Stella's mother, Mary. She visits Stella after the trance, speaks with Beech about the old days, and asks to take Mary's place in the girl's life.
She implies she always wanted Stella under her care and believes Beech's refusal kept the child unwell. It shows the two of them have been competing over Stella for a long time.
Beech has Miss Holloway's chauffeur carry the sleeping Stella downstairs, and says it is better for the girl to wake at Miss Holloway's house.
