The Golden Bowl

Charlotte pays a visit to Amerigo and Maggie’s house. Since Maggie is not home, Amerigo wonders whether Charlotte will leave. She joins him in the parlor. Since her feet have become wet in the rain, she dries them beside the fire. Charlotte did not use her own carriage: She would rather feel as she did before her marriage, before she had her carriage, when she felt freer. Charlotte tells Amerigo that she is acting as she did before her marriage, when she did as she wanted. Amerigo confesses that he is not as brave as her and cannot bring himself to act in this way. Charlotte does not believe that this is a matter of courage but of intelligence and imagination. Charlotte talks about her day. She visited museums and art galleries, and she would have visited the zoo, but the weather became “too wet.” Amerigo says that Maggie has spent the day with her father and the baby. She used Charlotte’s carriage to run errands on her father’s behalf, hence Charlotte wandering around in the rain and hiring a cab. Amerigo wonders what Charlotte will tell Adam about how she spent her day. She says she will tell him that she visited Amerigo, offering him company where he has been left alone. Since Maggie and Adam are happy to spend so much time together, the two abandoned spouses should find ways to amuse themselves as they are “immensely alone.” Charlotte wants to be sure that she and Amerigo tell the same story in case they are questioned. Amerigo says that he believes that Fanny is sympathetic to their plans. Charlotte and Amerigo revel in their “sacred” bond. They seal their affair with a kiss.

Charlotte and Amerigo decide that Fanny’s help is not needed, as they can manage their affair on their own. Amerigo continually delays a trip to visit Fanny, even though he promised to meet with her. Instead, Fanny goes to Maggie to announce her displeasure that Charlotte has been seemingly abandoned.

Since Maggie devotes so much time to her father, Charlotte has taken up the mantle of the family’s “social relations.” She is deeply involved in London’s high society, more than she ever expected to be. Since returning from America, this entrance into high society is just part of her marriage to Adam. When she is at parties, Charlotte notices that Amerigo tries hard to avoid looking at her. He fears that their secret will be uncovered. In contrast, Charlotte stares directly at him, using the same expression she would use for her husband. Amerigo is an important part of society, as his aristocratic prestige provides an entrance to the high society for both the Ververs and the Assinghams.

Charlotte and Amerigo attend a concert with Fanny and Bob Assingham, whereupon they talk about an upcoming event to be held at Matcham during Easter. No one expects Maggie or Adam to attend. Charlotte and Amerigo plan to attend the event, even without their spouses. Since Amerigo is now a fixture at many of London’s high-society events, he has grown fond of the scene, even if he does not love London. Though enjoyable, the parties are not fully satisfying. Meanwhile, his presence has a discernable effect on whether the Assinghams will be comfortable at an event, since they need his prestige to justify their presence. They are too much on the periphery of the social elite to attend without him.

At Easter, Amerigo, Charlotte, Fanny, and Bob go to Matcham. They spend a day in the country. They ride, hunt, and dance. While the other guests note that Amerigo seems to be in attendance with his stepmother-in-law, the pair is careful to maintain their demeanor of respectability. Since she has little imagination, Maggie has never wondered why her friend and husband would spend so much time together. During this time, the relationship between Amerigo and Charlotte becomes increasingly intimate.

At the end of the Easter break, the guests are preparing to depart Matcham. Charlotte, Amerigo, and the Assinghams discuss their journey. Charlotte and Amerigo agree that they can trust Fanny: They feel that she has given tacit approval of their intimacy, while any scandal would threaten the Assinghams’ reputation and access to high society. They cannot afford for the scandal to break. Fanny suggests that all four travel together to London, sharing a compartment on the train. Amerigo disagrees. Charlotte announces her plans to linger a little longer with the hostess. She suggests that Amerigo stay with her as an escort, ensuring her safe return to London. Fanny agrees. She tells Charlotte and Amerigo that she will return to London and send word of the plan to Maggie and Adam so that they will not worry, and to maintain the sense of propriety. Fanny wishes the pair well and departs, making Amerigo laugh as he promises her that they will try their best to have “a pleasant day” (256).

The hostess at Matcham is named Lady Castledean. She has private motivations for asking Charlotte to stay a little longer. She is attracted to a young man named Mr. Blint, and Charlotte’s presence is a signal to others that Lady Castledean is not dining alone with a young man.

Amerigo stares out over the countryside from a balcony. He debates whether he should make a trip to the historic sites in Gloucester. Charlotte appears and tells Amerigo about Lady Castledean’s plans. Lady Castledean has no real interest in the pair, as she wants to spend “a quiet morning with Mr. Blint” (258). Charlotte talks about the golden bowl that they spotted while shopping for wedding presents. She remembers Amerigo’s complaints about a nearly invisible fracture in the bowl as they left “a great impression on [her]” (264). Charlotte compares the cracked bowl to their marriages, which have both been fractured. She wonders what happened to the bowl and the shopkeeper. Amerigo remembers that the man promised to set it aside for Charlotte. Charlotte suggests that they abandon the lunch plans and take a train to Gloucester. They have several hours alone before they are expected in London.

Fanny and Bob return to London. Bob goes to his club and, when he returns, Fanny assures him that she does not believe that Charlotte and Amerigo are having an affair. Bob is confused: A few hours earlier, Fanny was certain of the exact opposite. When he asks her, she insists that she has not spoken to them about it. She says the pair would not provide a reliable answer anyway. Fanny wishes to bear no responsibility for the couple. However, she worries that people will think that she is helping them in some way. She is also concerned about Maggie, even though she partly blames Maggie for forcing the pair together. Maggie still keeps a bedroom in her father’s house, as well as a nursery for her child. Fanny is not as close to Maggie as she once was. Fanny suspects that, after she and her husband left Matcham, Charlotte and Amerigo went somewhere else. She does not know where their secret destination might be. Bob Assingham is confused about what is happening and why his wife is involved at all.

Fanny cannot decide what to think. She flits back and forth between whether or not Amerigo and Charlotte are having an affair. If they are not, she decides, then they seem to be heading inevitably in that direction. When she studies Maggie’s face, she believes that Maggie is increasingly suspicious of her husband. In spite of the connections between the friends and family, Fanny believes that the temptations will soon become overwhelming. Bob believes that Maggie will blame Charlotte rather than Amerigo. Fanny disagrees, suggesting that Maggie will blame herself. Fanny privately blames herself, but she knows that Maggie will never blame her. Fanny reminds Bob of the party, when they discussed the apparent romance between Charlotte and Amerigo. On that night, Bob suggested that they allow events to unfold and, now that they have, they find themselves in this difficult position. Bob pities Maggie, believing she is the real victim. Fanny is sure that Maggie will endure the difficulties, especially as Amerigo never truly loved her. Bob suspects that Maggie will endure for her child’s sake. Fanny believes that Maggie will endure for the sake of her father.

Fanny blames herself for the potential affair, as she originally introduced Amerigo to Charlotte at a time when Amerigo was in the habit of meeting only unsuitable women. Fanny is not sure if Amerigo loves Charlotte. She believes no man can love a woman who offers herself so freely. The “vicious circle” of betrayal and temptation holds much blame. Fanny suspects that Maggie saw her husband’s interest in Charlotte as a way to protect Adam from Charlotte’s lack of faithfulness. Bob is confused by his wife’s explanation. Meanwhile, Adam Verver suspects nothing about his wife’s possible affair with his son-in-law. He has lived with Charlotte for two years and never suspected her. Fanny hopes that she and her husband will be able to save Maggie, who will never let her father be harmed. She would “die first.”