Liberty

Liberty is a large department store on Regent Street, presented through Sunday Small’s visit with Biddy Spooner on the final day of their time in London. The store’s abundance makes a striking impression on Sunday, who finds that it seems to offer almost anything a woman might want. In this scene, Liberty is more than a shopping destination: it is a place where Sunday encounters unfamiliar luxury and receives practical care in material form.

Setting and Abundance

The visit ranges across the store’s many departments. At the perfume counter, Biddy tries at least half a dozen scents, until their combined fragrance makes the air cloying enough that Sunday can hardly breathe. Shoes, hats, scarves, gloves, and jewellery fill out the store’s seemingly limitless assortment, and Biddy delights in it. The episode conveys the scale of Liberty through Sunday’s sense of novelty and Biddy’s unembarrassed pleasure in browsing.

Sunday’s Coat

After buying a fine leather wallet for Jacob and deciding to find a gift for Annie, Biddy turns to Sunday and insists on buying her a warm coat for winter. Sunday tries on coat after coat while assistants hurry back and forth. The one she chooses is close in colour to the burgundy crinoline she received for her birthday; it is so warm that wearing it feels to her like being wrapped in a snug, elegant blanket.

Sunday worries that the coat is too expensive, but Biddy refuses to let her decide what Biddy can afford. She confirms the purchase and gives the shop the name of their hotel so the coat can be delivered that same day. The exchange gives the shopping scene its emotional centre: Sunday’s concern about cost meets Biddy’s insistence on making the gift, turning the store’s merchandise into a concrete expression of generosity and care.

Narrative Significance

Liberty’s abundance contrasts with Sunday’s unfamiliarity and caution. She is willing to try the coats, but her immediate concern is their price; Biddy, by contrast, treats the purchase as her own choice and follows through without making Sunday pay for the gift in embarrassment. The episode therefore presents the department store not only as a marker of material plenty but as the setting for a small change in Sunday’s circumstances: she leaves with the prospect of a warm, elegant coat chosen to suit her and paid for by someone who wants her to have it.