Something will turn up
The Secret of Chimneys“Something will turn up” is Anthony Cade’s compact expression of faith that circumstances will provide an opening. First offered as a hopeful expectation, it recurs when he leaves a search to chance; in the latter instance, an unexpected newspaper clue soon rewards that confidence and helps him pursue his second commission.
First Use: Confidence in Trouble
When Jimmy McGrath teases Anthony about his poor appetite for regular work, Anthony ignores the aspersion and says that something will turn up soon, adding that it usually does. The remark presents optimism not as a solemn conviction but as an easy, habitual response to uncertainty. Jimmy’s chuckle and his observation that Anthony has an instinct for trouble—and the nine lives of a cat—give the phrase its adventurous setting: Anthony expects the unforeseen to bring opportunity, even when it brings danger.
Recurrence in the Search for Revel
The phrase returns as Anthony considers the other job before him. Looking up the name Revel in the telephone book produces six entries, but eliminating the saddlers and Miss Mary Revel still leaves four possibilities; moreover, the woman he seeks may not live in London at all. Rather than force a conclusion from an inconclusive list, he decides to leave the matter to chance and repeats that something usually turns up.
From Saying to Plot Mechanism
Less than half an hour later, while turning the pages of an illustrated paper, Anthony finds what he is looking for. A picture of tableaux organized by the Duchess of Perth identifies the Hon. Mrs. Timothy Revel as Cleopatra and states that, before her marriage, Mrs. Revel was the Hon. Virginia Cawthron, daughter of Lord Edgbaston. The sequence gives the expression a concrete payoff: chance appears to supply the clue, but Anthony’s alertness turns the printed identification into a lead. He tears out the page, folds it into his pocket, retrieves the packet of letters from his suitcase, and slips the page beneath the string holding them together. The repeated phrase thus links an attitude of hopeful improvisation to a specific act of investigation and preparation.
