Monica Knollys and Maud Ruthyn

Monica Knollys and Maud Ruthyn are cousins whose affectionate reunion becomes a source of warning and guidance at a moment when Maud is too young to recognize the danger around her. Monica’s energetic intimacy gives Maud a welcome contrast to the seclusion of her home, but their bond is tested by Monica’s estrangement from Austin Ruthyn and by the will that places Maud under Silas Ruthyn’s authority. Monica can alert and counsel her cousin; she cannot secure her freedom to leave.

A Warm Family Reunion

Monica arrives at Knowl as a lively presence in a household shaped by Austin’s silence and withdrawal. Maud, having heard Mary Quince’s account of a heroic soldier, is already imagining Monica through that story and has taken particular care with her appearance. Monica greets her with a kiss on each cheek, identifies herself as Maud’s cousin, and remarks that she has not seen her since she was small enough to be measured against a paper-knife. Looking at Maud by the lamp, she sees a resemblance to Maud’s mother and an Aylmer feature, while noting that Maud does not look like Austin. His answer—that this is all the better—briefly suggests a shared ease between the cousins and Maud’s father.

Their first conversation quickly turns from family resemblance to the conditions of Maud’s life. Monica asks how Maud and Austin get on, remembering him as once cheerful and amusing and criticizing his habit of shutting himself away with his whims. She also notices Maud’s drawings and asks whether she plays. The exchange presents Monica as observant and socially fluent, able to draw Maud into conversation in a home where talk might otherwise fail. For Maud, whose life has been lonely, the cousin’s warmth offers an immediate intimacy that is both familial and unusually candid.

Questions and Warning

Monica’s concern deepens when she tries to find out whether Madame de la Rougierre has mistreated or threatened Maud. Maud insists that the governess does not ill-use her, and Monica promises that she will not repeat what Maud tells her; she wants information so that she can put a stop to any danger. When Maud asks whether Madame is wicked, Monica does not claim certainty. She says she remembers Madame’s face, dislikes her, and intends to speak to Austin about her the next morning, but refuses to say more at that point.

Monica’s strongest warning comes before she leaves. She tells Maud that, from the circumstances she knows, Madame must be her enemy: a deep, daring, and unscrupulous person against whom Maud must be guarded. She urges her cousin to cease behaving like a child, govern her speech and expression, and preserve an appearance of normality. Maud is to tell Madame nothing about Austin’s business, watch her closely, and observe everything without disclosing anything. Monica also warns her not to repeat the conversation to the servants, even though they dislike Madame, because gossip or quarrels could compromise Maud.

The advice balances alarm with restraint. Monica does not tell Maud that Madame has already committed a particular act against her, and she cautions against showing suspicion or dislike. Instead, she asks Maud to behave as though Madame were capable of treachery while giving her no opportunity to act. This is a practical form of protection: vigilance, silence, and control of outward manner, rather than a promise that Monica can immediately remove the threat.

Affection Within a Family Rift

Monica’s departure reveals the limit of her influence. She tells Maud that she and Austin have quarrelled, that she considers his conduct preposterous and dangerous, and that he will understand her once he is left to himself. She had wanted Maud to come away with her for a short visit, but Austin would not allow it. Though Monica expects their disagreement to pass, she cannot stay at Knowl or take Maud with her. Her affectionate assurances therefore coexist with a separation imposed by Maud’s father.

Before leaving, Monica encourages Maud to write whenever she wants to hear from her and promises to come if she can be of real use. She says she will contrive to get Madame away before long, but the promise is not an immediate rescue. After a kiss and a few hurried words the next morning, Monica leaves only a pencilled farewell for Austin, and Maud receives no more from her for some time. The gap between the intimacy of their reunion and the ensuing silence makes the relationship a source of both comfort and anxious expectation.

The Will and the Stakes of Guardianship

The conflict between affection and power becomes sharper after Austin’s death, when his will is read. The estates and possessions are placed in trust for Maud, with a bequest of £15,000 to his brother Silas and £3,500 to each of Silas’s two children. Silas is also given the use of Bartram-Haugh and adjoining lands for life at a rent of five shillings a year, subject to conditions against waste. Monica’s surprise at the will’s provisions marks her presence as a family witness to arrangements whose consequences extend well beyond a simple inheritance.

A separate clause appoints Silas Maud’s sole guardian, granting him full parental authority until she reaches twenty-one and requiring her to reside under his care at Bartram-Haugh. The trustees are to pay him £2,000 yearly during the guardianship for her maintenance, education, and expenses. Maud initially imagines the move as an adventure and anticipates companionship with Millicent Ruthyn, but the legal arrangement gives Silas custody of her person as well as control over the funds intended for her care.

Monica’s concern is confirmed when Doctor Bryerly explains the contingency that makes the guardianship so dangerous: if Maud dies before twenty-one, the entire property will pass to Silas. Austin’s sealed letters explain his own purpose in appointing his brother. He calls Silas oppressed and unhappy, says a political slander against him should be silenced through an ordeal of purification, and insists that he trusts Silas with Maud’s safety as fully as he would trust himself. The will thus binds Maud’s vulnerability to Silas’s reputation and financial interest, despite Austin’s conviction that his brother deserves confidence.

Protection Without Control

The papers intensify rather than resolve the strain on Monica and Maud’s bond. Reading Austin’s defense of Silas, Maud fears that by resisting the arrangement she has frustrated her father’s attempt to vindicate his brother and broken faith with the dead. Monica is therefore not simply a competing authority: her protective suspicion stands against Austin’s posthumous appeal to trust Silas. Their family relationship makes the disagreement intimate, but Maud’s legal position means neither her attachment to Monica nor Monica’s judgment can by itself alter the guardianship.

Later, Doctor Bryerly confronts Silas over his handling of the estate. He argues that Silas is exercising a power he does not lawfully possess and that the resulting impoverishment of the estate wrongs Maud. The dispute gives concrete force to the earlier warning about the terms of Austin’s trust: Maud’s interests depend on decisions made by the guardian who controls her residence and receives the annual maintenance payment. Monica’s importance in this relationship lies in having recognized danger early and offered Maud a disciplined means of watchfulness, even while her quarrel with Austin and his refusal to permit a visit leave her unable to provide continuous protection. Their bond is warm but constrained, and its central tension is the difference between being able to warn Maud and being able to control what happens to her.