Gee
Jonathan...I'm so glad you spoke up. I just
assumed the veiled lady who enquired after Esther's health - and then took Esther's handkerchief, left money - had to be none other than Lady Dedlock. Just assumed it, until your post when you suggested it might be someone else - like the French maid, Hortense. So - went back and reread Chapter 35 again...there's so much there that I'd forgotten.
Laura, I see you too thought the mysterious veiled woman was Esther's mother, Lady Dedlock. Can you imagine what that would mean? And if Miss Flite is correct (lots of
if's there) - Miss Flite tells Esther that the veiled woman is married to the Lord Chancellor!
Jonathan...don't you find Richard young, impressionable, easily led? I think he's just the kind of boy that Dickens likes to give a second chance? I'll admit, Richard is a borderline case - I'm betting that Dickens finds something redeemable in him - and he's planning a happy ending for Richard and Ada after all...
Here's what I found on rereading the end of Esther's narrative - Chapter 35.
First of all, the veiled lady is the Lord Chancellor's wife - that seems to leave out Hortense,
Jonathan. BUT, this mystery lady
Miss Flite tells Esther tells Esther about - took the handkerchief without asking -
and left money. She tells Esther that the lady gives her husband, the Lord Chancellor a terrible life. Throws his lordship's papers into the fire,
if he wont' pay the jeweller.
Does this sound like Lady Dedlock to you? Miss Flite could probably identify this lady - she seems to know who she is - and certainly knows the Lord Chancellor very well, spending so much time in his court. Here's Dickens, confusing us once more. What do you make of sweet Miss Flite? Do you think there is any truth to what she is saying? Do you think her mad - just a little, as others tell Esther?
Right now, I don't know what to think. Who else can this veiled lady be?