The Canterville Ghost

Lord Canterville returns and a funeral is held for Sir Simon. His casket is pulled by eight decorated horses, and no less than four carriages carry the family and Mrs. Umney as mourners. Sir Simon is given every honor, and once his casket is lowered into his deep grave in the churchyard, Virginia places an almond blossom with him. After the funeral, Hiram tries to convince Lord Canterville to take the jewels, because they are his property. However, he does request that Virginia be allowed to keep the casket they came in when Sir Simon gifted them to her.

Lord Canterville assures Hiram that he cannot accept the jewels, and that they were given to Virginia in gratitude for her service to Sir Simon. He jokes that if he did take them back, Sir Simon’s ghost would return from his grave to begin haunting him anew. Finally, he argues that the jewels are not a legal heirloom, since they have never been mentioned in any will—and besides, Hiram “took the furniture and the ghost at a valuation, and anything that belonged to the ghost passed at once into [Hiram’s] possession” (34).

When Virginia and Cecil (the Duke) are old enough, they marry. Virginia wears the jewels that Sir Simon gave her, and they are the center of public admiration. Hiram, who initially objected to the marriage due to his objections to titles and the aristocracy, proudly walks his daughter down the aisle at her wedding. After their honeymoon, Virginia and Cecil return to Canterville Chase to pay their respects at Sir Simon’s grave. Cecil asks Virginia to reveal what happened when she went with Sir Simon, and she says she cannot; that it must remain a secret. All she confirms is that, “He made me see what Life is, and what Death signifies, and why Love is stronger than both” (36).