Villette

Lucy leaves Bretton soon after Paulina and never returns. By the time she leaves Bretton, she has been away from her home for six months, and she claims she was glad to return. However, the next eight years of her life are not a happy season. Lucy speaks directly to the reader, asking them to picture her life as a sea journey on calm ocean waters, as she says most women are supposed to do, but saying that her life during this period is more like a violent shipwreck after a storm: “a long time—of cold, of danger, of contention” (45). All is lost to her during this time, and Mrs. Bretton is not able to help as she too has fallen on difficult times. Graham and his mother now live in London. Lucy learns to depend solely on herself.

A single lady called Miss Marchmont eventually asks Lucy to become her companion and nurse. Miss Marchmont is a wealthy lady, but ill and bedridden. She is known to be both kind and difficult at times. Miss Marchmont warns Lucy that it will be a difficult job, and though she doubts her ability to do it, Lucy agrees. Lucy is worn down physically and emotionally from her ordeal; however, she spends all her time inside caring for the needs of Miss Marchmont and comes to respect her.