Splendors and Glooms Chapter 28 Summary

The Journey

  • They arrive at the train station, and Lizzie Rose splurges on two first-class tickets. Parsefall notices that she's also carrying a parcel that moves—yeah, she's snuck Ruby onto the train.
  • While on the train for hours, a priest brings them some food and water; Lizzie Rose is moved by the gesture.
  • They transfer to another train after waiting three hours, and when they get on it, the children fall asleep.
  • As the children travel, Dr. Wintermute lies awake and regrets having treated Lizzie Rose so harshly. He didn't go to the police and thinks that he was too quick to judge. After all, the kids are both super poor.
  • He decides that he'll go back to her soon and apologize, and that he'll offer her some money to make sure that her needs are provided for.
  • When the children wake up and get off of the train, they find that they're in the gorgeous countryside.
  • Even Parsefall is awed by how beautiful the landscape is and mentions that it's like a painted backdrop for a puppet show.
  • A moment later, a man in a horse-drawn carriage shows up and asks if the children are headed to Strachan's Ghyll. He says that he works for Cassandra (he calls her Madama) and tells them to get into the carriage. How convenient.