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For days, Winterbourne tries in vain to see Daisy at her hotel. Finally, the day of Mrs. Walker's party arrives, and although Winterbourne and Mrs. Walker did not part at the Pincian Gardens on the best of terms, he goes in hope of seeing Daisy When Daisy's mother arrives, Winterbourne overhears her say that she has come unescorted because Daisy and Giovanelli can't tear themselves away from the piano. Mrs. Walker is incensed.
She suspects this is Daisy's revenge for her meddling at the Pincio, and she decides the time has come to carry out her threat to "act accordingly. " She confides her plan to Winterbourne: "When she comes I shall not speak to her. " NOTE: In this section of Daisy Miller, you find many more examples of James's rich vocabulary. The French and Italian phrases are as follows: Elle s'affiche, "She is making a scene"; tete a tete, "private conversation"; cavaliers avvocato, gentleman lawyer; marchese, marquis; qui se passe ses fantasies, "who behaves according to her whims"; and du meilleur monde, "of The English words or expressions that may be unfamiliar to you are as follows: barber's block, a wooden model of a head used for fitting wigs; chopping logic, arguing points of minute distinction; cicerone, a guide for sightseers; circus, an arena used for athletic contests and other spectacles; and miasma, a Daisy finally arrives with Giovanelli. Everyone at the party stops and stares as she rustles forward to greet Mrs. Walker, claiming she is late because Giovanelli had to practice some songs before coming. Looking around the room, she asks, "Is there any one I know?" Mrs. Walker can't resist this opportunity to make a snide remark, and answers, "I think everyone knows you!" She means that Daisy's behavior in the last few weeks has been so outrageous, that the entire American community has heard of her -- but they haven't heard good things.
Giovanelli seems to fit his role of handsome Italian fortune hunter perfectly. Although she has claimed to admire his singing, Daisy talks while he is performing -- a clue, perhaps, that she isn't as infatuated with him as everyone thinks she is. She approaches Winterbourne at first as if nothing had happened between them, then remarks, "I hope you enjoyed your drive with In the scene that follows, James masterfully demonstrates how misunderstandings are building between Winterbourne and Daisy. If you " ve ever misunderstood -- or been misunderstood by -- someone you like, you " ll probably appreciate James's skill here. Appearance and reality are at odds, in part because neither of them knows when the other is speaking truthfully. Winterbourne tells Daisy that he preferred walking with her to riding with Mrs.
Walker. Daisy criticizes Mrs. Walker's expecting her "to get into the carriage and drop poor Mr. Giovanelli; and under the pretext that it was proper.
People have different ideas!" That, of course, could be the theme of this scene and of Daisy Miller as a whole: the different ideas people have about right and wrong. That Daisy might have her own ideas of what is proper is something that Mrs. Walker (and even Winterbourne) can't really understand, just as Daisy can't understand their rules about the way a young lady should Winterbourne won't side with Daisy. He declares that her "habits" are those of a flirt. Daisy replies, "Of course they are, " adding that all nice girls are flirts. When she wonders if Winterbourne considers her a nice girl, he responds with more conviction than you might expect: "You " re a very nice girl, but I wish you would flirt with me, and me only. " In Winterbourne's candid remark, you hear one reason for his shifting impression of Daisy's behavior.
While he was the object of her attention, Winterbourne was willing to be flexible, to be almost "American" in his approach to decorum. But as Daisy focuses her attention on another man, Winterbourne becomes increasingly intolerant of her free-spirited ways. Winterbourne begs Daisy to stop flirting with Giovanelli, and he explains that flirting is an American custom that doesn't exist in Europe. She may be flirting, he says, but Mr.
Giovanelli is not. When Daisy claims that she and Giovanelli are "very intimate friends, " Winterbourne thinks she means they " ve gone beyond the flirting stage, and says, "Ah! if you are in love with each other it is another affair. " Daisy appears deeply offended by his remark. (That may indicate to you that Winterbourne's judgment isn't as correct as he believes. ) Winterbourne thinks that American flirts are "the queerest creatures in the world. " Giovanelli finishes at the piano and asks Daisy to join him for tea. Saying she prefers weak tea to Winterbourne's advice, Daisy walks off with Giovanelli and spends the rest of the evening with him. When Daisy approaches to say good night, Mrs. Walker has a chance to show her disapproval.
Without a word, she turns her back on Daisy, leaving the girl to exit with whatever grace she can muster. Daisy turns pale and looks at her mother, but Mrs. Miller is unaware of the snub. It doesn't escape the notice of Winterbourne, however, who sees that Daisy is too shocked and puzzled to be indignant. "That was very cruel, " he says to Mrs. Walker, who replies, "She never enters my drawing room again. " Winterbourne goes frequently to see Daisy at her hotel, but the Millers are rarely in. When they are, Giovanelli is always present.
Daisy is forever teasing him and flirting with him, but seems neither embarrassed nor annoyed by an interruption. She seems as happy to chatter with two men as with one, and her conversation is "the same odd mixture of audacity and puerility. " But Winterbourne has come to expect the unexpected from Daisy, and he is beginning to feel as if she has no more surprises for him. Increasingly, his curiosity about her is becoming more intellectual than romantic, and he has decided that she is a puzzle easily solved. At St. Peter's one afternoon, Winterbourne notices the pair and points them out to Mrs. Costello.
Mrs. Costello asks if Daisy's "intrigue with that little barber's block" is what has been upsetting him. Winterbourne is surprised to hear how preoccupied he has appeared. He wonders aloud if an affair conducted so publicly could be called an intrigue, but Mrs.
Costello argues that many people say Daisy is "quite carried away" by Giovanelli. Daisy probably thinks he is the most elegant man she has ever seen. Mrs. Costello even suspects that Eugenio arranged the meeting, and that he stands to receive a large commission if Giovanelli and Daisy ever marry. Winterbourne disagrees. Daisy wouldn't think of marrying Giovanelli, he says, nor does the Italian think of marrying her.
Mrs. Costello assures him that Daisy thinks of nothing, and she says he shouldn't be surprised to hear that Daisy is engaged. Winterbourne now finds himself in the unlikely position of defending Giovanelli. He confides to his aunt what he has learned in making inquiries. Giovanelli is a respectable cavaliers avvocato, a gentleman lawyer with no money, no title, and only his handsome face to offer.
Daisy, on the other hand, comes from a family with a great deal of money. "There is a substantial Mr. Miller in that mysterious land of dollars, " Winterbourne says of Daisy's father in America. Giovanelli must wish he were a count or a marquis, although he himself doubts that the Millers are yet even sophisticated enough to think of A number of Americans greet Mrs. Costello on their way through the church, and most of them have a comment about Daisy's behavior. Winterbourne is not happy with what he hears. It upsets him to have the "pretty and undefended and natural" young Bibliography:
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