The Woman in Black: Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

Samuel Daily takes Arthur to the Gifford Arms in his shining, spacious car. As he drops Arthur off, Samuel hands him his card; though Arthur doubts he will need it during his brief stay, he tucks it into his pocket. Inside the inn, Arthur is pleased to find that it is warm and inviting. He feels as if he is on a holiday, not in town to attend a funeral for business. Arthur drinks a glass of mulled wine and enjoys supper by the fire; after eating, Arthur prepares to head up to bed. The landlord, clearing away Arthur’s dishes, asks if Arthur is in town for the auction. When Arthur asks him to clarify what he means, he informs Arthur that tomorrow at eleven, several farms south of town are being auctioned off—afterward, there is a great luncheon and an open market.

Arthur tells the landlord that he regretfully won’t be able to attend the auction or the market—he is attending the funeral of Mrs. Drablow of Eel Marsh House. At the mention of the woman’s name, Arthur sees something like alarm or suspicion flash across the landlord’s face. Arthur tells the landlord he’s just Mrs. Drablow’s solicitor, and has heard she kept very much to herself. The landlord remarks that living where she lived, “she could hardly do otherwise.” The landlord bids Arthur goodnight.

Arthur chalks up the landlord’s odd behavior to the claustrophobic nature of local “silliness” and small-town rumors grown out of proportion. Any “poor old woman,” Arthur thinks, would have a hard time in this dreary town being seen as anything other than a witchy character. Despite his attempts to reassure himself, Arthur senses that because the landlord and Mr. Daily both reacted oddly to the mention of Mrs. Drablow, there must be “some significance” in what each man left unsaid at the sound of her name.

After a cozy and warm night’s sleep, Arthur leaps from bed the next morning, ready to greet the day. Had he known, he says now, that that night was to be his last untroubled night for a long while, he might not have jumped out of bed so soon or been so eager to get to the funeral. Even now, safe with his family at Monk’s Piece, Arthur knows deep down that he has never in his life slept as soundly as he did that night at the Gifford Arms. Soon after, he says, his innocence was “lost forever.”

Arthur eats breakfast and sets out to explore the town of Crythin Gifford. It is a beautiful day, and Arthur finds the town quite cheerful—though when he heads away from the central square, he is surprised by how small the town is and how flat and quiet the surrounding open country. Arthur realizes that the town must be quite dreary in inclement weather, but as he believes he is only staying for a day or two, he feels quite comfortable as he takes it all in.

Arthur returns to the inn to find a note from Mr. Jerome—the man Mr. Bentley arranged to be Arthur’s companion at the funeral and guide in Crythin Gifford—stating that he will collect Arthur at ten-forty and bring him to the funeral. At the appointed time, Mr. Jerome arrives, and as the two make their way through the streets towards the funeral, Arthur observes the man. Mr. Jerome is short and middle-aged, blandly formal and “shuttered,” though courteous and conversational.

As the men approach the church, Arthur asks if Mrs. Drablow is to be buried in the churchyard or a family plot. Mr. Jerome is silent for a moment, and then admits that though there is a family grave, it is not in the churchyard—and is “unsuitable” for present use, anyway. The men are the first to arrive at the church, and wait solemnly for the funeral car—Arthur resisting all the while the urge to ask more about the Drablow family and their mysterious burial ground.

The funeral is melancholy, and Arthur finds himself “inexpressibly sad.” Towards the end of the funeral, Arthur hears a rustling behind him. He turns and catches a glimpse of a woman dressed head-to-toe in black. Arthur notes that her elaborate mourning garb has “rather gone out of fashion.” Arthur cannot see the woman’s face clearly due to her bonnet-style hat, but senses that she is suffering a “terrible wasting disease,” as she is very pale, with sunken eyes. Arthur has heard of conditions which waste one away, but is surprised to see that despite the woman’s frailty she does not look very old—perhaps thirty years of age. As the services conclude, the woman slips out to the churchyard, and leans against a headstone near Mrs. Drablow’s open grave.

Arthur, Jerome, and the rest of the gathered mourners join the woman in black at the graveside, and Arthur finds he cannot look away from the woman, who, despite her current affliction, bears “some lingering hint of a not inconsiderable former beauty.” As Mrs. Drablow’s coffin is lowered into the ground, Arthur bends his head and shuts his eyes in a brief prayer. When he looks up again, the service is over, and the sick-looking woman is nowhere to be seen.

While talking with the other mourners at the church gate, a strange sight catches Arthur’s eye. There is a school next to the church and, lined up along the iron railing which separates the church from the school, are twenty or so children standing silent and motionless, presumably having watched the entire outdoor portion of the service. Arthur attempts to smile at one of the children, but the boy does not smile back.

As Mr. Jerome and Arthur depart the churchyard, Arthur remarks that he hopes the “dreadfully unwell” woman in black from the service can find her way home all right. Mr. Jerome frowns, uncertain of whom Arthur is talking about. Arthur asks Jerome if he saw the wan-looking woman in the tall bonnet, but Mr. Jerome is silent, and actually turns pale. Arthur asks Mr. Jerome if he is all right, and Mr. Jerome answers only that he did not see a young woman.

Arthur looks over his shoulder, back towards the churchyard; the woman in black is there again, standing at the edge of the grave. Arthur supposes she must have concealed herself until the procession left the yard so that she could be alone at the grave. Arthur wonders fleetingly what connection the two women have, and then points the woman out to Mr. Jerome with his finger. Jerome grabs Arthur’s wrist in a tight grip. Arthur wonders if Jerome is having some kind of seizure, and asks him to release his grip. Mr. Jerome quickly apologizes for his “passing faintness,” and suggests the two walk back towards his own office.

By the time the men get back to town, Arthur notices that Mr. Jerome is looking much better. Arthur asks if Jerome is going to accompany him over to Eel Marsh House, but Jerome declines. He advises Arthur to cross the causeway any time after one o’clock in the afternoon—a man named Keckwick, who has always been the “go-between” to the estate, will come and collect him, and then bring him back to the inn in the evening. Arthur tells Jerome that there is quite a bit of business to attend to at the house, and suggests he might just stay at the house for the sake of convenience; Mr. Jerome “carefully” suggests that Arthur will be more comfortable at the inn. The two men shake hands, and Arthur goes off to the great luncheon.

The lunch is a joyous, noisy occasion, and though Arthur initially feels out of place in his stuffy funeral garb, the farmers make him feel right at home. One tells Arthur that Samuel Daily purchased a very big parcel of land at the auction earlier—Daily is a large landowner, and is, the farmer implies, disliked throughout town due to this fact. Arthur proudly states that as he is the solicitor looking after the affairs of Mrs. Drablow, he may very well be selling her estate to Daily sometime soon. To this proclamation, the farmer says nothing.

Arthur notices the time, and makes to get up to head back to the inn and change before it is time to head over to Eel Marsh. His neighbor solemnly speaks up and warns him that Arthur will not find anybody in town—not even Samuel Daily—who will have anything to do with Eel Marsh House, or any of Mrs. Drablow’s assorted other properties. Sick of everyone’s “dark mutterings” on the subject of Mrs. Drablow and Eel Marsh, Arthur impatiently asks why that might be. The farmer does not answer, though, and instead turns away.