We Have Always Lived in the Castle: Chapter 2 Summary & Analysis

Merricat goes through the gate to the path on her family’s property. Before her father closed the path, the villagers used to use it as a shortcut, but her mother didn’t like them to. The Blackwoods’ guests come up the driveway from the highway. Merricat used to think of the driveway as the place for the good people and the path as the place for the sneaking villagers. She was relieved when the villagers could no longer use the path. She feels safe once she locks the gate behind her. The land is forested, and she knows it better than anyone. Constance never strays past the house and the garden.

Constance meets Merricat at the end of the garden, teasing that before long she’ll be going all the way into the village. Merricat doesn’t like this idea. She used to draw pictures of Constance as a fairy princess because she was always so bright. Merricat’s cat, Jonas, follows the sisters into the house. Merricat locks the front door, because they mostly live in the back of the house and on the lawn, where no one can see them.

Uncle Julian is sitting at his desk in the corner of the kitchen. Constance puts the groceries away, since Merricat isn’t allowed to deal with the food. Constance plans their lunch, remarking how happy she is whenever Merricat comes home from the village. Merricat declines to tell her how bad the village was, and Constance says she’ll go someday, which worries Merricat.

Uncle Julian says he doesn’t have any information on whether the girls’ father had a cigar on the morning he’s studying. Merricat watches Constance put the library books on the shelf, where they’ll stay forever, and prepare the food. She asks whether Constance is afraid because Helen Clarke is coming to visit. Constance says she isn’t. A few acquaintances still visit for a few minutes every so often, though the sisters never return the calls. These people think they help the family, and they always go only where they’re supposed to in the house. Sometimes Mr. and Mrs. Carrington drive up and chat from their car, but they never come inside.

Merricat teases that the Carringtons might bring her a horse if she asked, then says she really only wants a winged horse, so that they could fly to the moon. Uncle Julian says that the sisters’ parents had a fight on the last night, though they rarely fought. Constance says it doesn’t seem like it’s been six years, and she wishes she could have them back.

The house was only supposed to be a summer house, since the family should have had the Rochester house for winters. The windows in the drawing room go all the way to the ceiling. The room is beautiful and the sisters keep it clean, though they only use it for Helen Clarke’s visits. Their mother always kept the room perfectly, and her portrait hangs there. Constance serves tea just where her mother did. Merricat isn’t allowed to pour the tea. Constance sets the table as usual for this visit, which is the last time Helen Clarke will ever come to tea.

Merricat watches at the window. She asks whether Constance is frightened, which Constance denies. When Helen Clarke’s car arrives, there are two people in it. Merricat wants to send Helen away, but Constance says she’ll be all right. Merricat goes onto the porch and is relieved to see that Helen has only brought Mrs. Wright, who has come before. When they enter the hall, Helen Clarke gives Merricat the opportunity to warn Constance of who the visitor is. When Merricat returns to the hall, Helen Clarke is telling Mrs. Wright about the origins of the staircase.

The guests enter the drawing room, and Helen Clarke’s awkwardness forces Mrs. Wright to sit in a corner, while she herself sits too close to Constance. They chat about gardening, and only Merricat can see that Constance is nervous. Mrs. Wright says she would love to meet Uncle Julian, and Helen Clarke says he’s eccentric, though Merricat thinks Helen is far more eccentric.

Helen Clarke says she’s going to give Constance advice, as a friend. Merricat has a bad feeling about this advice. Helen Clarke says that Constance should return to the world. Recently, Constance would have dismissed these words, but now she listens. Merricat interrupts the discussion to point out that there’s no milk. She goes to the kitchen to fetch it.

Merricat realizes that three times today, Constance has mentioned entering the outside world. She begins to panic. She smashes a pitcher on the table and leaves the shards for Constance to see. Then she brings milk back to the drawing room, where the women are discussing how Constance might return to society.

Merricat brings a cup of tea to Mrs. Wright, whose hand shakes when she takes it. She offers sugar, but Mrs. Wright refuses. Merricat realizes that Mrs. Wright has worn black on purpose, but Merricat doesn’t feel it’s right for her mother’s drawing room. She brings Mrs. Wright rum cakes to make her unhappy, mentioning that Constance made them.

Helen Clarke eats numerous sandwiches. Merricat believes that Helen Clarke thinks she can act however she likes because the sisters are so glad of her company. She imagines Helen Clarke wearing her worst clothes to their house, and then she imagines her sitting trapped in a tree and screaming. Helen Clarke suggests that Constance might have a dinner party. Merricat says she could ask the villagers, and Helen Clarke insists that Merricat exaggerates the villagers’ dislike of the family.

Merricat thinks Constance is beginning to look tired. She hears Uncle Julian coming and opens the door. Helen Clarke asks whether people would be afraid to visit the house. Uncle Julian greets the visitors, though he doesn’t remember them. He says that since his niece was acquitted of murder, no one could be afraid to visit. Helen Clarke insists that no one thinks about that anymore.

Uncle Julian remarks on how fascinating the case is. Helen Clarke tries to stop him from talking about it, but he mentions tasting arsenic and Mrs. Wright wants to know more. Merricat and Constance look somber, but are actually happy that Uncle Julian has an audience. Mrs. Wright can’t help remarking that the deed happened in this house.

Constance and Uncle Julian begin to reminisce about what happened. The family was having dinner, and there was arsenic in the sugar. Uncle Julian put the sugar on his blackberries, but not as much as some people. Constance eats neither sugar nor berries, which counted against her at her trial. Helen Clarke tries to stop them from continuing on this subject, as she pities Constance, but Constance insists she’s fine.

Uncle Julian says he feels lucky that the poisoning happened to him, because it’s so sensational. He begins to doubt whether it actually happened, but Constance assures him it did. He invites Helen Clarke to see the dining room where it occurred, saying he wanted to be a witness at the trial, but he wasn’t well enough. Helen Clarke prepares to leave, but Mrs. Wright wants to see the dining room.

Uncle Julian takes Mrs. Wright into the dining room. He remarks that the table is now far too large for what remains of the family, but they feel they must keep it. He says the family was generally happy. Merricat wonders what Mrs. Wright would do if she met her in the village. Uncle Julian points out where each member of the family was sitting that night, saying that Merricat was not at the table because she had been sent to bed without dinner. Constance says that she would often bring her sister food in her room when she was in trouble.

Uncle Julian describes the food that night, much of which came from Constance’s garden. He points out that if Constance wanted to poison them, she could have used any number of poisonous plants, which he describes in detail, rather than arsenic. Mrs. Wright protests that Constance shouldn’t have had to cook dinner, but Uncle Julian says that Mrs. Blackwood was an awful cook. Helen Clarke interjects that Mrs. Wright wasn’t supposed to bring up this topic, and they should leave.

Uncle Julian says that Constance scrubbed the sugar bowl before the police or the doctor even arrived, which was strange. She says there was a spider in it. Uncle Julian speaks of the pain he was in after the poisoning, while Constance was in jail. Mrs. Wright says she’s always wanted to talk to the Blackwoods to find out the real story. She lays out the evidence. Constance bought the arsenic—for rat poison, Constance says—she cooked the dinner, she didn’t call a doctor until too late, she washed the sugar bowl, she told the police that the poisoned deserved their fate, and that it was her fault. Uncle Julian doesn’t think that Constance meant what she said to the police.

Uncle Julian reminds Mrs. Wright that she’s met Constance, which she’s forgotten. Mrs. Wright can’t reconcile the Constance she’s met with her image of the murderer. Helen Clarke finally tells Mrs. Wright that she’s leaving. Merricat points out that Mrs. Wright hasn’t drunk any of her tea. The guests say their farewells, and Merricat laughs to see Helen Clarke driving away almost before Mrs. Wright is entirely in the car.

Constance expresses exasperation with Helen Clarke and points out that Merricat was teasing Mrs. Wright. Merricat says she always wants to increase the terror of frightened people. Constance applauds Uncle Julian’s performance. He says he’ll rest until dinner. Merricat brings the tea tray to the kitchen and watches while Constance cleans up the broken pitcher. She asks whether Constance is going to follow Helen Clarke’s advice on reentering the world, and Constance says she doesn’t know yet.