Daisy Miller by Henry James. Part 3.
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Chapter THREE
The Castle of Chillon
Two days later, Winterbourne and Miss Miller went to the Castle of Chillon. They met by the main door of the hotel. Daisy ran down the stairs, with a bright smile on her face. She was simply but elegantly dressed. All the couriers, servants, and foreign tourists in the main hall stared at her. To Winterbourne their trip to the castle seemed romantic: he thought of it as an adventure, and he hoped that she did too, but in this respect he was disappointed. She seemed happy but not excited. She did not blush when she looked at him or when she saw that other people were looking at her. Winterbourne wanted to go to the castle in a carriage, over the wooden bridge that connected the island to the shore, but Daisy said that she preferred to go in the little steamboat. She liked the breeze on the lake.
The steamboat was very crowded, and the people stared at Miss Daisy Miller. Winterbourne thought, ‘Will she embarrass me by talking too loudly or laughing too much?’ But soon he forgot those anxieties. He stood smiling at her and listening to her conversation. He had agreed with his aunt when she had said that Miss Daisy Miller was vulgar, but now he felt uncertain. ‘Is she really vulgar?’ he asked himself, watching her pretty face. Winterbourne did not feel embarrassed by her at all. In fact, he felt rather proud to be with such a beautiful and elegant young lady.
She talked a lot, and most of her conversation was about the things she had seen and done. She asked him many questions about his life and opinions, and she told him about herself and her family. At one point, she turned to him and said, ‘Why are you so serious?’
‘Serious?’ asked the young man in surprise. ‘I thought I was grinning from ear to ear!’
‘You look as if you were taking me to a funeral. If that’s a grin, your ears are very close together!’
‘I’m having the time of my life,’ said Winterbourne quietly.
She looked at him for a moment then laughed: ‘I like to make you say those things! You’re a strange mixture!’
It was a beautiful sunny day. At the castle, they walked around alone except for the guide. Winterbourne asked the guide not to hurry, to let them pause wherever they pleased. He gave the guide a generous tip as he said this. The guide thought he was being paid to leave them in peace, and he did so.
Daisy ran up the stairs and looked out of the little windows with great enthusiasm, but Winterbourne could see that she was not really interested in the old castle. She asked him about the history of the place, and when he had explained it, she said, ‘You certainly know a lot. Do you want to come travelling with us and teach Randolph?’
‘I’m afraid I can’t,’ Winterbourne replied.
‘Why not? You don’t work. You’re not in business. Why can’t you do what you want?’
‘There are things I must do in Geneva. In fact, I must go back there tomorrow.’
‘I don’t believe it!’ cried Miss Daisy Miller.
‘I’m afraid it’s true.’
‘Well, Mr Winterbourne, I think you’re horrible!’ For the next ten minutes she kept repeating that he was horrible. Poor Winterbourne was confused. No young lady had ever done him the honour of being so agitated by his departure.
‘I suppose you must be going to see a lady there!’ said Daisy.
‘No, I’m not!’ protested Winterbourne, but he thought, ‘How does she know about the lady?’ He was surprised by her insight and by the honest way she confronted him about the lady in Geneva. Miss Daisy Miller seemed to him an extraordinary mixture of innocence and vulgarity.
‘Does she never allow you out for more than three days?’ asked Daisy sarcastically. ‘Doesn’t she give you a vacation in the summer? But never mind. I’ll forgive you if you promise to come to Rome in the winter.’
‘Certainly I’ll come,’ said Winterbourne. ‘My aunt has a house in Rome, and I’ve promised to visit her there this winter.’
‘I don’t want you to come for your aunt,’ said Miss Daisy Miller. ‘I want you to come for me.’
After this, Daisy lost all interest in the castle and the lake. Winterbourne found a carriage to take them back to the hotel. On the journey back, she was very quiet.