The Enchanted April

Not realizing that Caroline has just snubbed them, Mrs. Arbuthnot and Wilkins head downstairs for breakfast. They arrive in the kitchen to find Mrs. Fisher sitting at the table, already eating. Both women are slightly irked that they were not present to welcome the two who are ostensibly their guests.

Mrs. Fisher eyes Mrs. Wilkins with distrust, remembering her outburst, and directs all of her attention to Mrs. Arbuthnot. They find Mrs. Fisher cold and observe that she acts as though she were sitting in her very own house. She informs them when lunch will be and that the extra beds from her and Caroline’s room have been removed and put into Mrs. Arbuthnot’s and Mrs. Wilkins’s. The two women do their best to remain polite, although Mrs. Fisher does not seem as happy to be in Italy as they are.

Mrs. Fisher is actually quite happy to be on vacation, but she does hope to spend most of her time alone. She approves of Mrs. Arbuthnot’s quiet manner and air of propriety, but she still finds Mrs. Wilkins a bit “too much.” She feels a similar sense of judgment about Caroline, but reflects that she need not worry herself too much about these three women.