"I had opened up a road into the past again."

Time has passed from the end of chapter 10 to the beginning of chapter 11. Mrs. de Winter expresses her mental pain and anguish that the episode on the beach and at the cottage has caused her. She gets exceptionally anxious whenever someone brings up anything regarding the beach, as she fears that it will resurrect memories for Maxim that are hard for him to deal with. It seems as though her biggest fear is getting into another feud with Maxim, and loosing him. The fact that he said they should have stayed in Italy is burning inside of her. At the same time, Mrs. de Winter is also curious as to why the cottage and the beach are so sacred to Maxim. ..So am I!

The critiques that people have been giving Mrs. de Winter are starting to play a role in her psychological well-being. When giving tours, she is starting to act as if she were Rebecca, talking as if she were walking in her shoes. Beatrice's comment, "'She's so different to Rebecca'" (124) has affected Mrs. de Winter the most. Mrs. de Winter was making calls and went to see the bishop; however, he was not home. A lady was. The lady, who we find out is the bishops wife, presses for information regarding the Manderely parties. Mrs. de Winter says that she doesn't know just yet if they will continue the royal parties.The bishop's wife recalls a party in the rose garden, as well which occurred last summer.

Then they get on to the subject of Rebecca. Up until this point, Mrs. de Winter has not said her name aloud. She has read it in many different stances; in the book of poems Maxim lent her, on the handkerchief, and on the desk in the morning room. Both women give props to Rebecca for her pure beauty, as well as her talents in arranging everything around the Manderely estate. (It seems as though Mrs. de Winter isn't being quite as sincere.) On the drive home, Mrs. de Winter thought about the Manderley ball. She thought about the extravagance within it, as well as Rebecca's crucial role.

Mrs. de Winter is starting to become annoyed and reluctant to meet people that are constantly going to critique her and compare her to a dead women [Rebecca]. Finally, she gets it! When Mrs. de Winter arrives home at the estate, she sees Frank Crawly and we learn a BOAT load of information (pun intended!)

• The cottage was full of Rebecca's belongings.
• Rebecca used the cottage very frequently; she used it for moonlight picnics.
• The buoy was in the harbor for her boat. The boat that she took out to sea that capsized and killed her.
• Rebecca died from the capsizing of her boat. She drowned trying to swim to shore. Her remains washed up on shore in Edgecoombe.

Frank and Mrs. de Winter continue their walk up the driveway. Mrs. de Winter realizes that she has made Frank feel uncomfortable and in an effort to express her questioning, she reveals her true feelings about her marriage between her and Maxim. Frank reassures her and convinces her that all will be well between the two, if she leaves the past in the past.

Mrs. de Winter ends the chapter by asking a simple question, a truthful one: "'tell me, was Rebecca very beautiful?'" (137). To which Frank replies, "'yes, I suppose she was the most beautiful creature I ever saw in my life.'" (137).

We've cleared up some thick air in terms of cabin. I still feel as though Rebecca's death is suspicious though, and it seems that Frank alluded to some suspicion. Yup! Mrs. Danvers and the other servants know where everyone is at any given moment, I suspect they all knew where Rebecca was when she died! They actually didn't. No one knew, and that's how Maxim got away with murder. 

Vocabulary:
gaucherie (123)- social awkardness

Literary Devices & Important Quotations
Characterization