"She lay buried in the crypt of the church with all the other dead de Winters"

Mrs. de Winter journeys to the West Wing of the Manderely estate. She is surprised to find that room in which Mr. de Winter and Rebecca use to stay was all in tact. There were no cloths covering the furniture anymore. Mrs. de Winter opens the shutter to let some day light in and starts to explore the room. She takes notice to the bed, as well as Rebecca's night gown and slippers, which were embroidered with "R de W."

All of a sudden, Mrs. Danvers enters the room. Mrs. de Winter tries to make the excuse that she came to close the shutter, but Mrs. Danvers rebuts and tells her that she knew she was there to see the room, but was just too shy to ask. Quite sporadically, she starts to drag Mrs. de Winter around the room showing her all that it has to offer. She shows her the blanket that she has on her bed, the clothing in the closet, and even her underwear.

Mrs. Danvers reveals that she feels as though she is responsible for Rebecca's death. She was away the night that Rebecca went out to sea. She feels as though if she were home, she would have told Rebecca that the waves were too rough and she wouldn't have gone.

The story of Rebecca's death:

• Rebecca returns from London around seven and then left again to head down to the beach.
• Mrs. Danvers felt worried around midnight that Rebecca had not come home yet so she went and found Mr. de Winters. He isn't concerned and says that she is probably staying down at the cottage.
• Mrs. Danvers can't sleep all night and finally at 5:30 am decides that she is going to the beach.
• She saw one of the life buoys floating up on the shore. The next day, another one floated up at Kerrith.
• Mr. de Winter, who was sick at the time, had to go identify Rebecca's body, two months later, in Edgecoombe.

The reader also discovers why Mr. de Winter prepared the East Wing for the couple to stay in: the sound of the waves haunt him. Mrs. Danvers tells Mrs. de Winter if she ever wants to see the West Wing again, she should just alert her. Mrs. de Winter is so upset and disturbed by her experience, she skips tea time and locks herself in her room to lye on her bed.

Vocabulary: 

malevolent (176) - harmful or evil

Literary Devices & Important Quotations

Characterization