The Age of Innocence: Chapter 15 Summary & Analysis

Archer takes part in all of the required activities at the Chiverses’, going out in the ice-boat and going through the stables, talking to a girl who used to have a crush on him, and taking part in practical jokes. The next day, he drives to Skuytercliff. Mr. van der Luyden built the house in anticipation of his marriage, and it looks like an Italian villa. It sits high above a small lake, surrounded by lawns. In a hollow lies an old stone cottage. It’s a rather gloomy house, especially in the snow. When Archer rings the bell, the butler seems surprised to see any visitor.

Archer learns that Ellen is at church with Mrs. van der Luyden. He declines the butler’s offer to seek out Mr. van der Luyden, choosing instead to walk towards the village in search of Ellen. He meets her on the road and takes her hand, saying that he came to see what she was running away from. She replies that he’ll see soon and rebuffs his attempts to find out more. She suggests they race, and takes off running through the snow. Archer follows joyfully. When they stop, she says she knew he would come, which he takes to mean she wanted him to.

Ellen knows that May asked Archer to take care of her, but he says he didn’t need to be asked. She says women in New York never seem to feel the need, and when Archer asks what kind of need she means, she says she can’t speak his language. He feels devastated by this retort. She finally agrees to tell him what’s happened, but only if they can find somewhere private. She feels that American houses never let anyone be alone. Walking past the small stone house, they realize that Mr. van der Luyden had it opened up because Ellen wanted to see it. No one will expect them back at the big house for an hour.

Archer and Ellen go into the house. It’s cozy and seems to have been created just for them. They settle by the fire, Ellen saying that she can’t be unhappy with Archer there. He thrills at her words and goes to look out the window to control himself. But he still sees her even when he’s not looking at her. He wonders if she’s been running from him. He asks her to tell him what’s wrong. With the whole room between them, he imagines her coming up behind him to throw her arms around his neck. Instead, he sees Julius Beaufort coming up the path.

Archer laughs. Ellen comes to his side and takes his hand, but when she sees Beaufort she shrinks away. Archer asks whether this is what she was running from. She says she didn’t know Beaufort was there, but Archer pulls away from her and throws the door open, telling Beaufort that Ellen expected him.

As Archer returns to New York the next morning, he relives the previous day. Beaufort was irritated to find Archer there and ignored him thoroughly. It was clear that Ellen didn’t know Beaufort was coming and had not told him she was going to Skuytercliff. Supposedly, he had come because he had found the perfect house for her. He grumbled that if only telephoning were better perfected, he wouldn’t have had to come all this way. They discussed the almost fantastical nature of the telephone for the rest of the walk back to the house.

Archer left, while Beaufort went inside with Ellen. Archer knew the van der Luydens would probably ask him to dinner, but certainly wouldn’t invite him to stay the night. Beaufort knew this too, and the fact that he made such a long journey anyway showed his desire for Ellen. He’s always looking for affairs. The question is what Ellen’s aim was in fleeing from him, but Archer thinks that he detected real annoyance at Beaufort’s appearance.

However, Ellen’s annoyance is almost worse than if she had left New York just to meet Beaufort secretly. It’s worse if she despises him but is still drawn to him by his association with artistic people and the world beyond New York. Archer knows that in some ways, it’s true that he and Ellen don’t speak the same language. Beaufort, however, does speak her language; he reflects the life she had with her husband. What she liked about that life, she will still find attractive. Sometimes Archer only wants to make Ellen see her situation clearly.

That evening, Archer unpacks the books he’s been sent from London, including Middlemarch, which has gotten interesting reviews. However, he has trouble focusing on them until he comes to a book of poetry called The House of Life. In this book he finds the beauty of passion and imagines it speaks of Ellen Olenska. But the next morning, his time with her at Skuytercliff seems entirely unreal. At breakfast, Janey and Mrs. Archer remark that he seems ill, but they blame it on his work, which they think far more strenuous than it is.

The next few days drag by, Archer feeling like his future will be dark and monotonous. On the fourth evening, he receives a note from Ellen telling him to visit the next day so that she can explain. Late that night he re-reads the short note again and again, considering all night how to respond. In the morning, he packs a bag and boards a boat to St. Augustine.