The Return of the Soldier: Chapter 2  Summary & Analysis

At breakfast the following morning, there is a letter postmarked from France, written by Frank Baldry, a clergyman cousin of Chris. He informs Jenny that Chris has suffered shell-shock and is in “a very strange state.” Chris had telegrammed Frank at Ollenshaws, a place where Frank worked nearly 15 years ago. Upon getting the forwarded telegram, Frank left for France immediately and was surprised not to see Kitty and Jenny on the boat. When Frank found Chris in a Red Cross hospital, Chris seemed not quite himself—he’d greeted Frank in an “oddly boisterous” manner. Chris had seemed eager to get home to Baldry Court.

Oddest of all, though, is that Chris boyishly informed Frank that he is in love with a girl named Margaret Allington, daughter of the innkeeper on Monkey Island. Shocked, Frank asked how long this had been going on, and Chris laughingly replied that it's been true ever since he visited his Uncle Ambrose after finishing his university degree. That was 15 years ago.

Chris asked Frank if he wouldn’t mind sending Margaret some money, or fetching her himself, since Margaret hadn’t wired Chris any news of leaving for France. Alarmed, the clergyman told Chris that although he considers himself to be quite “broadminded,” there are limits, even during wartime! Chris just sneered at Frank’s old-fashioned attitude and declared his intention to marry Margaret. When Frank asked what Kitty thought of this plan, Chris demanded, “Who the devil is Kitty?”

Frank replied that Chris married Kitty Ellis in February, 1906. When Chris learned that it is now 1916, he faints. An hour later, when Frank returned to the room, Chris was studying himself in a hand mirror, finally believing that he is in fact 36, not 21. He was frightened and wanted to see Margaret immediately. He also wept over the information that his father died 12 years ago. Later, when Frank described Kitty as a “beautiful little woman” with “a charming and cultivated soprano voice,” Chris ranted against Kitty (say that he hates “everybody […] who sings”) and spoke longingly of his desire for Margaret.

The doctor advised Frank to take Chris home for the time being. In the letter, Frank urges Jenny to prepare Kitty for the coming shock. Kitty reads over Jenny’s shoulder and complains that Chris had always pretended to like her singing. Then she demands that Chris be brought home.

A week later, Chris is brought home. Until he arrives, a restless feeling of dread hangs over the house, and Kitty makes the maids cry. When at last the car pulls up to the house, the women hear Chris’s strong voice, and then he emerges from the gloom of the evening with a sleepy, contented smile. Seeing that part of his brown and gold hair has turned silver, Jenny cries out, and Chris turns to greet her. Jenny feels ashamed to be visibly 35, noticing that Chris appears unsettled by her appearance.

When Kitty emerges from the shadows, white-faced and grimacing, it’s obvious that Chris has no memory of her. He refrains from inquiring, instinctively not wanting to hurt her, but Kitty volunteers, “I am your wife,” in a voice that’s restraining anger. Chris stoops as if to kiss her, but he cannot follow through; at this, Kitty haughtily retreats.

When Chris goes to dress for dinner, he initially starts toward his old bedroom, but Jenny holds him back. Kitty rushes over to guide him in the right direction, but they struggle to climb the stairs at the same pace, and Chris moves ahead, musing, “This house is different.” Kitty laughingly tries to smooth over the moment, and Jenny is left below, reflecting that everything in the house feels touched by strangeness, even time itself.

Later, when Kitty reappears in the drawing-room, she has changed her outfit. She wears a white dress similar to her old wedding dress, her hair is in her bridal hairstyle, and on her left hand, she’s removed all but the wedding ring. When Chris enters the room, breathing hard from tripping down some unfamiliar steps, he’s greeted by the glowing vision of Kitty. Kitty gestures to her necklaces and says that Chris gave her all these, so it’s strange that he doesn’t remember her. Chris compliments her, but his gaze wanders, and it’s clear he’s thinking of somebody else.

Over dinner, Chris talks cheerfully of childhood memories, but Jenny feels grieved, because Chris keeps staring at and caressing familiar objects. Jenny sees that Baldry Court feels like a prison instead of a home to Chris. Even the butler is a different man than Chris expects, his favorite one having died seven years ago. Jenny knows that she, too, is a stranger to him, not the girl he remembers—“all the inhabitants of this new tract of time were his enemies.”

After dinner, Kitty scolds Jenny for playing Beethoven (“German music”) on the piano, so she switches to a cheerier piece by Purcell, imagining that it recalls a simpler time. She muses on the “horrors” of modern life, which she attributes to “adventurous men” who’ve altered the external world too much; beyond Chris, she sees a searchlight sweeping the sky.

Chris speaks up, telling Kitty that he knows his behavior must seem insulting, but that he must see Margaret or else he’ll die. Kitty agrees. Jenny is amazed at Kitty’s unselfishness, then notices the ugly expression on Kitty’s face, as Kitty hisses “That dowd!” so that Chris won’t hear. Jenny tries to comfort her, reminding her that Chris is sick, but Kitty maintains that Chris is just “a man like other men” and must be pretending. This wounds Jenny, who has perceived Chris’s own pain all evening, and she shakes Kitty in anger. Chris interrupts them, imploring them to be kind to each other, and Kitty storms off to bed.

Chris and Jenny are left alone to talk, Chris seeming more relaxed in Kitty’s absence. Chris asks Jenny if all these changes—his age, Kitty, the house—are real. Jenny confirms it and asks Chris what does seem real to him. After a moment’s thought, Chris looks up with a bright, laughing expression and begins to tell her about Monkey Island. Jenny can no longer remember his exact phrases, but she will tell the story as she has long visualized it, saying: “I think it is the truth.”