Daniel Deronda Chapter 45 Summary

  • Gwendolen and Grandcourt go to a party at Sir Hugo's place. Gwendolen is convinced that she is going to see Daniel and Mirah again.
  • Klesmer and Mirah are at the piano (of course) and Gwendolen sits down to watch them. She tries to be careful as she glances around for Daniel because she doesn't want Grandcourt to notice.
  • Gwendolen notices Lush talking to Grandcourt. It freaks her out that he probably knows way more about Grandcourt than she ever will.
  • Finally, Gwendolen notices Daniel, who is standing with Hans. He doesn't seem to have noticed her yet.
  • We jump over to Daniel. He doesn't like the way that people are commenting on Mirah as if she's just there for everyone to stare at. He's also offended when someone refers to her as a "Jewess" because he feels like it's just a label that doesn't say anything about who she really is.
  • Mirah sings. People applaud. We skip over to Mirah's point of view. She is glad when Klesmer praises her singing, but all she really cares about is what Daniel thought of it.
  • Gwendolen and Mirah start talking. Gwen praises Mirah's singing skills and asks if she can teach her how to sing.
  • They start talking about Daniel (of course). Mirah starts gushing about him. Gwendolen is irritated.  She's also kind of jealous because she had tried to be a singer and couldn't hack it.
  • Gwendolen goes and sits a little bit closer to Daniel while Klesmer plays the piano. She speaks a little condescendingly of Mirah to Daniel.  Daniel is ticked off. Gwendolen gets upset. Daniel is a little bit gentler.
  • Daniel feels bad and tells her he shouldn't have meddled in her business. Gwendolen is upset because she thinks that means he wishes he had never known her.
  • Mirah starts singing again.
  • Daniel stews about his problems. Then Hans comes up and is like, "Lucky, you were sitting here arguing with that young hottie." Except instead of "hottie" he calls her "young duchess."
  • On their way home, Grandcourt tells Gwendolen that Lush will be coming over later to join them for dinner. Gwendolen says no way, because he promised her when they got married that Lush would never come into their home. Grandcourt's like, "Whatever."
  • Gwendolen knows that she has no power over Grandcourt and feels totally defeated.