Lucky Jim Chapter 14 Summary

  • Christine compliments Jim for being so good at stealing a cab.
  • He says he feels bad about it, but she says it was more important for him to get a cab than it was for the Barclays.
  • Jim asked why she eventually decided to leave, and she says it's because she was fed up with everything, including the way Bertrand was ignoring her.
  • She says she feels a little depressed.
  • Jim tells Christine that a pretty young woman like her has no reason to be depressed.
  • She says she's depressed because she doesn't get along well with men and she's not experienced in the ways of the dating world.
  • Jim admits that there are probably a lot of men who'd like to show her what the dating world is like.
  • Christine fears that she seems too old for her age. She's not quite twenty years old, but she feels like she's twenty-six. Old, old, old.
  • Jim admits to Christine that she can come across a little starchy or prissy in her mannerisms. He's just being honest.
  • Christine says she used to date men a lot, but she wasn't willing to be seduced, so they all just walked away from her.
  • She says the reason she's with Bertrand is because he didn't try to get her into bed the first time he met her.
  • Jim says that Bertrand's been asking for something bad to happen to him, but Christine says she can't break up with him.
  • She feels they've gone too far, and there's no turning back.
  • She says she thinks Bertrand might want to get married, but she hasn't decided if she wants to yet. (We're going to go ahead and say, "Bad Idea" on that one.)
  • Jim asks Christine if Bertrand's paintings are any good (he hopes they're not).
  • Christine says that Bertrand never lets her see his pictures.
  • Which is kind of weird, but also understandable when you think of how sensitive Bertrand is about his abilities.
  • Like Carol, Christine says it's nice to meet a man with ambition (which again reminds Jim that he has none).
  • Finally, Christine just comes out and asks Jim if he thinks it'd be a good idea for her to marry Bertrand.
  • Jim wants to scream "No!" but won't let himself.
  • He says he doesn't know one way or the other.
  • There's something weird about the way he won't make Christine's decision for her, or won't even tell her about Bertrand's cheating.
  • She presses him, though, and he finally says no, she shouldn't marry him.
  • When asked for a reason, he says it's because he likes Christine and doesn't like Bertrand.
  • He asks her if she loves Bertrand, and she admits that she once thought so, but isn't sure anymore.
  • At this point, Christine starts to feel a little sleepy, and asks Jim if she can fall asleep.
  • He's miffed that she's finding a way to stop chatting with him, but says it's okay.
  • She falls asleep and rests her head on his shoulder. As you can imagine, this pretty much drives him bananas.
  • Before they arrive at the house, Christine wakes up and asks Jim if he'll come up to the house with her.
  • Of course he will...