Splendors and Glooms Chapter 33 Summary

The Wolf and the Swan

  • Even though Clara is back to being a puppet, she's determined to do whatever she can to communicate with Lizzie Rose and Parsefall—and to warn them about the danger they're in.
  • She tries to visualize talking to them while they're sleeping in the hope that they'll see her in their dreams and understand her message. She tells them that they need to flee, pronto.
  • She works on Parsefall and can see into his dreams. As he sleeps, the poor kid dreams he's in the workhouse as a little 5-year-old; he's holding a doll and looks dirty.
  • When Clara comes to him, he calls her Eppie, but she tells him that she's Clara and that he cannot steal the stone from Madama because it's dangerous and will hurt him.
  • He keeps calling her Eppie, though, so Clara eventually asks him what he's talking about. That's when he says that Eppie is his sister, the one who gave him this doll. Apparently she's dead.
  • She feels absolutely terrible and tries to comfort him, but her emotional distress breaks her concentration and she finds herself back in the room as a puppet again. She's no longer in his dreams.
  • Then, she sees with horror that someone is creeping into the room. It's Grisini, and he crouches by Parsefall until the boy wakes up.
  • Grisini tells Parsefall that if he makes a single sound, he'll be killed. The boy is terrified, but he listens as Grisini tells him that he wants Parsefall to steal the stone for him.
  • Parsefall says he'll do it, but if he gives Grisini the stone, the magician must go away and leave the children alone—forever.
  • Grisini threatens Parsefall some more and sneaks out of the room. Parsefall sits there for a while, thinking about what to do and how he desperately wishes he could tell Lizzie Rose what just happened.
  • But, he wants to protect Lizzie Rose, so he decides that he needs to find a hiding place where Grisini cannot find him.
  • He grabs Clara and walks over to the Tower Room, where he can hide away from Grisini and not worry about him breaking in because the lock on the door is too strong.