Splendors and Glooms Chapter 37 Summary

An Unfinished Confession

  • Madama launches into a story about the girl in the portrait—her name was Marguerite Tremblay and she went to school with Madama when they were both children.
  • When Cassandra was a young girl, her mother ran off to be with another man and her father didn't want to have her around anymore, so he shipped her off to a boarding school in Venice.
  • At the school, all of the other girls were mean to her … until a girl named Marguerite came to the school. She was a girl who had everything and was beloved by her father.
  • For some reason, Marguerite decided to take Cassandra under her wing, and she was her dearest friend.
  • They did all sorts of things together, like sneak away to go to the carnival on their birthday. When Madama says the date, Lizzie Rose speaks up and says that the date is Clara's birthday, too. Odd …
  • Lizzie Rose apologizes for interrupting and tells Madama to go on with her story, but Madama is way too distracted now. She's thinking about Clara … and how they have the same birthday. What does that mean?