Hello and welcome to Story Time for Grownups. I'm Faith Moore, and this season we're reading

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. Each episode, I'll read a few chapters from the book,

pausing from time to time to give brief explanations, so it's easier to follow along. It's like an

audiobook with built-in notes.

So brew a pot of tea, find a cozy chair, and settle in.

It's real time. I miss you. I know I miss you. This is pre-recorded, but even so, I know that I miss being

with you in real time, but I will be back soon. And I'm excited that you are getting to experience

these chapters. These are really cool, exciting chapters, and I can't wait to be back with you. But for

now, let's recap what we did last time, and then I'll talk a little bit and then we'll get to the chapters.

Last time was Halcum's narrative chapter one of the second epoch, and today we're going to

be reading Halcum's narrative chapter two. So here is the recap from last time. Okay, so where

we left off, six months have passed since Laura's wedding to Sir Percival. The couple have been abroad

the whole time. They're due back the next day, and they're going to be bringing with them

Count and Madame Fosco. Madame Fosco is Laura's aunt, and Count Fosco is Madame Fosco's Italian

husband, who is friends with Sir Percival. Marion is still our narrator via her diary,

and she has moved to Sir Percival's estate, Blackwater Park, to wait for their arrival.

In all of the six months that Laura has been gone, Laura hasn't told Marion anything in her

letters about her married life. Marion also hasn't heard from Walter, except for one

letter to say that he arrived in Honduras and a newspaper report that said that the expedition had set off.

So now he's in the wilderness and he can't be reached. Blackwater Park seems to Marion to be a sort of

gloomy and kind of oppressive place. There are three wings of the

house, but only one is habitable, and the ground seems sort of overgrown and claustrophobic.

...