Midnight at the Electric

Lenore responds to Beth’s letter in which Beth says she is moving to Kansas. Lenore’s village, Forest Row, had a memorial parade, which she skipped. Lenore’s mother hosted a dinner on Sunday and picked a new boy that she wants Lenore to date. Sneaking away, Lenore returned to the abandoned stone house and cleaned it. She has gone back multiple times, bringing items to make it more comfortable and pretending that she is spending time with Beth in the house. At night, she thinks she can see smoke coming from the house.

Lenore has been counting how much time has passed since the war started and since Beth left. She notes that she is sending Ethan Frome with her letter.

Lenore and her mother visit a new cinema. It goes well, although Lenore is distracted and cannot become absorbed in the show. Afterward, they return home and go to bed, but Lenore wakes up in the middle of the night in a panic, thinking about how Teddy once protected her pet duck from being killed and eaten. Lenore leaves her room and goes to the abandoned house in the woods.

At the house, Lenore sees something moving in the dark and calls out to see who it is. A large man comes forward; he has a disfigurement from a serious injury, which Lenore assumes is from the war. He says he found the house while fossil hunting and has been coming to stay there at night, avoiding Lenore. Lenore is upset at his presence but hesitantly agrees to let him keep using the house at night so that he can get away from people and find peace. Lenore thinks he is lying about coming from a wealthy family, because he is wearing disheveled clothing.

Having not heard from Beth in weeks, Lenore writes, asking if Beth is married yet and on her honeymoon. Lenore has been feeling lonely and missing Beth. She has a dream about when the two of them saw the German zeppelin flying over their heads on its way to bomb London. Lenore hasn’t seen the man from the cottage again, and she still goes and pretends Beth is there.

It has been a month since Lenore has heard from Beth, and she is worried something may be wrong. The Allstock family’s mourning period has ended, and they are preparing for the Fair of Lights and a coming lecture about industrialization. However, some of the local laborers have been complaining about industrialization, and someone put manure on Lenore’s father’s shoes.

At the cottage, the man has been working on the roof and making other improvements. He and Lenore both bring items to the house. She writes that they aren’t friends but then says she heard a noise, and abruptly stops writing.

The noise from the night before turns out to be the man from the cottage. Lenore went out to him; he was seeking company to help distract him from his chronic pain. They went to the cottage, drank wine, ate, and talked. Lenore learned that the man’s name is James, he is from Knightsbridge, and his parents are naturalists who work for the British Museum. James spills when he drinks because of his scarred face, and he asks Lenore to pretend not to notice.

They get drunk, and James asks who Lenore is pretending is in the house, so Lenore tells him about Beth. James suggests that Beth may as well be an imaginary friend because she is likely no longer the same person Lenore remembers. Lenore also talks about Teddy, to whom she had been close. They also speak about James’s parents, who are apparently on an expedition; however, Lenore is sure James is lying about having a wealthy family. Lenore writes that she assumes Beth will envision a Beauty and the Beast scenario but ensures Beth that James is engaged.

Lenore writes again, still worried that Beth has not yet responded. Lenore met James at the cottage again, where he was fixing the roof. They talked about the Fair of Lights, and James argued that industrialization is what caused the recent war. Lenore argued that industrialization is “miraculous.” Not wanting to fight, Lenore changed the subject to the Holy Grail and took James to the Cave of the Cup.

In the cave, James broke off a stalactite and gave it to Lenore, arguing that it is more impressive than a grail. When they were children, Beth told Lenore she found the Holy Grail and hid it on a ledge in the cave. Lenore had climbed to look for it, fallen, and broken her arm. Lenore had tried not to cry because Beth claimed she cried for attention. The next year, the war started, and Beth left. Ever since, Lenore has been saving up so she can go to America. Lenore asked what James’ fiancée said about his injury. He explained that he waited a long time to see her after his injury, and when he did, she called him beautiful.

In a postscript, Lenore asks why Beth hasn’t written and if she has left Lenore behind.

Lenore responds to Beth, who finally wrote to say that she is happy, married, and living on a farm. Lenore has gone on three dates with Christopher, the boy her mother pushed on her at the party several weeks earlier. She has also been helping James repair the cottage roof, though they often argue. Wanting to bother him, Lenore asked about James’s family and why he isn’t on the expedition. When he said he has gone with them previously and will be going on the next one, Lenore noticed a gap in his story and questioned what his fiancée thinks about him leaving. He turned the conversation to Beth, and Lenore told him how they “became blood sisters” (122). Originally, they were going to cut their hands and mix their blood, but Beth backed out. Then Beth fell and scraped her knee one day, and Lenore cut her hand and touched Beth’s knee. James asked why Beth lied about the Holy Grail and what Teddy thought about the blood sister incident. Lenore ends the first part of the letter noting that Beth seemed distant in her letter and that she is scared she will lose Beth.

Lenore resumes writing in the middle of the night. She has been thinking about Teddy’s death and is angry. She has been trying to imagine his death, and she feels like she is becoming a stranger to herself. Lenore is jealous of James, who has his fiancée’s love, and she resents that James lived but Teddy died.

Since Beth didn’t respond to her last letter, Lenore decides to write a more upbeat message. She shares that James left a note for her to meet him at the cottage. She went on Thursday. He had finished the roof, and they climbed up and sat on top of it while drinking wine. The moon reminded her of zeppelins—“it felt like the moon might be a beautiful thing sent from God to make up for zeppelins” (127). James asked if Lenore wants to get married one day, but she doesn’t know. She thanked him for serving in the war, but he said she shouldn’t thank him. Lenore asked James to go with her to the Fair of Lights, and he agreed. Lenore has also purchased her ticket to come to America.

Lenore woke up shaking in the middle of the night. She went to James, who immediately hugged her. She told him how much she misses Teddy and then cried.

Lenore has realized that grief is different than sadness and that it changes people. She knows she isn’t the same person, but she is still hopeful.

Lenore writes that everything has changed. She starts by discussing the Fair of Lights. James arrived to pick her up, and he and Lenore’s parents chatted politely. They took a busy train to London, laughing along the way. The fair was busy, and they walked and talked; James relaxed and did not seem to remember his disfiguration. They watched the main event, called “the great illumination” (134). Lenore was in awe despite James’s assertions that industrialization is damaging. Afterward, they ate and rode rides until it was time to leave. On the train ride back, they had a perfect view of the finale of the fair.

Lenore walked to the cottage with James. When he went to get a lamp, Lenore went through his rucksack and found a picture of James’s fiancée, a bundle of items, and papers. Among the papers were James’s hospital discharge papers, a letter from the government commanding James to report to the conscription office or else he would be prosecuted as a deserter, and a letter from James’s fiancée, Marie, notifying him that she has married someone else. When James came inside, Lenore confronted him and kicked him out of the house.

Lenore is leaving for America the next day, and she asks if Beth will be happy to see her.