Parade's End

Marie helps Mark read the newspaper. Marie complains about Christopher not providing better for his brother. However, Mark is pleased with the circumstances, so she never says anything to Christopher. Marie once performed in the opera, and had she never met Mark, after retiring from the opera, she would have done farm work in Normandy. She is content with her life. Marie contemplates the duty of Frenchmen, and how if everyone did their duty, France would be great again. All their troubles began on Armistice Day, when Mark fell ill. Christopher told her that Mark was going to “make an honest woman of her” (702). She does not trust Christopher or his motives. In her view, Mark is the true English gentleman, not Christopher. After Marie married Mark, she learned about Sylvia and how she might cause Marie problems. She is ready to face her sister-in-law.

The working-class people make derisive comments about how Marie makes cider. She does it in a French fashion, and the commoners find it odd and wrong. They do not like that Marie acts like “Quality” but is not “Quality”: “Quality was stuck up ‘n wore shiny clothes ‘n had motor-cars ‘n statues ‘n palms ‘n ball-rooms ‘n conservatories” (706). They also argue how the war should have resulted in better conditions for them, but it did not.

Michael now goes by Mark Tietjens, Jr., which Sylvia does not approve of. The name Michael came from Sylvia’s side of the family, and by calling himself Mark he has reclaimed his Tietjens heritage, much to Sylvia’s ire. He is sent by Sylvia, along with Mrs. de Bray Pape, to spy on Christopher and Valentine. Mark Jr. does not know that is why he is there. He admires his father. Mrs. de Bray Pape is the wife of a wealthy American. She believes, through metempsychosis, that she is Madame de Maintenon—a 17th century French noblewoman secretly married to Louis XIV.

Mark does not know what to think about his mother sometimes. He knows that she has questionable morals, though he would fight anyone who said that of her. He admires the life his father is leading. It is very socialist. Mark is a Marxist-Communist, like seemingly everyone at Oxford. Despite his trepidations, he has come to his father’s home because “[a]n Englishman always does his duty to his mother!” (713).

Mark watches as a boy and an older woman—Mark, Jr. and Mrs. de Bray Pape—trapse through his grass towards his hut. The woman is complaining loudly. She addresses Mark rudely, saying, “Hasn’t it struck you that but for the sins of your youth you might be doing stunts round these good-looking hills?” (717). Mrs. de Bray Pape is a friend of Sylvia’s who will be renting Groby mansion. She wants to redecorate the place, so she came to Christopher for furniture. Mark does not recognize Christopher’s son, at first. He still wonders if the boy is really Drake’s son. It would explain why Sylvia was in such a hurry to marry Christopher. Mrs. de Bray speaks about metempsychosis and how she has the soul of Madame de Maintenon. While she is talking, Mark thinks back on life. He thinks about Sylvia, her extramarital sexual activity, and her hatred of Christopher. He remembers his youth and life at Groby; when his father remarried, his new wife introduced softness into the Tietjens line. Mark believes Christopher is soft. Off in the distance, Mark hears a bugle playing The Last Post. He heard that song on Armistice Day, which he believes was a terrible day. Mrs. de Bray Pape stops talking and has Mark, Jr. take over. Mark, Jr. has trouble speaking to his uncle. In essence, Mrs. de Bray Pape wants to cut down Groby Great Tree and needs Mark’s permission. Mark realizes that Mark Jr., and thus Sylvia, do not know about his condition. He finds that amusing because he knows that Sylvia has been spying on them. The bugle continues to play, and Mark thinks about that terrible day.

Mark thinks back to Armistice Day and the weeks prior. On that day he learned that Germany would not be invaded. For a long time, Mark had hoped Christopher would eventually take over Groby, but Christopher had little interest in becoming a country gentleman. Christopher had a plan to go into the antique furniture business. He met an American-German POW named Schatzweiler. Schatzweiler had been doing business in Brandenburg when he was conscripted into the army. Schatzweiler was good with old furniture and had access to the burgeoning American market. Mark remembers growing up at Groby. He is 14 years older than Christopher, so they did not grow up together. Christopher loved Groby Great Tree. Mark had plans for Christopher, but nothing worked out. Christopher told Mark about his furniture-business idea the night he also recommended that Mark marry Marie. That was three weeks before the Armistice. Mark partly married Marie hoping that if he made a concession to Christopher, then Christopher would concede and take Groby.

Mark continues to recollect past events. He recounts his superstitions about marriage—and about marrying a Catholic in particular. He got the idea from a book. The book detailed a supposed curse on those who came over to England with William of Orange. But if Mark, Jr. took over Groby, being a Roman Catholic, things would work out. Mark recalls the history of Groby Great Tree. The people of the area believed the tree, which came from Sardinia, hated the Tietjenses. It was planted near the house, and there was an Italian saying about trees overhanging roofs: “He who allows the boughs of trees to spread above his roof invites the doctor daily” (677). Mark could not care less if the tree were gone, but Christopher loved the tree. Mark believes Christopher should take ownership of Groby. Christopher belongs in the 17th century, and everything about Groby also suggests the 17th century. Mark was certain Christopher would eventually take Groby until, on Armistice Day, Christopher borrowed £40 from Marie to celebrate. He would not take Mark’s money. Mark realized then that Christopher would never forgive him for believing the rumors Sylvia spread about him. The stress of the day caused Mark to have a stroke, leaving him infirm and unable to speak.

Marie is filling bottles of cider. It is a very specialized process that the English just do not understand. They are strange, she thinks—no wonder William of Normandy conquered them so easily. Marie wishes Valentine could help, but Valentine is pregnant, and it is “better for the future if she avoids nervous situations” (770). Marie hears an American woman arguing with the maid. She thinks back to Armistice Day. Christopher and Valentine showed up, exhausted. Christopher and Mark argued about the war. A drunkard was playing “The Last Post,” a bugle song generally played at remembrance services. Valentine went to Marie’s room to rest. Christopher went out to stop the playing because it was bothering Mark. Valentine left the room and spoke with Mark about the war. She felt there had been enough suffering, and Mark felt the suffering was in vain if Germany were not utterly defeated. Valentine suddenly realized Christopher was gone. Mark mentioned the bugler, adding that maybe he went to check on Sylvia. That sent Valentine running after him. Earlier, when the two of them had been celebrating the Armistice, they had had a rough time; McKechnie was taken to an asylum and the Colonel died. They then went back to Christopher’s place and found Sylvia awaiting them on the stairs, dressed all in white. She announced she had cancer. Valentine believed it was a ruse to keep them apart and get Christopher back. Later, after Valentine ran off after Christopher, Mark started feeling ill. The phone rang. It was someone from his Department needing his codes. There would be no invasion of Germany. This news was the last straw, precipitating Mark’s stroke.