The Legacy (Woolf)
Short summary
London, 1940. Six weeks after his wife Angela died in a car accident, Gilbert Clandon prepared to meet her secretary, Sissy Miller.
Angela had left everything meticulously organized, with gifts for all her friends. To Sissy, she left a pearl brooch. Gilbert noticed his wife had kept a diary throughout their marriage—fifteen volumes in green leather—which she had never let him read. After Sissy left, Gilbert began reading the diaries. At first, they chronicled their happy life together: his political career, their travels, her admiration for him. Then he discovered repeated references to someone called B. M., who had taken Angela to meetings in the East End. The entries revealed growing intimacy between Angela and this mysterious man.
Gilbert grew increasingly disturbed as he read that B. M. had spent evenings alone with Angela and had asked her to become his mistress. The final entry, written the day before her death, read: 'Have I the courage to do it too?' Horrified, Gilbert telephoned Sissy Miller and demanded to know who B. M. was. She revealed that B. M. was her brother, who had killed himself.
He had received his legacy. She had told him the truth. She had stepped off the kerb to rejoin her lover. She had stepped off the kerb to escape from him.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
The pearl brooch and Angelas legacy
Six weeks after his wife Angela's sudden death in a car accident on Piccadilly, Gilbert Clandon stood in her drawing-room examining a pearl brooch inscribed 'For Sissy Miller, with my love.' He marveled at how Angela had left everything in perfect order, with a small gift designated for each of her friends.
Yet how strange it was, Gilbert Clandon thought once more, that she had left everything in such order-a little gift for every one of her friends. It was as if she had foreseen her death.
Angela had been in perfect health that morning when she stepped off the kerb and was killed instantly. Behind Gilbert stood fifteen green leather volumes of her diary, kept throughout their marriage.
Sissy Millers visit and the gift
Gilbert had summoned Angela's secretary to give her the brooch. When she arrived, she was terribly distressed, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. Gilbert had scarcely noticed her during all the years she worked for Angela, seeing her as just another drab woman in black carrying an attaché case.
Gilbert presented her with the pearl brooch, which seemed an incongruous gift for someone in her profession. She was in mourning for her brother, who had died in an accident shortly before Angela. When Gilbert offered to help with her future plans, she assured him she would manage. As she left, she turned and said that if he ever needed help, she would feel it a pleasure for his wife's sake. Her words struck him as odd, almost as if she hoped he would need her assistance.
Reading the diaries: happy memories of marriage
After she left, Gilbert wondered if the secretary had harbored romantic feelings for him. He turned to Angela's diary and read her praise of his appearance and her pride in being his wife. He recalled their early years together when he stood for Parliament, their holiday in Venice where she loved eating ices, and her eagerness to learn about history. He remembered her sitting beside formidable old men at dinners, making excellent impressions. As years passed and he became more absorbed in his political work, Angela had been often alone. She had expressed grief at their childlessness, writing that she wished Gilbert had a son. One entry puzzled him: she had written about wanting to discuss something but felt it selfish to bother him when he had so much on his mind.
The explanation revealed her work in the East End. She had asked Gilbert's permission to help others, and he had agreed, though he disliked the clothes she wore for these Wednesday visits to Whitechapel. The diary was full of references to people she helped there.
The mysterious B.M. and growing suspicion
Gilbert's interest quickened when he encountered repeated references to someone identified only as 'B.M.' Angela had heated arguments about socialism with this person, who made violent attacks on the upper classes. B.M. had come to dinner and shaken hands with the parlourmaid, suggesting he was an uncouth working man. Gilbert formed a mental picture of a stubby man with a rough beard and red tie who had never done an honest day's work.
B.M. had told Angela about his difficult childhood, how his mother worked as a charwoman. Angela had felt guilty about her luxury after hearing his story. The initials appeared repeatedly, and Gilbert wondered why Angela never used the full name. There was an intimacy in using initials that seemed unlike her. Then he read that B.M. had come unexpectedly after dinner one evening when Angela was alone—the night of the Mansion House dinner. Gilbert tried to recall if anything had seemed unusual when he returned home that night, but could remember nothing except his own speech.
He became very agitated. He said it was time we understood each other... He threatened that if I did not . . .” the rest of the page was scored over. She had written “Egypt. Egypt. Egypt,” over the whole page.
Gilbert's blood rushed to his face as he realized the scoundrel had asked Angela to become his mistress. He turned pages frantically. Angela had written that she could not decide, that she implored him to leave her. Then she wrote him a letter. Pages were left blank. Then came the entry: 'He has done what he threatened.' After that, all pages were blank until the day before her death: 'Have I the courage to do it too?'
The final revelation and terrible truth
Gilbert could see Angela standing on the kerb in Piccadilly, her eyes staring, her fists clenched, as the car approached. Unable to bear not knowing the truth, he telephoned Sissy Miller and thundered, 'Who is B.M.?' After a long silence and a drawn sigh, she answered that B.M. was her brother—the brother who had killed himself. When she asked if there was anything she could explain, Gilbert cried 'Nothing!' He had received his legacy. Angela had told him the truth through her diary. She had stepped off the kerb to rejoin her lover. She had stepped off the kerb to escape from him.