Summary of Section XI
The governess waits for a chance to talk to Mrs. Grose, whom she believes to be her friend and support in this mystery. Yet she perceives that Mrs. Grose has no imagination and when nothing outward happens, and the children seem content, she has forgotten the matter. They sit on the terrace and watch the children play innocently as the governess recalls her game of mental chess with Miles the night before. She had asked him why he was out on the lawn at night. He had made it into a splendid joke that he and Flora had constructed for her so that she might think he was really “bad.”
Commentary on Section XI
At this point, the reader's opinion of the events can easily go toward the innocence of the children because it seems more reasonable than the story of the governess. She believes that the two children, inspired by the ghosts, have made this elaborate trick to cover their tracks. She thinks they have routinely gone out to meet them. Miles is so charming, she has to accept what he says.
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