lures male travelers to their deaths. Davies’ description of the woman’s expensive clothing and jewelry, her sensual body language, her comment about why women like to shop, and her reaction to a London news story are clues that indicate her motives for murder. Like many of Davies’ stories, “The Trip to London” ends without resolution.

The first segment of the story begins in London, where a handsome, well-dressed, fortyish woman with glittering black eyes enters a train compartment and engages two male commuters in friendly conversation. A third man enters the compartment. He does not join their conversation, but he is fascinated by the woman’s sensual body language as she eats candy and fruit, smokes, and turns magazine pages. The two commuters complain that their wives spend all their money on shopping trips to London. She laughs and explains that most women shop to compensate for unhappy relations with men. However, that is not her problem, she says, because she is a widow and lives alone. When she leaves the train, the third man follows her to return a lace handkerchief she has dropped. They share a drink and agree to meet the next evening in a secluded place—to prevent gossip and guard her reputation. Later, he follows her to a dark and lonely Victorian house on the outskirts of town, surrounded by deep ponds. Then Davies abruptly leaves the reader in suspense about what happens.

The story segues into a second segment, in which the handsome woman seduces another traveler in a London restaurant and repeats the scenario. Suspense builds. Then, on a third train trip from London, the woman, now dressed in expensive fur and jewels, shares a compartment with two women and the husband of one, who furtively admires her. His wife and her friend read aloud a story in the London paper about the recent disappearance of two men who were carrying large amounts of money. Suddenly, with dark eyes “snapping like a whip,” the “black widow” scolds the man for smoking in the compartment. His wife protectively clutches his arm, and the story ends with an uncertain resolution.

“The Dilemma of Catherine Fuchsias”

In this ironic story, Davies indicates that women are held to a higher moral standard than men. The protagonist, Catherine, faces a dilemma: how to preserve her reputation after she has stepped over the line of propriety. Davies characterizes Catherine as a thrifty, capable, and morally upright spinster, who has kept house for her father until his death. She lives in a secluded cottage surrounded by colorful purple fuchsias, perhaps symbolic of her passionate heart. Lonely and longing for love, she becomes the secret mistress of a retired merchant, who has returned to Banog with his coldhearted English wife. He visits Catherine after church every Sunday evening. When he dies in her bed, Catherine is faced with telling his widow, while trying to save her own reputation.

Discovery of her moral lapse will mean social ostracism in the village. At first, she panics, but then she coolly concocts clever lies to cover up her secret affair. Frantically, she dresses the corpse before his body grows cold and lays him out. Then she runs to the wife’s home and tells her to call a doctor. She claims the man was walking past her cottage, admiring her fuchsias, when he had a heart attack. The wife is angry and suspicious and asks how he got upstairs and into Catherine’s bed. Catherine fakes a sprained back from carrying him upstairs, and the doctor believes her. Catherine convinces the townspeople, even the minister, that she is a chaste woman.

Just when she thinks she has convinced everyone of her innocence, the truth is revealed. A lawyer sends Catherine a notice that her lover has left her a large sum of money in his will. The minister “casts her out of church,” and the women of Banog shun her. Haughtily, Catherine tells former friends that she will take her money and move to Aberystwyth to start a new life. The postmistress, however, informs Catherine that she will write a cousin in Aberystwyth and tell all.

“Revelation”

Davies’ wry sense of humor is evident in this amusing story, which reveals how a woman’s sexual inhibitions, combined with a man’s ignorance, can ruin a marriage and how a bit of romance can change their attitudes. Gomer and Blodwen have been married less than a year, but they are incompatible and quarrel constantly. After work in the collieries, Gomer takes a message to his boss’s house that Montague will be late. When he knocks on the door, Montague’s English wife opens it, stark naked. Gomer is stunned by her beauty. He has never seen a naked woman before. Without embarrassment, she laughs and says that she expected Montague when she answered the door—no harm done.

Gomer’s eyes are opened as to what a sexually enriched marriage might be. He plucks a rose from the Montague’s garden and takes it to Blodwen, who greets him with a frown and harsh words. Instead of reacting in anger, he speaks gently, gives her the rose, and whispers an erotic suggestion in her ear. Her virago of a mother arrives to “straighten him out,” but Gomer asserts himself and sends her home. Then Gomer and Blodwen shyly embrace, implying that a satisfying sexual relationship has begun.