This is such a direct command and Maria showed her obedience to this word just like what she behaved in front of her destiny.

I think there are different representations in this game: prayer book for religions, ring for marriage, and water for journey maybe?

She is keeping persuading herself to leave Dublin and elope with Frank, by imagining a brand new life. And maybe it shows in her subconsciousness she actually does not want to go.

This detail description really shows the anxiety and decisiveness of 'me': he just couldn't wait to go.

Though he went there only to see his puppy love, but the trivial details like this at that time are so vivid and till today 'I' still can recall that. This feels so real, happening in our own lives.

I'm so impressed by the using of synaesthesia here.

This hesitation, along with the following 'I'll tell you my opinion', are so subtle in telling the readers that this remark may be unfriendly to the dead person.

Maybe we can still find it in Dublin today!

No time, no place, no any other background, just a ‘there’. Its very ‘Joyce’.

He's just like a threatened caution of 'time' itself that appears at the girl's first ball.

The fat man is a metaphor for the fast passing time. Though the protagonist is still an adolescent girl, it just keeps chasing her, leaving no chances for her to breathe.

I think here is making a contrast of the fat man's aging to the protagonist's adolescence.

William is quite content about their lives in London. It can also been seen in the following chapters that though he tries to mend the family relationship, he still prefers the 'city' and his work.

but also 'fashionable' as what the title writes in a sarcastic way. The relationship between her and William has been deteriorated already.

On one side, it's depicting a typical bourgeois family at that time; on the other side, maybe this is echoing back the title, as well as Isabel's changes after going to Paris.

Really sounds like a typical cynical hippy artist in novels and movies.

She cannot put up with being placed in a passive position any longer.

Who am I? What do I do? The identity and gender of 'I' are ambiguous all through this story.

Here is a long chapter of psychological depiction again. I think the style is really similar to the typical consciousness-flow ones of James Joyce.

It's so amusing that this novel keeps concentrating on depicting trivial things and characters are so serious about them.

It happened all in different times and spaces. Fragmented narratives of this novel make it look like a work of consciousness-flow.

Their father never existed in person in this novel( because he already died of course). Throughout the whole novel there're not direct expression of his personality either, all expressed through what two daughters said and did.

Here is echoing with the 'poor creature' that Mrs.Sheridan mentioned before.

Comparing with the true death of the worker in the following chapter, this lyric is so ironic.

Kitty herself’s voice is absent throughout the whole phone call.

Laura’s cautiousness and her class consciousness are depicted vividly here.

Short sleeves, canvas rolls, big tool bags are all on the contrary to the green turban, a silk petti coat and a kimono jacket. What a strong contrast.

This reminds me of Miss Clack. The satirical tone describing her devotion to the religion can also be used to refer to her obsession towards Godfrey, sanctimonious and hypocritical.

Here is indicating the karma I guess, adding some mysteriousness of Eastern philosophy like Hinduism and Buddhism.

Such a description of Oriental mysticism. This kind of vice created also makes the final epilogue coherence to the 'legend' told in the beginning.

Finally, the last time! Again, it is still interesting to think about that this colonial novel is mentioned SO MANY TIMES in such a context of Indian diamond's theft in Britain.

I feel it so interesting for him to make an analogy between Robinson Crusoe and Franklin, and they have got something in common indeed: they both had a long time overseas experience. How will Betteredge view the position of himself in this book?

This is almost one of the last several times we see Robinson Crusoe I guess. Betteredge does worship this book like it's a religion. He finished this story right where he began, with coherence forming a closed loop.

Luckily it is a happy ending for Blake and Rachel.

Here we can see the tragicness of this character, Ezra Jennings, determined when he was born and following him throughout his life. A tragic character is also an essential element in today's normal detective stories I think.

As a detective, his narrative is very organized.

Usually when this kind of plots appears, we're close to the truth now

These several sentences from the landlord keep emphsizing the absence of the sailor, which in a detective novel indicates that he may already die in the room.

Here are several pair of images of Victorian British upper class people in the eye of Ezra as an 'outsider', especially the lawyer's black bag and madam's embroidery are so representative.

Ezra is not a 'pure British' and he has to deal with this identity issue all the time, which must be much harder in that era than nowadays.

Interesting parenthetical expressions.

It's nearly the most obvious description of Betteredge's clinging to Robinson Crusoe from other characters' perspectives! And Bet's words are so... Victorian-subtle-style judgemental.

As a family attorney, he's professional and cares a lot about Rachel. Meanwhile, he also puts out the problems straightforward.

A carefully worded expression exactly from an attorney.

This word appears three times in Miss.Clack's description of Rachel

This unexpected revealing of her true sentiments makes me have some sympathy for her.

She is CRAZY.

Wonderful psychological depiction of irony.

Here comes another small highlight of the whole moonstone theft. Rachel may be the person knowing something instead of the real thief.

It is more interesting to consider that this description comes from Miss Clack than the word 'unbecomingly' itself.

If we look up the word frequency of 'Mr.Godfrey' in Miss Clack's narrative, the result number must be astonishing.

The way Miss Clack uses 'Christian' needs to be paid some attention to.

It can bee seen Miss Clack is not in a very good financial situation, which she has some grumbles about her rich relatives.

It's so interesting to look at the expression 'average good' and 'when you don't push so far' to analyze the personality of Bertteredge.

Here I can sense some sarcasm towards the gentlefolks in Victorian times,Britain for their idleness and their careless cruelness (Many of them are Christians so here is also hypocrisy). Meanwhile. Outside the state, the way the British army treat colonized people like Indians in this novel is like how the gentlefolks treated insects.

Maybe this couple is a little bit different from other couples in upper class? This may set a stage for the future going of the story.

Description of details makes the image more life-like.

A concise and explicit description of the detective's appearance that suits this character well, especially this pair of 'hooked fingers'. The simple and direct sentences remind me of Hemingway's style, in spite of some difference.

Something MUST be happening tonight, like the diamond being stolen.

A portrait of Rachel's personality, independent, reserved and mysterious, which may have something to do with the diamond and sets the stage for what is happening next simultaneously.

Here is using an oriental ancient tale as the background information of this yellow diamond, to emphasize its mystique and preciousness. Considering it is coming from a British novel, combined with the English invaders in Seringapatam, I can sniff some implication of orientalism and colonism here.

Here starts another narrative of another relevant character. Will this novel be composed of stories from different witnesses?

The prologue is a family paper of a first-person narrative, which is common way to begin a mystery story. I start to wonder what will happen in the next.