On the night of the party, Rachel kissed Philip before going in to the dinner. He chose a pearl collar that the women in his family had worn for their weddings. He decided he wanted to give her a piece of jewelry from the family’s collection. He and Seecombe, his butler, decided to give the tenants Ambrose’s old clothes as Christmas presents. Philip decided to throw a Christmas party for the tenants of the estate, just as Ambrose had when he was young. She and Ambrose had bonded over their love for gardening, so she agreed to stay. When Rachel suggested she would be returning to Italy, Philip asked her to stay and said that he wanted her to help plan the gardens.

His feelings toward Rachel quickly changed. He had pictured a monstrous woman, but she was small and pretty. When Rachel arrived, Philip discovered that she was not at all what he thought she would be. Philip confided his thoughts about Rachel to his childhood friend, Louise, who was his godfather’s daughter. Philip planned to speak his mind to Rachel and accuse her of Ambrose’s death, so he told his godfather that Rachel could come to his house to visit. Nick Kendall also told Philip that he received a letter from Rachel and that she was coming to London to give Philip Ambrose’s personal effects. Until then, his godfather would be his guardian. Philip returned home and his godfather, Nick Kendall, informed him that he would not gain full control of Ambrose’s estate until he turned 25, which would be several months later. Philip doubted their diagnosis and vowed revenge on Rachel. The doctors said that he died from a brain tumor, which is what Ambrose’s father had died from. When he arrived, he learned that Ambrose had died. Later, Ambrose’s letters changed and indicated there was something wrong and that Rachel might be at fault. He wrote letters to Philip about her and then announced that they had gotten married. Ambrose had been mistrustful of women, so Philip had been raised without women in his life.Īmbrose went to Italy for the winter and met Rachel. Philip had been raised by his cousin Ambrose after his parents died. He then launched into the telling of his and Rachel’s story. Philip reflected on what had happened with Rachel and the guilt he was struggling with. The story starts after the events of the novel happened.

Though Philip fell for Rachel, he could not shake his suspicions about her and ultimately decided that she needed to be saved from herself. My Cousin Rachel is a gothic novel that examines the relationship between Philip, a naïve young Englishman, and his older cousin’s widow, Rachel, a worldly Italian woman who may have murdered his cousin. Little, Brown and Company Hachette Book Group, 1951. The following version of the book was used to create this guide: du Maurier, Daphne.

My cousin rachel du maurier