The story begins when the child, Philip Ashley, and his older cousin, Ambrose, happen upon the corpse of an executed criminal dangling by chains over an empty cross road. Perhaps the most haunting phrase is contained in the story’s first chapter, addressed (in retrospect) to the cadaver after Philip runs away from it.
The Hanging Corpse
“Tom Jenkins, battered specimen of humanity, unrecognizable and unlamented, did you all those years ago stare after me in pity after I went running down the woods into the future?”
These words give the reader a premonition of future disaster, setting the atmosphere of increasing tension. Something very bad is going to happen to Philip and the next sentence confirms it.
“Had I looked back at you over my shoulder, I should not have seen you swinging in your chains, but my own shadow.”
Ambrose and Philip in England
Philip, an orphan adopted by Ambrose, worships him as father, brother and best friend. The growing boy already physically resembles his cousin, but desires to be like him in every way. In turn, the kindly Ambrose treats Philip with unconditional love. Wealthy and handsome Ambrose is Cornwell’s most eligible bachelor, having servants and a magnificent estate. However, Ambrose and Philip are free spirits without interest in girls, and Ambrose wants his estate willed to Philip upon his death.
Their lives remain carefree for years – that is, until Ambrose leaves the dampness of England for sunny Italy, and meets their cousin, Contessa Rachel. This fatal journey marks the end of their idyllic lives together.
Rachel of Italy
Rachel, a half-English and half-Italian widow (her former husband, a count, was slain in a duo over her) is later described as a petite woman having black eyes with tears “that never ran down upon the cheeks and never fell.” But Ambrose cannot resist her charms and they are soon married.
Philip feels jealous, and later becomes suspicious. Ambrose, who falls inexplicably ill with blinding headaches, is writing paranoid and increasingly incoherent letters. He alleges Rachel closely watches him, loves money, and is trying to kill him. Philip’s godfather reminds him Ambrose’s father had similar symptoms before dying of a brain tumor.
Philip decides to go to Florence, Italy, to evaluate the frightening state of affairs, but Ambrose is dead before he arrives. Rachel is nowhere to be seen, but Philip (remaining heir of Ambrose’s estate) is consumed with burning hatred for her.
Rachel Comes to Cornwell
When Rachel unexpectedly arrives in England, however, Philip is completely smitten and refuses to believe Rachel could be capable of murder. Rachel is not the monster he imagined, but rather a warm, endearing, and personable woman.
Rachel – much older than Philip – seems startled to notice striking similarities between him and her recently deceased husband. They take pleasant walks together and Rachel appears very interested in the estate’s immense grounds, proclaiming her love of gardening.
Intelligent and utterly gracious, Rachel delights everyone she meets, easily cultivating a close and trusting friendship with Philip who has so little experience in life. In fact, he decides that on his twenty-fifth (upcoming) birthday he will give Rachel his entire fortune; after all, she’s Ambrose’s widow and, in Philip’s opinion, it rightfully belongs to her. This decision leads to the climax of the tale, as love struck Philip displays a manic joy lasting through the eve of his birthday. He’s so enthused he can barely wait to surprise Rachel.
Philip’s Twenty-fifth Birthday
“Folly most sublime (…)” Philip reflects on his euphoric swim in an icy night sea before rushing to tell Rachel his wonderful news. “Madness. Worse than madness. But still I did not care and still my mood of exultation held me in thrall.”
Dripping wet he climbs up vines into Rachel’s room and –as the clock chimes midnight announcing his birthday – lavishly empties a huge basketful of valued family jewels all over the bed and sheets upon which Rachel lies. He also gives her a document (which legally transfers his entire inheritance to her) to read later.
Rachel’s eyes are incredulous as she stares in confusion at the scattered jewels. She embraces him warmly as they laugh together in wild delight. The candle is snuffed out, and Rachel makes love to him for the first time (apparently in thanks for the jewels), but Philip assumes her reaction is a promise of marriage “like the amen to a litany.”
The next morning Philip returns to her bed and showers Rachel in cascades of fresh flowers, just as he’d done the night before with the jewels. But Rachel is suddenly cold and distant, and tells him to go away. Philip justifies her new strangeness as a passing mood. He tries to enjoy his long-awaited birthday, but Rachel does not return to her former self and Philip becomes depressed, crushed with hurt and betrayal.
Conclusion
As the story reaches its bitter end Philip has indeed become like Ambrose, the man he always admired most. Physically and emotionally wrecked, he believes Rachel is trying to poison him with Laburnum seeds.
Du Maurier does an excellent job keeping the reader just as confused as Philip while witnessing Rachel’s extreme changes of personality. Is Philip manic suffering from delusion, or is Rachel manic with severe mood swings? Is she a psychopathic schemer or merely misunderstood? Is Rachel a murderess, or does Philip have a brain tumor? Or both?
Perhaps everything is only happening inside of Philip’s head.
As so often happens in life, the reader is left without ever knowing. The answer is not there and remains obscure even to the very last page, when Rachel dies in Philip’s arms and calls him Ambrose.
Du Maurier also wrote Rebecca and The Birds (immortalized in Hitchcock’s films) and other stories. In 1951 My Cousin Rachel was made into a movie directed by Henry Koster.
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