The Kingkiller Chronicle, #2
The Wise Man’s Fear
by Patrick Rothfuss
Contents
Chapter 19: Gentlemen and Thieves
Overview
After leaving the Eolian, Kvothe and Denna share a late-night walk where Denna reveals her survival tactics and friends’ troubles. She describes the “weeping widow” pawnshop con, Geoffrey’s slide into debt with a gaelet, and a break with Kellin. Crucially, Denna says Ambrose kept her ring after turning pushy, prompting Kvothe to consider stealing it back.
Summary
Late at night, Kvothe and Denna leave the Eolian and trade news. Denna admits the University confuses her and she hasn’t sought Kvothe there. Kvothe mentions a woman claiming he sold her a charm, then notes he visited Denna at the Grey Man after she’d already left; Denna says she and Kellin quarreled, though he let her keep the emeralds as a safety net while she still waits for her elusive patron.
To fill an awkward silence, Kvothe asks about callers. Denna explains Kellin disliked Geoffrey’s visits. She recounts Geoffrey’s downfall: gambling losses led to pawning, borrowing, and being swindled by a “weeping widow” rook. Denna demonstrates the con’s mechanics and the doorframe marks signaling a cooperative pawnshop. She stresses she avoids cheating genuinely helpful marks and reserves the trick for greedy opportunists.
Denna details Geoffrey’s worsening plight: family estrangement, a sick mother, no funds for passage, and, finally, borrowing from a gaelet—believing it a solution. Seeking shelter from wind, they sit; a brief misunderstanding over Kvothe reaching into his cloak passes, and they joke about his shabby lute case and his supposed thievery.
Noticing Denna’s absent ring, Kvothe asks about it. Denna reveals a University student, Ambrose Jakis, has it for “repair.” She describes how initial charm gave way to pushiness, forcing her to move lodgings, and that he never returned the ring after things soured. Relieved it isn’t a romance, Kvothe offers help. Denna doubts “gentlemanly” appeals would work; Kvothe smiles, implying he’ll recover it by less gentle means.
Who Appears
- KvotheNarrator; walks with Denna, learns of her cons and troubles, fixates on Ambrose keeping her ring, and resolves to reclaim it as a thief.
- DennaReappears after the Eolian; explains the pawnshop rook, Geoffrey’s debts, fallout with Kellin, waiting on her patron, and Ambrose withholding her ring.
- Ambrose JakisUniversity noble; courted Denna, turned pushy, and kept her ring under pretense of repair, becoming Kvothe’s target.
- GeoffreyPoet and Denna’s acquaintance; gambled, pawned, borrowed, was rooked, then turned to a gaelet while his mother is ill.
- KellinDenna’s former patron/host at the Grey Man; had a falling out but let her keep emerald jewelry.