I suspect that the neighbors know that Ginny is staring at them even though she describes herself as the captain of the ship. To me this woman has been living alone too long. When she says right at the beginning of the chapter, "I feel in control in this captain's post; I see what I want to see and nobody sees me." Maybe nobody has seen the true core of Ginny including herself and maybe she senses that she is not in control of her own destiny or life; her existence took on its own course and dimension (rudderless). I sense a loss of reality here and time has blended in with one day to another. Just a blur like the picture of her all wrapped up when she was a baby. I think she is losing touch with reality day by day.
I feel sad in a way for Ginny; she thinks that Vivian is coming back there now because she needs her as she is the older sister. And there is a moment when Ginny does not want her to come back; maybe afraid of the meeting itself. What strikes Ginny to the core is that Vivian seems to have become her own mother Maud. And poor Ginny has tightly controlled all of her emotions her whole life. Ginny seems to be more like Clive and Vivian more like Maud who seemed to know all of the club (life's social) rules.
I think Ginny realizes the loss of so many years alone when she admits to herself: "I'm aware for the first time that part of me went missing a long time ago, that without her I'd become a different person and I've just had a taste of who I used to be or even what I might have become, had she been there." So sad what estrangement from family can mean to all involved.
I thought it was interesting what Ginny said about dog owners out of the blue. "I'm usually most wary of dog owners. In general I find then loud, meddlesome people, who invariably love their dogs in an unhygienic sort of way."
I think Vivian might have a point; the antique person might have taken Ginny for a ride when some of the items might have proved much more valuable than what she received. However, Vivian had taken off and how was Ginny going to get by. Vivian really did not have a right to chastise Ginny or make her feel less competant than she already felt.
For Ginny the furniture and the legacy were too much for her to bear or to keep up any longer. It was much more bearable without the clutter. She was able to get rid of the baggage from the past that Maud and Clive could not.
I think there are moments of warmth in the chapter especially when they greet each other. But questionning what Ginny has or has not done is not a good way to begin a reunion and a renewal of an old relationship and living arrangement. There does seem to be a lot of tension between them which has not been explored.
