Part II: Conversation Summary and Analysis

Baby animals and blooming flowers welcome the spring season. Gerald's family welcomes the season by spending most of their days and nights on the veranda. On one such day, Mrs. Durrell and her children are each looking through their weekly correspondence. When Mrs. Durrell arrives at the weekly letter from Great-Aunt Hermione, everyone settles in to listen to the dreaded details of the old woman's illness and concerns.

Mrs. Durrell skims through the letter as she reads aloud to her children. Suddenly Mrs. Durrell gasps and tells them Great-Aunt Hermione has decided to visit. Larry instantly refuses to accept it. Larry and his siblings devise ideas on how to thwart the old woman the least of which is saying their mother is ill and near death's door. Larry jumps at this last idea, offering to write the...