Part 3 Chapter 20 Summary

Fleury comes up to the Collector's room to borrow a book and finds that the other man is ill. He goes to Dr. McNab, fearing that it is cholera, but the doctor assures him it is erysipelas, a bacterial infection. Dr. McNab asks Miriam to look after the Collector, and she stays by Mr. Hopkins' side while he suffers from delirium and fevers. Louise arrives with tea, and the two women talk in relative privacy since the Collector is semi-conscious. The women discuss the increasing number of fires on the nearby hills, and openly discuss the possibility that rape and murder could occur if the siege the enemy camp won. Louise thinks about how her beauty used to be the only thing that mattered to her, and how her life revolved around how many admirers she could attract.

The women discuss...