Part 3 Chapter 24 Summary

Lucy holds another tea party. Her mood has improved since the incident with the chockchafers, and she is calm and accommodating most of the time. The Magistrate sips his "tea" (made of hot water) and thinks about how the river levels have now risen. Downstream the land will flood again, and the embankments will erode as they do every year without the intervention of British engineering. He thinks of the natives and their sacrificial goats, and how this represents the human ignorance that has been prevalent throughout the centuries. The Magistrate notices that Miriam and Louise have not been friendly with Lucy since the incident with the insects, but he decides it must be due to their jealousy over the success of the tea parties. The Magistrate is fascinated with the back of Lucy's head, believing that if he could either...