Section 7, Part 1 Summary

"Sacrifices"

The quote at the beginning of this section comes from Germaine's mother when she says, "people do not care to play chess on the edge of a precipice."

September 2, 1792. This section opens with ominous suggestions that the characters in this narrative time frame - Germaine, David, the Bishop, Valentine and Mireille - began the activities of this particular day with no idea that at 2 p.m. that afternoon, "the Terror would begin."

Valentine and Mireille receive a letter asking that they meet a nun, Sister Claude, from the same convent as Sisters Alexandrine and Marie Charlotte (Chapter 1). The urgent tone of the letter leads them to believe Claude is in danger and that they are about to be given pieces of the Service. Their journey to the appointed meeting place, an abandoned abbey converted to a prison, is stalled when...