Chapters 23 and 24 Summary

Julia continues to hope for word from James until Richard says that he sent James all the letters James had written Julia. It's then that Richard admits that he intercepted James the day he was to have met Julia and sent him away with the information that Juila and Richard are now engaged. Richard tells Julia that without her virginity, she has no hope of finding a husband.

The Wideacre growing season is off to an excellent start, and Julia says the only sad points were Ralph and herself. When someone suggests that it's Julia who made the crop grow, she dismisses it, though she confides in her mother that she likes the idea of the Laceys making the land fertile. Julia herself is under the weather, eating little and feeling constantly ill. When Celia asks what's wrong, Julia tells her...