Summary

Chapter 9 began in November 1945, about one month after Adeline lost her baby. When Dr. Gray visited her again, she begged him to reduce her emotional suffering. He gave her small vial morphine, which he had secretly been abusing himself for some time in his depressed state. Home early from work one evening, Adam reread Pride and Prejudice until his mother arrived. She gossiped about Adeline and insisted that Adam think about his future companionship. He went off to help Mrs. Lewis garden, and Adeline watched them from the inside as she contemplated her predicament. Enveloped in grief, she decided that she must “find a way to stop...this medicating away of her unavoidable pain” or else be swallowed by it (101). Adam gifted Adeline a kitten, and Adeline learned of Adam's love for Jane Austen’s novels. Enraptured by Austen’s past presence, Adam...