Chapter 39 Summary

Mary and Ducane are having a drink at Ducane's house. They talk about the other members of the household, especially how happy Richard and Paula seem. Mary asks him what it was like in the cave, as Pierce won't tell her anything. With Ducane avoiding her questions on this and on the recent decision he had to make, Mary bitterly says that she doesn't even know him. She gets up and prepares to leave, thinking to herself that she has fallen in love with Ducane after all these years, putting her in a terrible position.

"Realizing that one is in love with someone in whom one has long been interested is a curious process. What can it be said to consist of? Each human being swims within a sea of faint suggestive imagery. It is this web of pressures, currents, and suggestions, something...