Cassandra’s fever is raging, and despite Dinah’s protestations, Isabella refuses to send for Mr. Lidderdale, insisting that she will nurse her herself. In her delirium, Cassandra nearly lets slip that she has Jane’s letters, but manages – just – to keep Mary Austen from finding them. As she travels in and out of consciousness, Cassandra relives the dramatic events of her youth. Once better, parallels with the present, in which Cassandra is witnessing Isabella’s own eviction from the vicarage, prompt her to take drastic action about Isabella’s future.