Summary: Part X

Grace continues her story, conveying McDermott’s account of what happened after he shot at her and she fainted in the garden. He claimed that after he revived her with cold water, she cooked ham and eggs and they celebrated their success over whiskey. But Grace claims not to remember anything until she awoke in her own bed much later, at dusk.

Grace claims she fell asleep again and woke up on the floor. McDermott was in her room, and he said he’d come to collect on her promise to give herself to him in exchange for killing Nancy. Grace didn’t remember making such a promise and worried McDermott had gone mad. McDermott tried to force sex upon Grace several times, at first in her bedroom, then in Mr. Kinnear’s, and finally in Nancy’s, but the sight of a magazine in Nancy’s blood-soaked bed sobered McDermott and he gave up.

Not sure how long McDermott’s solemn mood would hold, Grace insisted they pack their things and leave before anyone came to the house. After ransacking the house for valuables and tidying everything up, Grace put on one of Nancy’s dresses and burned her own clothes.

Grace and McDermott set off with Mr. Kinnear’s horse and carriage. They rode through the night. Looking up at the dark sky, Grace sensed the emptiness of the universe. She tried to pray for God to forgive her for her sins, but she also worried that God didn’t exist.

Grace fell asleep and awoke on the ground with McDermott on top of her. He claimed she had asked to stop the carriage and invited him to have sex with her. She rebuffed him, and when he persisted, she bit him hard on the ear. He grew furious and Grace thought he might kill her, but he let her go.

They arrived in Toronto around five in the morning, hid Mr. Kinnear’s wagon, and purchased tickets for the ferry that would take them across Lake Ontario to the United States. Grace encouraged McDermott to shave and change his clothes so that no one would recognize him. He went off to do these things, and though Grace had a chance to run away, she decided to wait for him. Despite her fear, she recognized that McDermott had “a human heart,” and she didn’t want to betray him.

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