CHAPTER 83

Summary

• The chapter is set in 1950, Gwendolyn Gardens and follows the character Digby and Elsie, characters who have a significant and deep bond with each other.
• Elsie receives a letter informing her that Baby Mol, someone she is connected to, is severely ill, to the point of possibly dying. This casts a shadow over her and Digby's happy period.
• Digby senses that Elsie has made a decision after receiving the letter. Elsie decides she cannot let Baby Mol die and plans to visit her. She reassures Digby that she will return and wants to be with him. Digby admits his love for Elsie and expresses his desire to spend the rest of his life with her.
• Elsie leaves the next day with the promise of returning once Baby Mol is better. However, a series of calamities, including constant rain and landslides, disconnect people from each other and their communication lines. Even though Digby waits for Elsie, she does not return, which sinks him into profound sadness.
• Eight months and three days after Elsie's departure, Digby receives another letter from Elsie. She apologizes for not writing sooner and reveals that she had been cut off by floods. She also reveals that she had had a child, who would be in danger if Elsie stayed. Elsie suggests a plan to escape and urges Digby not to come for her or write back.
• Digby goes to the meeting place and finds Elsie weak and frail, a shade of her former self. He learns of the hardship she had gone through, including an illness that rendered her incapable of feeling anything, and her complicated birth to her child who she had to leave behind for safety.
• Elsie has the marks of leprosy. Digby grapples with the understanding and enormity of her condition, his love for Elsie remains despite the shocking circumstance.
• She explains that she had considered suicide to prevent her child and the people who would care for her from undergoing the stigma of leprosy. But she instead elects to stay and work at Saint Bridget's, a leper colony, where she would also be safe from discovery.
• Seeing Elsie's suffering and her sacrifice for their child, Digby decides that he will join her, stating that whatever happens to her will happen to him as well. The chapter ends with a note of hope as the couple acknowledges their unchanging love for each other despite their tumultuous circumstances.