CHAPTER 33

Summary

• Digby, a former surgeon, starts therapeutic sessions with a young artist named Elsie after the death of his colleague and caretaker, Rune.
• Elsie helps Digby regain control over his hand—which was badly injured—with sketching exercises, even tying their hands together to guide him.
• During their sessions, Digby finds himself remembering his past, including his complex relationship with and the painful loss of his mother.
• Through tears, Digby is able to achieve a breakthrough in their sessions, freeing a portrait of his mother from his memory and onto the sketch paper.
• Rune's singing from the outdoor bathing platform, a daily morning routine, abruptly stops one day, causing everyone in the compound to halt their activities. Digby finds Rune lifeless, having died of an apparent heart attack.
• Rune's funeral sees the involvement of everyone in the compound. A somber procession, led by those in the leprosarium, take him to the cemetery. Individuals from the village and nearby estates who knew the Swede also come to pay their respects.
• In the aftermath of Rune's death, the residents look to Digby for guidance and support, and he does his best to help them continue with their lives.
• Rune's will reveals that his savings go to the Swedish Mission with instructions to keep the leprosarium supported. Digby sends a telegram to the Mission expressing his willingness to support St. Bridget's, despite his injury.
• The Mission replies that they will be sending two nuns to manage Saint Bridget's and hope to recruit a doctor in the future, leaving Digby's future uncertain.