As the Season nears its end, Charlotte sits in Aunt Amelia’s bustling house pretending to read a conduct book while inwardly consumed by longing for Sabine. When George Preston unexpectedly calls and offers a proposal, Charlotte panics, excuses herself, and escapes the house, taking a cab directly to the widow Olivares’s residence.

Arriving at Sabine’s dark, seemingly empty home, Charlotte fears Sabine has left, but Sabine appears, wan and freshly roused. Overwhelmed, Charlotte confesses the proposal and her turmoil. Pressed by Sabine, Charlotte states clearly that she wants Sabine, not George, and wants the freedom Sabine represents. Sabine admits wanting Charlotte as well but warns there are things Charlotte does not know.

Sabine leads Charlotte to a curtained chamber. In the darkness, Charlotte initiates a kiss; Sabine responds, nicking Charlotte’s lip and then deliberately biting Charlotte’s wrist after asking for her trust. The wound seals quickly, and Charlotte realizes Sabine is not human, though Sabine answers obliquely, calling herself free—free from pain, rules, and death—and asking if that is what Charlotte wants. Charlotte says yes.

They move to the bed, and Sabine brings Charlotte to the edge of climax before biting Charlotte’s neck. Pleasure turns to pain as Sabine drinks deeply. Charlotte weakens, her senses dim, and her heart slows to a stop; she recognizes she is dying but accepts it as the price of the freedom she sought, comforted that Sabine is with her.

As Charlotte slips into darkness, Sabine urges her to drink and presses blood to Charlotte’s mouth. The blood’s taste spreads through Charlotte, coiling around her heart until it restarts—one beat, then more—proclaiming she is alive again, before she sinks back into unconsciousness. The scene concludes with Charlotte’s death and revival, implying her transformation under Sabine’s hand.