In 1935 Madras, Digby tries and fails to stop thinking about Celeste. He finds solace in weekend rides on his motorcycle, Esmeralda, and maintains a small circle of friends. Lena Mylin writes inviting him to AllSuch to paint when the heat returns, and Digby promises to visit next summer.

At the Railway Institute’s Fall Ball, Jennifer Tuttleberry drags Digby onto the floor. Jeb arrives, freshly estranged from Mary, and works the room with easy charm. He dazzles the crowd by partnering an older aunt before revealing his true interest in the aunt’s demure daughter in a white, rose-covered gown—Rose. As Digby and Honorine ride home, they trade thoughts on beauty’s ephemerality.

With summer’s onset marking a new year at Longmere, Digby notices Jeb on a gurney for Claude Arnold’s list. Jeb shows an angry swelling in his neck he has had for months. Examining the mass under chloroform, Digby finds it not warm but distinctly pulsatile and summons Honorine, concerned it is a carotid aneurysm rather than an abscess.

Claude arrives, seemingly smelling of alcohol, and brusquely dismisses Digby’s warning. He incises, releasing pus, then a bright arterial jet as the aneurysm blows. Digby steps in with pressure and hurried sutures, but Jeb rapidly exsanguinates and arrests. A shocked audience gathers while Claude, pale and spattered, deflects responsibility with, "No harm done," and staggers out, leaving Digby and Honorine amid the fatal outcome.