Churchill travels at high speed from Downing Street to Chequers, his country residence as prime minister, accompanied by a typist and guarded by Inspector Thompson, who considers the isolated estate dangerous from a security standpoint. The chapter describes Chequers as a historic, beautiful, heavily blacked-out house meant to give prime ministers rest, though Churchill has no intention of leaving work behind. Its atmosphere of history and its association with earlier leaders underline both the weight of office and Churchill’s long-standing desire to possess the place as prime minister.

On Saturday, June 15, dinner is prepared for a small gathering that includes Frederick Lindemann, John Colville, Diana Churchill, and Duncan Sandys. Clementine and Mary are absent, likely because they are still occupied with moving the family into No. 10. Just before dinner, Colville receives alarming news from London that the French are openly seeking permission to make their own peace with Hitler, despite their prior commitment to Britain, and when he tells Churchill, Churchill becomes immediately depressed.

The meal begins in a bleak mood, with Churchill withdrawn and focused mainly on technical questions for Lindemann. As champagne, brandy, and cigars are served, Churchill’s spirits recover and he begins using conversation and imperial telegrams of support to encourage himself and the others. He bluntly says the war will now be bloody for Britain and blames earlier appeasement for the country’s predicament.

Later, the party walks outside in the warm moonlight, though the presence of armed sentries keeps the war’s reality close. Colville is repeatedly called to the telephone with worsening reports from France, and Churchill responds with a hard message: if France turns over its fleet, Britain will never forget it, but if France surrenders without consulting Britain, Britain will never forgive. Churchill’s words show that French collapse would not only be a military disaster but also a political and moral rupture.

Despite the crisis, Churchill grows increasingly animated, handing out cigars, reciting poems, and discussing the war with energy. A late-night call from U.S. ambassador Joseph Kennedy turns Churchill serious again, and Churchill pours out his frustration that American promises of financial and industrial help are inadequate to the scale of the danger. After more talk, jokes, and renewed emphasis on increasing RAF fighter production, Churchill ends the extraordinary evening at about 1:30 a.m., leaving Colville to record it as both dramatic and fantastical.