Hester arranges the wedding date with the delighted village priest, setting the ceremony two and a half weeks out. She is unsettled when Evangeline visits her alone, acutely aware that the sorceress could harm her with little effort. Evangeline insists on a small, quiet ceremony, ostensibly to protect the sensitive Cordelia from gossip. Hester plays along, even sharing a moment of genuine, unsettling laughter with Evangeline about marriage-minded mothers envying Cordelia's match with Lord Evermore.

Cordelia finds the days before the wedding largely peaceful, since her mother is preoccupied with Samuel. Occasionally Evangeline insists Cordelia spend supervised time with Evermore. On a riding outing, Cordelia chooses Minnow over Falada, and Evermore deflects Evangeline's pressure with diplomatically vague compliments. Riding together, Cordelia and Evermore openly admit neither wants to marry the other, and Cordelia reflects on the absurdity of the marriage plans that have shaped her life.

Mid-ride, Cordelia hears a whispered voice in her head, far stronger than a week earlier. She panics, fearing her mother has finally breached the last private space inside her skull. The voice apologizes and frets, accompanied inexplicably by the smell of cinnamon and watercress, which convinces Cordelia it is not Evangeline.

Cordelia recognizes the voice as Penelope Green, speaking from beyond the grave. She makes excuses to Evermore, returns to the house, and hides in a cloakroom to converse. Penelope explains she does not understand how she became a ghost or how she is reaching Cordelia, only that Cordelia stands out as a clearer blob of light in the darkness. Their conversation is interrupted by a kitchen boy, and Cordelia flees, embarrassed but no longer alone.