Chapter 38: Violet
Contains spoilers
Summary
- Violet wakes up after staying up all night reading Altha Weyward's manuscript.
- She realizes truths about her past and herself, feeling a shift within.
- Violet sees her father in the kitchen with a serious demeanor and realizes he never truly loved her mother.
- She understands that her father kept her mother's belongings not as mementos but as trophies, and he feared Violet's potential.
- Violet concludes that her father is a murderer.
- Her father tells her that Frederick has agreed to marry her and that the wedding and announcement in The Times are scheduled.
- Violet feels ill at the sight of her father and relieved when he leaves, locking the door behind him.
- She contemplates a life with Frederick, feeling repulsed by the thought of him and the child they would have.
- Violet is determined not to end up like her mother, locked away and forgotten.
- She decides she must sever the tie with Frederick by preventing the pregnancy from continuing.
- Recalling the manuscript's references, Violet considers inducing a miscarriage using the same methods discussed in the text.
- Violet finds the tansy flowers in the garden, a potential remedy mentioned in her mother's letter and hints at her intention to use them.