How is Mister Eldric?
- After Blackberry Night, Eldric becomes ill. He is on bed rest and Briony feels relieved not to have to see him and feel embarrassed.
- Briony also feels guilt though, as she blames herself for Eldric becoming sick. In case you didn't catch it yet, Briony reminds us of her witchy ways.
- Briony refuses to answer daily letters from Cecil.
- When Briony finally asks about Eldric's health after four days, Pearl confesses that he is very ill and that Leanne is making him feel worse. Apparently, she is always bringing him little pieces of things and asking him to make things. Sounds like Leanne hasn't heard of chicken soup and rest…
- After spending days alone, Briony starts to talk to Brownie again, and even tells him she missed him. She admits she shouldn't be talking to him because they hurt people together, but Brownie says they never hurt anyone.
- Briony sets off looking for Dr. Rannigan and is told he might be at the Alehouse. She finds him in the Alehouse with Cecil, but tries to walk away without talking to either.
- Cecil follows her, however, and forces an apology on her.
- Briony has thoughts of eels and the taste of eels in food being used to cover the taste of poison.
- Cecil talks about Briony using him for something mysterious and says he did it out of love.
- When Briony insists she doesn't know what he's talking about he vows to expose her and ruin her. Cecil has become one seriously unsavory dude.
- After Dr. Rannigan visits and delivers depressing news to Mr. Clayborne, Briony mentions what Pearl said about Leanne to Eldric's father. He decides Leanne may not visit until Eldric is well.
- Briony compares Eldric's sickness to Stepmother's and wonders how she caused him to get sick.
- Eldric makes a miraculously fast recovery that no one can believe or explain; he writes to Briony asking her to meet with him to discuss something.
- Briony replies to his request right away, joking about their fraternity and agreeing to meet him, but asking him to forget about Blackberry Night.
- In his reply letter, Eldric says he can't think of anything unpleasant to forget from Blackberry Night, and jokes about a secret form of communication for the fraternity.
- Briony visits Eldric and struggles not to act super awkwardly—nothing quite like a kiss on Blackberry Night to make an easy friendship complicated.
- Eldric asks about Cecil, and Briony says she has him wrapped around her finger but then admits that she feels stupid for practicing boxing but not being able to punch Cecil.
- They agree that Briony needs practice with real fighting.
- Eldric tells Briony that Cecil is dangerous to her because he takes arsenic—and when Briony doesn't fully understand the effects of this, he explains that it makes men feel more lustful. This helps Briony understand why her father fired her tutor Fitz (an arsenic addict) and told her a man doesn't leave his daughter with someone like that.
- The smell of paraffin forces Briony to have a flashback about the library fire. She wonders why she set her stories on fire and why she burned herself; she yells at herself to stop remembering. All of this, of course, happens in her head and not aloud, which is fortunate because Eldric might think her crazy otherwise.
- Eldric pleads with Briony to watch out for Cecil, while Briony convinces herself that she caused Eldric's sickness and thinks to herself that he should watch out for her.