Daughters of the House Chapter Summary & Analysis - Chapter 48, The Cigarette Lighter Summary

Chapter 48, The Cigarette Lighter Summary

Thérèse walks toward the village just before sunrise. She goes to the church, which is decorated for the day's harvest festival Mass. The old altar has been replaced with a simple altar and a white cloth. There are many wreaths and bouquets of grains and grasses throughout the church. Thérèse looks at the Statue of Our Lady of Blémont-la-Fontaine. The statue has been repainted, and it is attached to a platform decorated with grain. The whole thing will be hoisted up by the local people and taken in procession after Mass, then returned to the chapel that has been built in the woods. Thérèse sees that the statue is child-sized.

Thérèse thinks about how she substituted the Virgin Mary as her mother figure when Antoinette died. She takes the cigarette lighter that Léonie left in her room and sets fire to the wreaths that lie underneath the statue. Thérèse watches...
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