Part II, Chapter 9 Summary

Robert recalls the day Virginia had died. She sat motionless in bed, her skin pale white, her heart stopped. At first he was paralyzed, unable to feel despair, but soon his body began trembling violently, a state that lasted for an hour. As he drank himself into a stupor, he kept calling out her name. He recalled the moment when the men in canvas and masks came to take Kathy away to bury her in the fiery pit. He had screamed and run after them, and had to be dragged away. He resolved not to let Virginia be buried the same way Kathy was, even if it meant being put to death for disobeying the authorities.

Later, Robert had stumbled over to Ben's house to borrow his car. The doorbell chimes played "How Dry I Am" repeatedly. Getting no...