Part Two, Chapter Sixteen: River of Fire Summary

March is very emotional to find his wife at his bedside when he awakens. Just seeing her, he says, makes him feel better. He is heavily medicated and often asleep, but Marmee cannot bring herself to leave his side. She is overwhelmed with confusion and asks March questions about Grace in the moments before he slips into unconsciousness, hoping that he is still lucid enough to answer honestly, but medicated enough to forget her probing. When she asks if there is something going on between him and the black nurse, pain wells in March's eyes. "My love," he murmurs (p. 234). Later, when she looks through his belongings, she finds the ring of "Negro hair" in the silken pouch where he keeps locks of his wife and daughter's hair, Marmee is convinced that this hair belongs...