Act 2, Scene 8 Summary

In England in 1961, a priest appears and speaks poetically about the shortness of life, how man blooms briefly then dies. As he speaks Brock and Alice appear, accompanied by a young woman named Dorcas, who is eventually revealed to be Alice's lover. Alice and Brock remove the dustsheets from the furniture in the room, commenting on how grim funerals are and how the house is dusty and unused. Their conversation reveals that they've just come from Darwin's funeral.

Susan appears with an arm full of books. A stage direction describes her as being calmer. Alice introduces her to Dorcas, and their conversation reveals that Alice is Dorcas' teacher. Alice and Dorcas banter happily about the way that Dorcas is the daughter of an aristocrat, that aristocrats are generally stupid, and that Alice is working to make Dorcas and other aristocratic girls...