The Secret Rapture Study Guide

The scene is a darkened bedroom. When a door opens, there is just enough light to illuminate the figure of a man in the bed with a sheet over his face, and a woman in a chair at the foot of the bed. Marion comes in, looks at the man, starts to leave, but stops when Isobel (the woman in the chair) calls Marion's name. This startles Marion, who had not known she was there. Isobel asks Marion not to turn on the main light, saying she came to the room for some peace. Marion asks if Isobel was with "him" when he died. Isobel admits she was, and says there is a moment when you see the soul leave the body. "Like a bird". Marion feels guilty that she was not there, but Isobel reassures her: he was barely conscious, and did not even know who she was. (At this point, it is not clear who "he" is, and what his relationship is to Marion and Isobel). (read more)