Chapter 15 Summary

Vanessa and the children have gone, Nelly is in the kitchen making dinner, Leonard is writing in his study, and the dead bird lies on its bed of roses in the garden. Virginia stands looking out the window, thinking about her new novel. Her hope is to create something utterly perfect, and she's afraid she will fail. Virginia tells herself she's content with her life. The headache is coming back; suddenly, she decides she must escape. Out into the night she goes - no word, no note. She's just taking a walk, she tells herself. In the garden, she stands for a moment over the body of the dead bird and thinks that this corpse, representing death, is the opposite of the life shining from the house windows up above.

She leaves, walking unconsciously towards the rail station. She passes a couple walking...