Summary

Chapter 20 is the beginning of part three, “Laws Unknown,” where Clare follows Richard after her assault the night before. Richard walks out of the room, Clare hurriedly grabs all her belongings and finds him entering a trail head. Richard does not speak to Clare until they reach a cave. In the cave, Richard tells Clare a story about a man who lost his wife and hired a replacement to act as a stand in. The man would parade his replacement wife around in public, but then he started mistreating her. The man would berate and hit this woman. It was unclear whether the man treated his wife like this or if they were suppressed urges that came out during mourning. Richard's point was that people in mourning are dangerous and need space from society, as a "matter of public safety" (163).

Richard continued that...