Summary

In Chapter 7, Ursule and Nanette climb the hill, along with Nanette’s aging gray cat, to the cave shrine. Nanette recites a spell to bring Ursule a child, and the sweetness touches Ursule despite her unbelief. Then something flickers inside the scrying stone. Ursule sees a glowing red star inside and cries out. Nanette tells Ursule that the stone speaks to her and, finally, a chant of her own comes to Ursule. She speaks the words, which are “issued from her mouth almost without her volition” (133). This marks Ursule’s transition from non-believer to witch.

Despite the spell and Ursule’s attempts to get Morcum, her husband, to sleep with her, in the beginning of Chapter 8 Ursule has had no luck. Meanwhile, Nanette seems to have grown old overnight and is weakening. The women go back to the cave...