Chapters 41-42 Summary

That autumn, Baldabiou tells Hervé Joncour about the progress Louis Pasteur has made in his research of the silkworm epidemic. He tells him about the war that has finally broken out in Japan and how foreigners there have had their throats cut. He reports on two Italian silkworm traders that have brought back from China eggs of the finest quality. He wonders aloud if the supply of eggs they could gather from sources other than Japan would keep the mills running. He finally expresses the fear that if Joncour goes to Japan he will never return. Joncour states firmly that his is going and will buy the Japanese eggs with his own money if necessary. Baldabiou is startled by Joncour's uncharacteristic decisiveness.

Baldabiou suggests to the Lavilledieu silk manufacturers that Pasteur's methods are unreliable, that the Italian silkworm traders are untrustworthy...