Chapter 26 Summary

Nella and the children return from Vergelegen. Excited, Pieter meets them as they get off the bus but his joy at seeing them is tempered by the luke-warm reception his wife gives him. She does not seem glad to be back at all. Later that evening, however, she comes to him, apologizes for the letter and truly seems to want to be with him. They bathe the children and put them to bed, and then she makes for them a bed in front of the fire, something that they had not done since the early days of their relationship.

They kiss and make love. They return to their room only at midnight; Pieter is amazed to realize that it is the first striking of the church clock he hears that night. His morning is filled with joy and he is light-hearted, but by...