Chapter 36
In which Donne stays true to character to the very end but Bradshaw finds new sympathy for the woman who he had hardened his heart against.
Leonard is so physically and mentally distressed that he is sent the Farquhar's to be cared for by Jemima. Anxiety about him is a sad distraction from the adults' own grief, as they wonder why they, the infirm and worn out, were left, while she was taken in her lovely prime.
On the 3rd day, a fine gentleman asks to speak to Benson. It is a weakened and indecisive Donne, wrapped in furs and wondering whether he has made a mistake in coming in person. Sally shows him Ruth's poor dead body, still as marble and wearing an ineffable look of bright serenity. Sally is unable to contain her grief, which makes Donne uncomfortable. He offers Sally a sovereign for her kindness to Ruth, which she indignantly rejects, lamenting that she was not kind to Ruth, and the world was not kind to Ruth, but now she is gone where the angels will be very tender to her.
Benson recognises Donne and tries to check the feeling that he is responsible for Ruth's death, but then Donne expresses his own regret that she died because of her love for him. Benson listens silently as Donne confirms his suspicions, saying that money is poor compensation for his youthful folly. Benson bites back a curse as Donne says he had offered to marry Ruth and is now offering to provide for the boy.
Benson's voice is icy as he says that those who honoured his mother will take care of Leonard. He says that God has another name for what Donne called youthful folly, and shuts the door in Donne's face.
Donne dismisses Benson as an ill-bred puritanical old fellow and think to himself that he has done his duty. Benson is bitterly disturbed by the interaction and feels anger at meeting Ruth's unknown seducer by her deathbed.
The funeral is calm and simple, the bier borne by some of the poor to whom she had been very kind in her lifetime. Benson has prepared a sermon and the old chapel is full of friends and strangers who have come to mourn Ruth, including the Bradshaw family in deep mourning.
Benson opens his sermon but all he can see before him is Ruth as she had been, stricken low and crouching from sight in the upland field by Llan-dhu, like a woeful hunted creature. Forgetting his sermon, he reads the seventh chapter of revelations which promises that "They which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb...shall serve God in his temple...and he shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." The congregation sob as he reads it, though Sally is slightly embarrassed by the lack of a proper sermon and feels the need to explain to Davis that Benson does preach an uncommon fine sermon sometimes.
Bradshaw is now anxious to testify his respect for the woman who, if all had entertained his opinions, would have been driven into hopeless sin. He arranges to meet the stonemason at the grave to measure up for a tombstone. Leonard lies on the new-stirred turf, his face swollen with weeping. He calms himself and offers the simple explanation that his mother is dead. Bradshaw puts his hand on Leonard's shoulder and takes him home. It is the first time for years that he has entered Mr Benson's house, and he comes leading and comforting Ruth's son. For a moment, he cannot speak to his old friend for the sympathy that chokes his voice and fills his eyes with tears.