Deborah’s condition worsened by the hour. Dr. Porterfield returned that evening. When he had examined her and then spoke in private to Sarah, he used the dread word “pneumonia” for the first time, which prompted Sarah to write the letter to Penelope asking that she speed, if she could, Leon’s return. Floyd insisted on taking the letter himself to the stage at the post office next morning, and on the same trip to town, gave Nell her first real news of Deborah’s illness, no longer called “an indisposition.” Having got a promise from Felix that he would meet every coach coming from every direction, “He may have detoured for reasons we cannot know or started back before he received Sarah’s message.” Nell packed a trunk and had herself driven to Beulah Land.

So, when the party from Savannah arrived and were met by Felix, who now had the knowledge to convey that is the solemnest that may be conveyed about a person, they immediately went on to Beulah Land in the livery coach Felix held in readiness. Sarah and Nell stood on the porch waiting for them, having been alerted to their approach by Lovey. Leon leaped out before the coach stopped, and Sarah met him with an embrace that combined sympathetic tears and love, but in which sorrow was less than the joy she took in their reunion. Felix went to comfort Nell who, having borne all bravely until now, declared that she was prostrated by a grief she surely could never survive.

Penelope greeted her niece warmly and quietly. Bonard whispered a few words to Sarah and Leon, and when Sarah assured him that Selma was in her room and had taken the tragedy calmly but had better not be visited, Bonard bowed and got back into the coach which, now driven by Plumboy, carried him home to Oaks.

Sarah saw that they all appeared to be waiting, so she turned and led them indoors. Deborah had been washed and dressed by Lovey and Ezra, with Nell the calm and rather curious witness. Sarah had gone into Highboro, attended by Floyd, in the buggy that had been Deborah’s own favored means of conveyance. She chose a coffin at the hardware store and directed that it be taken immediately to Beulah Land. She then called upon the Reverend Curtis Lamont, who saw his duty clear and plain, and saddled his horse to follow the buggy back to the plantation.

Deborah was put into the coffin, and the coffin was set on sawhorses that had been draped with black cloth and set up in the little sitting room that had been for so long her business office.