As summer arrives, “the Essex Serpent recedes for a time, since how could it thrive under so benevolent a sum?” (176). Banks catches fish, Naomi sits on the shore, and Stella collects flowers. Will sleeps before a half-written letter. Cora is planning a midsummer party; Martha peels eggs, and Charles and Katherine have been invited, as has Garrett. Will visits a sickly Cracknell. Spencer visits Charles in London and is introduced to people who might help with his “sudden philanthropic bent” (177). Cora walks through the countryside, still thinking of Will. She resents being considered at fault. She also misses the rest of the Ransome family. She thinks about Stella’s condition and her newfound obsession with the color blue.

Stella, Will, and Joanna go to the party. Will is nervous. Though the doctor has told the family that Stella has the flu, she “[knows] consumption when she saw it speckle the white folds of a handkerchief” (181). She has not yet told Will. When they arrive, Cora seems almost a stranger to Will. The rest of the guests arrive. Will wishes he could sit down and talk to Cora but he cannot and he tries again “to rouse himself to anger” (183) but it will not come.