Parade's End

Valentine is in the schoolyard on November 11, 1918. She has been working as a physical education instructor. She is told there is a phone call for her. Valentine answers the phone, but the yard is loud, and she can hardly hear the person on the other end. In the distance, a great tumult ensues. The war is over, and people are celebrating. Valentine can only half-understand what is being said to her. She considers the implications of the end of the war. She feels compelled to renounce all forms of authority. The celebration is like the Roman saturnalia—a giant party where social norms are overturned. Valentine eventually understands that the person on the other end is Edith Ethel. Christopher is back. He is penniless and unwell. She needs to go get him.

Valentine is questioning the headmistress, Miss Wanostrocht, about what Edith Ethel said to her about her and Christopher, but she does not learn anything new. Valentine leaves the building, sits on a bench nearby, and thinks. She recalls how Christopher insulted her on their last night together before he left. She wonders if it was even an insult. She is mad at Edith Ethel and with Christopher.