The Death of Mrs. Westaway

Hal wakes up early on Sunday morning and calls Harding. When he does not answer, she leaves a message apologizing for leaving but claiming that she was “freaked out” (160) by the situation involving the will. She asks him to call her back because she would like to return to Penzance. Harding returns her call and Hal reiterates her story, though mentions that she ran into Mrs. Warren before she left. However, the housekeeper has not mentioned their encounter. Hal announces she intends to return and checks the pile of her mother’s letters.

Hal can’t afford a train ticket to Penzance. As she considers her options, she receives a message from Harding and Treswick with an offer to pay for her travel as a necessary expense. Though she is thankful, she feels an increasing guilt about her lies. On the train ride, Hal wonders whether her mother kept her father’s identity a secret as a way “to protect her” (163). Abel meets her at Penzance station and drives her back to Trepassen House. In the car, she thanks Abel for the photograph, and he promises to search for others, even though that period of his life was not particularly happy.