Now, reflecting back as she lay there waiting for Antoine to come to her, Madeleine recalled how her misery and heartbreak had just begun. In the morning, she had awakened to find M. Keel gone. She had called out first, thinking him to be in the bath, but suddenly panic had seized her and she'd leaped from the bed naked, flinging back the door to see that his car was not there! God, how she had wept!

The proprietaire, an aged man named M. Rondeau and his wife, had sensed her circumstances and taken her to them, provided for her under their roof, and in turn she had worked as long as she could through her pregnancy, maintaining the cabins and keeping the house until her time came. They had even paid for Dr. Carey to deliver her, and advised that she give Igat up when the drunken physician had suggested he could put the child in a good home in Montreal where she could look forward to a full and respectable life.

God, how Madeleine wished she had never listened to them… her sweet, precious Igat… The loss was greater than she could ever have imagined… and once she had learned that the wealthy Rafael Girarde had her baby, she had immediately come to Montreal just to be close to her… happy if she were even able to catch a glimpse of her child on the street. If… if only there were some way she could make arrangements with Mr. Girarde just to see her… to talk to her once in awhile… it wouldn't be so bad, and maybe she could endure it… Perhaps if she went and spoke to the wealthy importer who held some sort of seat in government… He was probably a reasonable man… If only there was some way she could tell Antoine, and he would help… Why didn't he come to bed? She needed him so badly…

Madeleine tossed a few more minutes in her restless confusion, the steady stream of unhappy memories draining her until she closed her eyes in choked weariness. Why didn't he come… why didn't he…?