Goodwife Wheeler, one of the women who examined Margaret, testifies. She tells the court that Margaret has a “witch’s teat,” a mark of the devil. Margaret, feverish, begins ranting at the woman and taunting the governors. Thomas’s eyes bore into her, but she cannot stop yelling. When the woman explains that Margaret’s blood, thickened by Satan, did not flow from her even when pricked with a needle, Margaret only yells more. She tells the governors that the needle was dull and placed in a device that allows it to retract when pushed against something hard. It was trickery, she alleges, that caused her not to bleed. She can tell that no one believes her. She realizes that she is tired of the proceedings and begins to wish for death.

James then testifies. He tells the court about Margaret’s animated talk of Bess and adds that when Margaret was speaking, he saw a strange shadow. The maid had also seen the shadow and had a fit of sorts. Margaret interrupts and explains apoplexy, but it is clear that the governors are sure the fit was a demonic possession brought on by Margaret. When James recounts that Margaret’s cat also appeared, the governors seem all but convinced of Margaret’s guilt. The final nail in her coffin is the constable who taunted her, whom she taunted back that he was not likely to get sleep. He reports that he had nightmares that night. Margaret angrily yells at him that she is going to also curse him sexually so that he cannot perform, and he hits her. Thomas jumps up and chokes him. He is told that he will have to stand trial for the assault but responds that he does not care. Moments later, Margaret is found guilty. She is to be hanged.

She is taken back to her cell. A few hours later, the constable whom Thomas assaulted comes in and tries to sexually assault her. She taunts him as he does so, and he is unable to proceed. As he struggles angrily, Bellingham strides in. He fires the constable and has him taken to the stocks. He takes Margaret upstairs to another room where Thomas waits. The two share a tearful hour together during which Thomas confesses to having sex with the Widow Hallett. Margaret is able to identify the aphrodisiac from Thomas’s description of its taste. She is upset but forgives him. She tells him that after she is hanged, he must leave and start a new life. She is terrified to meet her fate and grief-stricken that her marriage to such a fine man will end in tragedy.

A minister from a neighboring congregation visits Margaret and asks her to confess to witchcraft. She does not. He wonders if she might be being punished for another sin, and she admits to once having stolen a ribbon. He says a prayer for her and then leaves. Next, Goodwife Longfellow, formerly the Widow Hallett, visits. She tells Margaret that she carries Thomas’s child and that he will be hers. Margaret laughs in her face. The woman then reveals that Lady Wembly is her great-aunt and that it was she who revealed Margaret’s real identity. Again, Margaret laughs in her face. She gives the Widow Hallett the poppet she’d made of Margaret and tells her that evil will come back upon her times three for every sin she committed. She is not safe, nor is her child. Stunned, the woman flees from the cell.

A storm brews on the day of her execution. When asked if she has any last words, she responds that she does: She is innocent. Her only crime is being a woman. Just before she is killed, Alice Stratton screams out that Margaret has done nothing wrong and is not a witch. The governors will all have blood on their hands. With her last breath, Margaret says goodbye to Thomas.

Thomas cries as he reads Margaret’s journal. He finds one loose piece of paper within its pages, written on the day of her arrest. In it, she writes that she became pregnant after her assault and that her grandmother tried to give her an abortive tea, but it did not work. She gave birth to a child, and it was given to the Wells family near Reading. Thomas cries more for the sadness and shame that Margaret needlessly endured and vows to find the child.

Two years later, Thomas is living in Maryland, in a community created as a haven for Catholics. Wars still rage in England over Protestantism and the reforms, and more so than ever Thomas thinks that the conflict is foolish and dangerous. Alice Stratton was accused of witchcraft but found innocent. She and Samuel send letters and plan to visit. Goodwife Longfellow died in childbirth, as did her child, whom Thomas knows was his. Her husband the reverend later took his own life.

Thomas returns to England in search of Margaret’s daughter. He finds her, and she is the spitting image of her mother. She was adopted by a family, but they treat her as a servant rather than a daughter. She is 25, and they will not let her marry. He tells her Margaret’s story and then asks if she would like to return with him to Maryland. She tells him that the world is unsafe and that she cannot accompany him. He then gives her a large bag of gold and tells her that she should use it to start the kind of life that she wants. He returns to his ship. Just before it is to depart for the colony, Constance shows up and asks if she can travel with him. He is delighted and tells the ship’s captain to prepare a room for his daughter.