Bill and Charlie enter a Soho club, and Charlie buys four large gins. He insists they must help their father, who has begun talking to himself in Hungarian and seems haunted by the past. Charlie shares his belief that their father came to England specifically to create Bill, “An English gentleman […] who would be ashamed of him” (264). They watch two men dancing a slow waltz. The dancers strike Bill as both theatrical and genuinely affectionate.

The narrative shifts to Eric, who receives a call from Irene’s father reporting that she never arrived at their house. They have an awkward conversation, agreeing to inform each other if she contacts them. Shaken, Eric goes to the garage with vodka and cigarettes, sits in his car, and spirals through anxious imaginings.

Meanwhile, Irene pretends to sleep as the housemother checks the dormitory. After she leaves, Irene navigates to the bathroom and runs a hot bath. As she soaks, her unborn baby stirs, and she begins to cry. A sleepwalking boy enters, uses the toilet with the door open while murmuring incomprehensibly, then leaves without registering her presence.

Bill’s family gathers for dinner under a newly repaired chandelier. Outside, streetlamps begin flashing, and the chandelier flickers.

The narrative shifts to Eric walking through the snow toward Water Farm, carrying a flashlight. The snowman startles him. At the farmhouse, he sees Rita through a window, sitting on the floor, surrounded by objects arranged in a circle. She is talking to herself. Eric realizes Irene is not there and knows it is wrong to spy on Rita, yet he cannot look away. As he contemplates knocking, the lights go out, and Rita screams in terror. She lights a match, and her frightened face appears at the window, inches from Eric’s own.

Meanwhile, Irene finishes her bath when the power fails. She navigates the pitch-black corridor toward her room but becomes disoriented when she encounters an unexpected opening. Feeling fury and shame, she refuses to call for help. She raises her arms and inches forward in the darkness, hoping her unborn child can somehow guide her.

On Friday morning, Rita is startled by a call from Bill, explaining that the previous night’s blackout affected London. Bill admits he has yet to broach the business plan with his father and will return on Saturday afternoon or Sunday. After the call, Rita observes the protective circle of objects she made during the blackout, which failed to help her. She dresses meticulously, applies makeup, and swallows a Dexamyl pill. Taking the photograph of the garlanded cow and some money from the milk ledger, she leaves.

Crossing the field, Rita sees two sets of footprints and assumes Irene must have come yesterday while she was unconscious on the sofa. However, the Parrys’ cottage is deserted. Through the window, she sees the envelope on the kitchen table beside an empty bottle. The Dexamyl begins working, silencing the voices. Convincing herself Irene is fine, she walks away.

The narrative shifts to Irene at the school office, calling her parents. Explaining the train situation, she says she will probably return to the cottage to talk with Eric. Irene’s mother lectures her about marital commitment. After the call, Irene feels a mix of loneliness and indifference. The housemother enters, announcing that everyone is waiting.

Alison phones Eric at the surgery, asking him to come to her house the following day at 4:00 o’clock.

Irene follows the housemother to a classroom filled with children. The housemother introduces Irene as a visitor from the wider world and asks her to speak. Uncertain what to say, Irene tells the children she lives on a farm and recounts the animals’ names.

The narrative shifts to Rita in Bristol as she returns to the cinema and drinks rum with Byron. Byron reveals that Gloria now attends night school, aiming to get into university. Rita is shocked but pleased, contrasting this with memories of Gloria’s former life.

After the film, Byron walks Rita toward the station. Despite Byron’s misgivings, she insists they stop at the Pow-Wow Club, her former workplace. Inside, she sees Eugene, her old lover, behind the bar. She sits with a Guinness and takes a Nembutal. Eugene’s wife, Annie, angrily confronts Rita and pours a drink in her lap.

Outside, Rita tells Byron she does not want to return to the farm and reveals she is pregnant. He takes her to the flat he shares with Gloria. Gloria tends to Rita and forbids her from considering another termination, insisting her situation is different now. She adopts her soothing “island voice,” and they fall asleep together on the sofa.

Late Friday night, Bill’s father summons him to his office. He pours them both colorless liquor and asks about the baby’s name. Bill reveals he knows his father’s real name is József Somogyi, as he saw his naturalization certificate years ago.

Bill presents his business plan for converting the old hangar. Without examining the numbers, his father goes to the safe and retrieves stacks of cash that Bill estimates amount to £10,000. His father instructs him to place the money in a briefcase, calling it “a gift” requiring no receipt.

Back in his room, Bill repeatedly examines the money. He expects to feel self-loathing, but instead is energized. He imagines Rita’s reaction and slides the briefcase under his bed.

Saturday morning, Eric walks to the village to visit Mr. Earle, the former owner of Water Farm. He finds the elderly farmer sitting in a freezing room with a severe burn on his leg from falling asleep by an electric heater. Eric carefully debrides and dresses the wound, giving his patient a dose of Peter Gurney’s leftover pain medication. After heating tinned food for him, he helps Mr. Earle into bed and promises the district nurse will visit later. At the shop, Eric asks Mrs. Case to prepare groceries for Mr. Earle and add them to his nonexistent account. She asks after Irene, and Eric recalls the vague phone call from Irene’s father confirming she was safe but not revealing her location. He tells Mrs. Case that Irene is well.

Meanwhile, Rita wakes at Gloria’s flat. She briefly sees her father, Martin Lee, sitting at the desk smoking, though he is not really there. When she wakes again, Gloria has left for her nursing shift. Rita contemplates death by overdose but realizes she lacks enough pills. She types briefly on Gloria’s typewriter, places the photograph of the garlanded cow in the mirror frame, and leaves, forgetting her rabbit-fur hat. In a phone booth, Rita tries to call Gabby Miklos but gets a recorded message saying Dr. Parry is on call. She dials Eric’s number but hangs up without speaking. Walking to a bridge over the frozen harbor, she watches three skaters pass swiftly beneath, and feels a sharp pain in her belly.

The chapter concludes with Irene, who is collected by a group of Boy Scouts. They pull her across the snowy landscape on a sleigh as she reflects on her return to a failed marriage.

Eric receives a silent phone call that he believes is from Irene. He eats soup, drinks whisky, and feels torn between desire and troubled thoughts. Deciding to keep his appointment with Alison, he drives his Citroën toward her house. He arrives to find a French door unlocked and enters the empty, overheated house. Feeling uneasy, he goes outside and notices the bedroom curtains are drawn, and Frank’s car is in the open garage.

Frank appears, dressed in combat gear and holding a longbow with an arrow. His son, John, emerges from the garage carrying a cricket bat. Frank tells Eric that Alison does not want to see him, and this lesson is to teach him to keep his “trousers buttoned.” At Frank’s command, John systematically destroys Eric’s car, smashing the windows and lights and denting the body with the bat. Eric gets into the wrecked vehicle and carefully drives away, his hand bleeding from the broken glass. The freezing air rushes through the shattered windows.

Instead of returning to the cottage, Eric drives to Gabby Miklos’s flat. Gabby treats his wounded hand and gives him strong plum liquor. When Eric explains what happened, Gabby lets him stay the night and covers the damaged car with a tarp.

On Saturday evening, Bill prepares to leave his father’s house with the briefcase handcuffed to his wrist. His father gives Bill the key to the handcuffs, cryptically suggesting he should swallow it. Charlie arrives to drive him. Instead of going to the station, they stop at the Soho club for drinks. Charlie then announces he will drive Bill all the way back to the farm.

The brothers drive through the night, sharing gin from a half-bottle and reminiscing about their boyhood, when they saw themselves as prisoners in their father’s house. Bill mentions Rita’s father is in an “asylum.” As Bill leans over to check the time, Charlie loses control on a narrow lane. The car flips onto its roof.

Bill regains consciousness with Charlie’s arm across his chest. He crawls out through the car window, smelling petrol, and discovers the key his father gave him does not fit the handcuffs. He drags the injured Charlie from the wreckage and away from the car. They begin walking through deep snow but veer off the road into a field. Bill considers abandoning his brother but pushes on, fueled by rage and thoughts of Rita and the child. They struggle through drifts until they reach a high wall of snow. Climbing it, they discover it is a railway embankment. They see the tracks and, in the distance, the green light of a signal.