A Farewell to Arms Chapter 18 Summary

  • Catherine and Frederic enjoy themselves in Milan while Henry recovers from his surgery.
  • In bed at night, Henry likes to take the pins out of Catherine’s hair and let it surround both of them. He loves the way she looks.
  • They decided that the first day she came to the hospital in Milan was their wedding day, and that they had been married since then.
  • Frederic wants them to be legally married, in case they have a baby, but Catherine is afraid that there are too many requirements, and that if they were married they wouldn’t be allowed to be together in war time.
  • He tells her he wants to get married for her, and she tells him again that they are the same person, that they are not separate.
  • She reminds him of her experience as a fiancé before, and he tells her not to talk about it.
  • She tells him she isn’t religious, that the Saint Anthony was "for luck," as it had been a gift to her.
  • He reminds her he will be sent to the front again. She tells him they should worry about that when and if it happens. She tells him that she was "nearly crazy" when they first met and that now she’s happy again.
  • Before climbing into bed with him again, she goes and visits her patients.