The Hours of Suspense
- It is now "Sunday morning, when the church bells in Stoniton were ringing for the morning service" (46.1). But Bartle Massey and Adam are still in that apartment. Do they never leave? Should they just bring in a laugh track and start doing a sitcom called Massey? You know, like Seinfeld, except they visit the jail instead of going to a diner?
- All of a sudden—and with a Cosmo Kramer-esque burst through the door—comes Dinah Morris. She's here to grab something out of Adam's refrigerator without asking. No, actually, she's here to encourage Adam "to go and see the poor sinner and bid her farewell" (46.9).
- This isn't the best news. But Dinah is at least convinced that Elaine (ahem) Hetty "is no longer hard" and "has confessed all to me" (46.13).
- Adam is unwilling to give up hope. Still, he is determined to pay a trip to Hetty and comfort her in her final hours. Dinah leaves.
- It's going to be a long, sleepless night for Adam. He feels betrayed, berates himself for thinking Hetty "was loving and tender-hearted and wouldn't tell a lie" (46.23).
- Bartle Massey assures him that all this evil might, somehow, some way, produce some good. Adam won't hear of it. Things continue like this until 6:00 in the morning, when Adam leaves for the prison.
- Hetty is in her cell "clinging close to Dinah" (46.39). But Dinah urges her to speak with Adam. She obeys. She apologizes to Adam. And Adam forgives her—in fact, he "forgave thee a long time ago" (46.44).
- But there isn't much time to dally. The "last preparations" for Hetty's execution are underway. Yet Adam is "too agitated to see more" (46.49).