Chains Chapter 34 Summary

Sunday, November 17—Sunday, November 24, 1776

  • Seeing your best friend get locked up has to be a pretty terrifying experience, but Isabel has no time to worry about Curzon since Madam wants to throw a huge party to celebrate the taking of Fort Washington, which is obviously way more important. Isabel, Sarah, and the rest of the soldiers' wives are put on constant duty to prepare the house and the meal. Meanwhile, Madam basks in her bedchamber, putting sweet-smelling water on herself and doing her hair and makeup.
  • The dinner guests include several prominent British officers who spend the meal gloating about the victory at Fort Washington. While they took over three thousand prisoners and this should be a huge triumph, instead they wish that they could just kill them. The prison isn't nearly big enough to hold them all, and they've decided to leave nature to its own devices—eventually, starvation, the cold, or a plague will kill them off. Lady Seymour questions whether the rebels might retaliate against the poor treatment of their troops, but the officers ignore her.
  • As Isabel and the servant women clean up after the dinner, Isabel is plagued by thoughts of what could happen to Curzon. She begins to think of a plan, and the more she considers it, the more she knows what she has to do.