- It's the end of June and Maxim goes to London for some official dinner that only men can attend. He'll be gone for two days, but at first, Mrs. de Winter is afraid she'll never see him again.
- There's no personal message from Maxim when he gets to London, but he does send word that he arrived. Now that she knows he's safe, she actually feels relieved to be on her own.
- She's actually kind of surprised at how happy she feels. In her chipper mood, she takes Jasper for a walk through the Happy Valley to the cove. Jasper clearly wants to go to the other cove, where the cabin/boathouse is, and Mrs. de Winter decides it can't hurt. (Hmmm.)
- She notices that the buoy where Rebecca's boat used to be is painted with the words "Je Reviens" which, in French, means "I come back" (13.16). That must be the name of Rebecca's boat.
- This is pretty obviously ironic, since her boat wouldn't, in fact, ever come back.
- In the sunlight, the cabin doesn't seem so scary. She goes inside with Jasper, and he starts barking at something. Soon, they discover Ben hiding inside; he has stolen some fishing line.
- Mrs. de Winter tells him it's okay, but that he shouldn't steal again. They come out of the boathouse, and Mrs. de Winter suggests that Ben go to his own house.
- Ben asks her, "You won't put me to the asylum, will you?" (13.35). She realizes he's terrified and tells him that of course she won't put him in an asylum. He smiles at her and gives her a rock as a gift.
- She thanks him, and he tells her she has "angel's eyes" (13.44). He says she's different than "the other one" (13.46). She asks him who he's talking about (really, Mrs de W?), but he won't give a name. We're pretty sure we have it figured out, though.
- He tells her that this other one reminded him of a snake. One time, she caught him watching her and threatened to have him put in an asylum. He promised her he would never tell anyone what he saw. Now he wants to know if she's gone for good.
- Mrs. de Winter says she doesn't know who he's talking about (again – really?), but that nobody will put him in an asylum.
- She thinks he must be imagining things; she can't believe somebody would threaten him like that. Still, she's kind of afraid, so she runs home with Jasper.
- When she gets home, she sees an unfamiliar car in the driveway. Oh no: visitors. She doesn't want them to see her all messy this way.
- Looking up at the house, she sees there's an open window shade in the west wing and a man is standing at the window.
- The man seems to see her, because he moves quickly out of view. Then Mrs. de Winter sees Mrs. Danvers' arm pull the shade down.
- Hmm. Maybe it's a repairman, or a friend of Mrs. Danvers. It really isn't Mrs. de Winter's business anyway.
- Still, it's weird that the man shows up when Maxim happens to be out of town.
- Our narrator goes up to the morning-room to grab her knitting, and she can tell that people have used the room since she was last in there.
- Looks like Mrs. Danvers uses the morning-room for entertaining when nobody else is around.
- Mrs. de Winter walks toward the stone passage, but she hears voices and runs back to the morning-room before she's seen. There sure is a lot of sneaking around going on.
- She can hear Mrs. Danvers and the man passing by. Mrs. Danvers is telling him that she thinks Mrs. de Winter has gone to the library. She'll make sure the coast is clear, and then he can sneak out.
- Jasper, excitable pup that he is, jumps out from the morning-room to greet the man. Mrs. de Winter is hiding behind the door, but Jasper blows her cover.
- The man sees her and looks shocked.
- He apologizes for frightening her. He says he's a friend of Danny (Mrs. Danvers) and that Danny didn't want to bother Mrs. de Winter with a visitor.
- The man tells her he's surprised Maxim left her all alone here; somebody might come and take her away. Huh?
- Then Mrs. Danvers walks in, and she definitely doesn't look happy. Mrs. de Winter can see the hatred in her.
- Reluctantly, Mrs. Danvers introduces Mrs. de Winter to Mr. Jack Favell. Mrs. de Winter asks if he wants to stay for tea.
- He seems to find this funny, and he tells Mrs. Danvers he might just accept the invitation. Guess what? She's not thrilled. Mrs. Danvers' eyes alone tell him not to do it.
- Mrs. de Winter is getting really uncomfortable. (So are we.) Something isn't right about the situation.
- In the end, Mr. Favell says he better be going and invites Mrs. de Winter to look at his car. She doesn't know how to decline his invitation, so she follows him out.
- How about a little ride, he asks, just to the gate? No matter how cool his car is, she says no.
- Favell tells her goodbye and then asks if she wouldn't mind keeping his visit a secret from Mr. de Winter. Apparently, Maxim isn't fond of Mr. Favell, and he doesn't want Danny to get in trouble because of it. She agrees.
- Our narrator doesn't want to upset Maxim or put Mrs. Danvers in a tight spot.
- Then it hits her – maybe Mrs. Danvers is up to no good. Maybe this man is a thief! In cahoots with Mrs. Danvers! Aha!
- She decides to go up to the west wing and see if she can find anything. She's scared and excited – time for some detective work.