A Fall of Marigolds

Clara is assigned to the isolation ward, where she discovers that Andrew has contracted scarlet fever and is refusing to eat. Clara is able to convince him to eat, and as they talk they realize they have a great deal in common: For example, Andrew became a tailor because his father was a tailor and he helped his father as a child, much like Clara became a nurse after working with her father to care for patients. She hears in his voice “the same stoic resignation” that is in hers “when a person asked [her] what it was like to be a nurse” (78). Clara also tries to reassure Andrew that he will not die, which reminds Andrew that he does not even know if Lily had family who should be notified of her death. Clara quickly changes the subject and attends other patients.

Clara meets the new intern, Dr. Randall, who asks her about the fire. Clara is very upset by this reminder and demands to know who told him she was at the fire, hoping that it was “[n]ot Dolly” (83). It was a different nurse, Ivy, and Dr. Randall and Andrew both notice how emotional Clara is at his mention of the fire.