Gaudy Night

The accommodations for several professors have been rearranged so that senior staff is distributed across the college. This seems to curtail the activities of the vandal though one small incident occurs involving a first-year student. Pages from one of her textbooks are ripped out and strewn around the library. As exam time approaches, the staff participates in the traditional School Sweeps, drawing lots for various third-year students as if it were a horse race to see who will pass or fail their final exams. Harriet draws the name of Miss Newland, a shy girl who works intensively at her studies. When Harriet is introduced to the girl, she is startled to realize this is the same young woman who was leaning over the parapet of the tower.

That same evening, Harriet goes out with Pomfret again. His infatuation has advanced to such a degree that he proposes marriage, even though he is 10 years younger than Harriet. She lets him down gently, protesting that she is unlikely to ever marry anyone. Pomfret leaves in a sulk. Afterward, Harriet is secretly pleased that she has attracted the attention of a younger man: “However loudly we may assert our own unworthiness, few of us are really offended by hearing the

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