The Phoenix Crown: A Novel

Gemma channels her anger into singing Mozart’s Queen of the Night at Henry’s party. The audience loves her: Caruso and the mayor compliment her, as does Henry. He wants to put the Queen of the Night flower on her, but it hasn’t bloomed yet. She watches other guests dance, and George offers to help her leave if she wants to. Gemma lies, saying she is all right. Eventually, the guests leave around sunrise. Gemma avoids going to bed with Henry by claiming she wants to see the review of the opera in the morning paper. As she reads the review, the earthquake hits.

As the earthquake hits, Suling is sheltered under the church’s marble bench. She walks over to St. Christina’s asylum, seeing the damaged buildings and people along the street. Once inside, Suling talks to Sister Anne, who gives her keys to unlock the cells on the floor Reggie is on. She won’t tell Suling which room is Reggie’s, so Suling has to unlock them all. She finds Reggie, who is extremely drugged, and leads her out of the building. On the way out, they see Sister Anne fall to her death.