Till We Have Faces

When Orual returns to the palace, she finds the Fox waiting in the dark outside her room. After washing and changing her clothes, she reveals that Psyche is alive and tells him the story of their meeting. The Fox is distraught and assumes that Psyche, whom he loves like a daughter, has been duped by a mortal villain living on the mountain. Once the Fox has reasoned Psyche’s story away, they are left with the question of what to do.

The Fox tells Orual that lions have been seen in Glome again and the King is occupied with organizing a lion hunt. He will be away for some days which will give them a chance to act.

Orual is furious at the thought of Psyche pregnant with a “beggar’s brat” (70)—the royalty of Glome are considered to have divine blood in their veins and it is illegal for them to mix with common people. She suggests that once they rescue Psyche they could hide her at Bardia’s house; the Fox disagrees. He tells her that even if Bardia himself agreed, the man is under his wife’s thumb and insists that they send Psyche away from Glome altogether.