In which the solemn days following Madame Beck’s fête are given over to the arduous preparation and grim realities of examination, revealing the peculiar temperaments and rivalries of the school’s instructors. Amidst the desolation of empty halls and the care of a peculiar pupil, the narrator endures a melancholy and solitary holiday, wandering through fields and lanes while her heart wrestles with a profound and silent longing.