The Last September

One of the army captains’ wives hosts a dance for the soldiers and local girls. Lois and other young girls of the area arrange to stay in Clonmore for the night so they can attend. In the bustle of guests arriving, Mr. Daventry, one of the soldiers, copes with a headache and difficult emotions after a long night and morning searching houses for weapons. He is troubled by searching the homes and beds of sick women and women not yet healed from childbirth. He suffers from shellshock, and in reaction, he hates Ireland.

Lois and Livvy join several other girls in having dinner at the captain’s hut before the dance, and Lois wonders at Gerald not having gone to see her at the Fogarty’s home, where she is staying. She has not heard from him since their kiss at Danielstown, and it is making her nervous. She thinks that if she does not see him at the dance, she may die, because she wrote to Viola that morning that she intends to marry Gerald. There is a strong, cold wind that night, and the captain warns each of the girls not to wander too far from their hut during the dance.