Since Walter went out early in the morning, came back at tiffin only for half an hour, and did not then return till dinner was just ready, Kitty found herself much alone. For some days she did not stir from the bungalow. It was very hot and for the most part she lay in a long chair by the open window, trying to read. The hard light of mid-day had robbed the magic palace of its mystery and now it was no more than a temple on the city wall, garish and shabby, but because she had seen it once in such an ecstasy it was never again quite common place; and often at dawn or at dusk, and again at night, she found herself able to recapture something of that beauty. What had seemed to her a mighty bastion was but the city wall and on this, massive and dark, her eyes rested continually. Behind its crenellations lay the city in the dread grip of the pestilence.

Vaguely she knew that terrible things were happening there, not from Walter who when she questioned him (for otherwise he rarely spoke to her) answered with a humorous nonchalance which sent a shiver down her spine; but from Waddington and from the amah. The people were dying at the rate of a hundred a day, and hardly any of those who were attacked by the disease recovered from it; the gods had been brought out from the abandoned temples and placed in the streets; offerings were laid before them and sacrifices made, but they did not stay the plague. The people died so fast that it was hardly possible to bury them. In some houses the whole family had been swept away and there was none to perform the funeral rites. The officer commanding the troops was a masterful man and if the city was not given over to riot and arson it was due to his determination. He forced his soldiers to bury such as there was no one else to bury and he had shot with his own hand an officer who demurred at entering a stricken house.

Kitty sometimes was so frightened that her heart sank within her and she would tremble in every limb. It was all very well to say that the risk was small if you took reasonable precautions: she was panic-stricken. She turned over in her mind crazy plans of escape. To get away, just to get away, she was prepared to set out as she was and make her way alone, without anything but what she stood up in, to some place of safety. She thought of throwing herself on the mercy of Waddington, telling him everything and beseeching him to help her to get back to Hong Kong. If she flung herself on her knees before her husband, and admitted that she was frightened, even though he hated her now he must have enough human feeling in him to pity her.

It was out of the question. If she went, where could she go? Not to her mother; her mother would make her see very plainly that, having married her off, she counted on being rid of her; and besides she did not want to go to her mother. She wanted to go to Charlie, and he did not want her. She knew what he would say if she suddenly appeared before him. She saw the sullen look of his face and the shrewd hardness behind his charming eyes. It would be difficult for him to find words that sounded well. She clenched her hands. She would have given anything to humiliate him as he had humiliated her. Sometimes she was seized with such a frenzy that she wished she had let Walter divorce her, ruining herself if only she could have ruined him too. Certain things he had said to her made her blush with shame when she recalled them.

沃尔特一大早就出去了，只在午饭的时候回来了半个小时，然后就没再回来，直到晚餐准备好的时候，凯蒂发现屋子里就只有她一个人。有好几天了，她根本没有出屋，天很热，大部分时间她都躺在长椅上，椅子放在开着的窗户边，她想让自己把书读进去。正午的阳光光线很强，现在那座神奇宫殿的神秘气息已经荡然无存，它只不过是城墙上的庙宇，俗气华丽但很破败，但是因为她曾在迷幻之中见识过它的壮观，所以在她心中它不再是一个普通的地方。她经常在拂晓或者日落的时候，甚至在夜晚，一个人重温那种美。在她眼中，那个强大的堡垒只不过是城墙的幻觉，她的目光不停地落在这个宽大的、黑乎乎的城墙上，而城墙大炮垛口后面的这座城市，正遭受着瘟疫肆虐的蹂躏。

她大概了解了些在那里正在发生的可怕的事情，但这种了解不是从沃尔特那儿知道的。当她问他情况时（否则的话，他很少跟她讲话），他的回答往往是打哈哈似的漫不经心，这使得她脊背发凉，但是从威廷顿和女仆那里，她还是多少知道了一些情况。现在的情景是平均每天会有一百人感染死亡，几乎没有什么人能够感染瘟疫后康复。各种神像已经从废弃的庙宇中被搬了出来，放到大街上。神像前摆满了各种供奉品和各种牺牲的祭品，但是这仍然没有阻止瘟疫的蔓延。病人死得太快了，几乎没有时间去安葬他们。有些人家几乎都灭门绝户了，没有活着的家人来操办葬礼。部队的长官是个善于掌控局势的人，多亏了他的坚定果敢，整个城镇才没有陷入暴乱和纵火。他命令他的士兵们去掩埋没人理睬的尸体，他还亲手枪毙了一个军官，因为他反对士兵进入受灾的房子。

有时凯蒂真的吓坏了，全身颤抖，她的心沉甸甸的。如果采取合理的预防措施，风险就不大，这话说起来容易，做起来可就难了。她整天提心吊胆，甚至还仔细考虑过一个疯狂的逃跑计划，离开这儿，只要离开这儿。当她一个人的时候，或者找机会一个人待着的时候，她就做好出发的准备，别无所图，只求能够待在一个安全的地方。她曾考虑要不要借助威廷顿，赢得他的怜悯，告诉他事情的来龙去脉，请求他帮助她回到香港。或者如果她屈尊跪在她丈夫面前，坦承她怕得要死，即使他现在恨她，也一定会有足够的人情味去可怜她的。

但也有问题。如果她走了，她可以去哪儿？不能回母亲家，她母亲已经让她看得很明白了，巴不得让她出嫁赶紧走人，整天琢磨怎么摆脱她，况且她自己也不想回母亲家。她想去找查理，但他不想要她了，假如突然出现在他面前，她知道他会说些什么话。她会看见他脸上阴沉的表情，以及在他迷人眼神后面的精明与算计，他很难和颜悦色地对她说什么好话。她握紧了拳头，真希望当时自己能说些针锋相对的话来回击他的羞辱。有时她会被一阵狂乱所控制，如果当初沃尔特和她离婚就好了。只要她能毁掉查理，毁掉自己也在所不惜。当回忆起查理说过的某些话时，她羞愧得脸都红了。