Lovely War

Mrs. Davies receives Aubrey’s letter to Colette and forwards it to a sergeant, hoping that Aubrey will be disciplined for it. He sees a mere sheet of music and disposes of it indifferently. Mrs. Davies also receives letters from James. She replies to him, explaining that Hazel has been “dismissed in disgrace from the YMCA for entertaining men of ill repute after hours” and left no forwarding address (323). Hazel writes to James from Paris, but the letters never reach him.

Hazel reads that the Fifth Army (James’s) has been decimated and disbanded. The German offensive was successful only in one stretch, and this group was soon surrounded. German soldiers are shocked to find the extravagant supplies left by retreating British soldiers (while they are close to starving), and they deduce that Germany is losing the war.

James struggles with confusing dreams and visions between his sedative injections, imagining Mason being killed again, or worrying that it is himself or Hazel being attacked with bombs, bullets, or flame throwers. The hospital is bombed, and he is moved in a truck.