Mem Gowdie dies five days after her niece, Anys, from the wounds she suffered when she nearly drowned and was beaten by the mob. Sucks for the village. They lost their only two midwives/healers, and it's purely their fault.
On Sunday, Mr. Mompellion gives a sermon in which he urges the village to quarantine itself, because if they otherwise leave, they would carry "the seeds of the Plague" to anybody who receives them (Brooks, 102). The Bradfords, at the mention of this, are the focus of Anna's concentration. Remember back a few months ago when Colonel Bradford said he'd leave the village with his family if the plague ever struck? Ya, well it's no surprise when they are the only ones that leave church to go pack for their journey to Oxfordshire.
"Friends," he said at last, "some of us have the means to flee. Some of us have relatives nearby who would gladly shelter us. Others have connections upon whom we could prevail. Some few of us have means to go far from here -- anywhere we choose"..."But how would we repay the kindness of those who received us, if we carried the seeds of the Plague to them? What burden would we bear if, because of us, hundreds die who might have lived? No! Let us accept this Cross. Let us carry it in God's Holy Name!"..."...here we are, and here we must stay. Let the boundaries of this village become our whole world. Let none enter and none leave while this Plague lasts." (Brooks, 102)My thoughts on this: Does a higher social standing such as the one that the Bradfords hold justify their leave from the village? The plague does not only affect the poor. The fact that the health of others does not cross Colonel Bradford's mind angers me. Now what I'm wondering is what caused the Bradfords to return to the village as portrayed at the beginning of the book which is chronologically placed a year later in 1666.
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