Chapter 9 (Chapter 8) – 'Blood on Her Tongue' Summary and Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

After Sarah’s death by suicide—she drove a pen through her own eye while trying to remove something she believed was inside her head—the household must manage the considerable work a death demands. Michael arranges the funeral service and burial in the family crypt, ordering black clothing and sending notices. Lucy insists on preparing Sarah’s body herself, assisted by Katje. They wash and dress the emaciated corpse, altering a gown and placing pearls in her ears. A white Brussels-lace veil covers Sarah’s face but cannot hide the ruined eye; Arthur confirms the eyelids are too torn to stitch. During the first night, Lucy sits vigil alone, Katje’s sobbing too intense to bear. The veil sticks to the wound, and Lucy apologizes to her sister for not sewing an eye patch.

Michael decides to present Sarah’s death as an accidental fall onto the bedside table’s pen, to avoid the stigmas of suicide and insanity. Lucy agrees, saying she would do worse for her sister. She speaks to Sarah’s corpse, accusing her of selfishness in leaving her alone, and expresses the wish that she had died first. Arthur finds her, urges her to sleep, and offers a dreamless draught. Lucy hesitates, fearing nightmares of grief, but eventually accepts. Before sleep takes her, she rolls a small piece of Sarah’s sloughed skin into a ball and holds it under her tongue, thinking that if death tastes like this, it is a dull thing.

Key Events

Lucy and Katje wash and dress Sarah’s body, altering a dress to fit her emaciated frame.
The Brussels-lace veil is placed over Sarah’s face but sticks to the open wound on her eye.
Michael decides to cover up the suicide as an accident, citing the legal allowance for temporary insanity.
Lucy keeps an all-night vigil beside Sarah’s body, speaking to her with a mixture of anger and grief.
Arthur finds Lucy chafing her cheek against Sarah’s hand and urges her to take a sleeping draught.
Lucy swallows a small piece of Sarah’s skin before falling into drugged sleep.

Character Development

Lucy – Her grief manifests as numbness, self-accusation, and a refusal to leave her sister’s side. She is practical yet deeply emotional, willing to lie for Sarah’s sake. The physical act of holding a fragment of Sarah’s skin highlights her desperate need for connection, blurring the line between devotion and macabre obsession.

Michael – His priority is social reputation. He insists on a false narrative to protect his family from shame, showing his adherence to Victorian propriety over emotional honesty.

Arthur – He remains a compassionate but clinical presence, offering medical advice and friendship. His careful observation of Lucy’s state underscores his role as both doctor and confidant.

Katje – Overwhelmed by grief, her sobbing disturbs Lucy, revealing a depth of feeling that exceeds Lucy’s expectations.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

The Work of Mourning – Elaborate Victorian funeral customs (washing, dressing, veiling, sending cards) are detailed to show how ritual attempts to contain the chaos of death.
The Veil as Concealment and Revelation – The veil hides Sarah’s worst injuries but cannot mask the mutilated eye; it also absorbs fluid, symbolizing the futility of covering up inner horror.
The Taste of Death – Lucy’s act of placing Sarah’s skin under her tongue literalizes her wish to keep her sister near, while the line “if death is as it tastes, then it is a dull thing” suggests a flat, anticlimactic end to suffering.
Awake vs. Asleep – Lucy dreads sleep because dreams have historically reanimated her dead loved ones (Lucille, her parents) without providing comfort; Arthur’s dreamless draught offers respite but also erases the chance for grief’s processing.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter deepens Lucy’s psychological portrait by showing her raw, raw-edged grief and her willingness to cross boundaries of propriety and physical revulsion. The cover-up of Sarah’s suicide introduces a key moral conflict: truth versus reputation. The final, visceral image of swallowing a bit of Sarah’s skin foreshadows Lucy’s increasingly desperate attachment to her dead sister and sets the stage for supernatural or psychological developments in later chapters.

Study Questions and Answers

Why does Lucy insist on preparing Sarah’s body herself?
Lucy cannot bear the thought of strangers handling her sister. She feels capable of the tasks and wants to perform this final act of care. The work also gives her a focus for her numbness; sitting vigil alone, she can speak to Sarah without interruption.
What is the significance of the veil sticking to Sarah’s eye?
The stuck veil symbolizes the impossibility of covering up the truth of Sarah’s death. The veil was meant to hide the gruesome wound, but it becomes part of the injury, absorbing fluid and refusing to come away cleanly. It mirrors Michael’s attempt to stage an accident – the story does not fully mask the violence.
How does Lucy’s past grief (for her niece Lucille) inform her present reaction?
Lucy recalls dreaming of holding Lucille after her death, knowing the child was dead even in the dream. This experience taught her that sleep does not grant escape; instead it forces her to relive loss without relief. Her refusal of sleep in this chapter stems from that learned dread, and Arthur’s dreamless draught is both a mercy and a denial.