This chapter opens with a soliloquy by the Governess, in which she laments the fact that she has lost the ability to communicate with the other animals. She laments that she cannot communicate with them because she is unable to see them. The Governess tries to talk to her, but she cannot understand what she is trying to communicate. She realizes that she is communicating with another animal, the slug, and she realizes that the slug is in love with her.