This chapter opens with a flashback to the events of the previous chapter. It's the 255th period of the novel, and it's also the time of the burning of Asunzio's village. The flashback shows that the protagonist is still very much in love with the protagonist's mother, who is now dead. The protagonist asks his mother if he can marry her now that he's dead. She says yes, but she's not sure if he'll be able to marry her after he dies. He says he can't marry her if he dies before he marries her, and that he doesn't want to marry a woman who's already dead. He also says that he wants to marry the protagonist because he hates English men, and because he'd rather die than marry an English woman. He tells the protagonist about the upcoming ball at the governor general's house, and the protagonist asks if the rector of the shin-mei school will be at the ball. The rector says no, but the protagonist says he heard that the school is going to have a ball tonight.