Cissy's Last Night — The Blue Castle

On a breathless night Cissy tells Valancy how she loved a rich student's son who met her in the pines, was taken away by his father, and returned only to offer marriage from duty when she wrote that she was pregnant. She refused because love was gone, raised her baby alone, and buried him in anguish before welcoming her own approaching death. Valancy listens without judgment and affirms her choices. A few nights later Cissy forbids calling the doctor, holds Valancy's hand through the night, smiles at something unseen at sunrise, and dies quietly.

Valancy crosses her hands and watches an old moon fade into dawn, feeling the world colder though relieved Cissy can hurt no more. When Roaring Abel returns, shock sobers him; he remembers the little girl who ran with a white rose in her hair. The chapter binds Valancy's gift of presence to Cissy's dignity: shame loses force when someone hears the whole story and stays.

Death here is not horror but a gentle exit witnessed by the only friend who never treated Cecilia Gay as a scandal first and a person second. Valancy's steady presence turns confession into peace and death into something Cissy can meet without shame.