Michael Bedford’s Reviews > Alias Grace > Status Update

Dr Jordan finds Mary Whitney's grave but reflects that Grace might have just used the name in her story after seeing the grave. He travels home & fantasizes about keeping Grace as his housekeeper with benefits, and then thinks of marrying her. He knows how insane it would be to marry a convicted murderess, but he can't shake the idea.

Dr Jordan goes to Richmond Hill & inquires about Grace & the Kinnear house. He visits the house, currently for sale, and gets a tour. The housekeeper who shows him the house tells him where to find Mr K's & Nancy's graves. He visits them but doesn't learn anything. Dr J then goes to the cemetery where Mary Whitney is supposed to be buried.

Dr Jordan hides his anger at the suggestion that Grace fell in love with Mackenzie. M suggests G is similarly in love with Dr J. This causes Dr J to wonder what G thinks during their talks. G overhears Dora gossiping about Mrs Humphrey & Dr J's affair, she is upset. G thinks about hypnotism the next day w/ Jeremiah (Dr DuPont) & what would be in her keepsake album—one of the items is the kerchief used to kill Nancy.

Dr Jordan & Mrs Humphrey have a regular & pathetic ongoing affair now. Dr J wonders how far he will go into the relationship. He arrives in Toronto & thinks of going to a European city where he could be free of Mrs H & be anonymous. Dr J meets Mackenzie, Grace's lawyer at her trial, & they discuss her case. M describes G as overly affectionate, which is as G described him, & says he thinks G was "guilty as sin."

Dr Jordan has left for Toronto & Grace thinks about what she would say to him if he were there. She recalls the trial & being found guilty: she fainted, impaling herself. G thinks about Dr J asking her about Susanna Moodie who G said looked like a beetle. When Dr J asks G about telling SM that G saw Nancy's red eyes following her everywhere, G tells him she said "peonies," not "eyes." Dr J didn't understand.

Dr Jordan gets a passive-aggressive letter from his mother & dreams he is in school dissecting a woman's corpse. He removes the sheet but finds no one there, although he could see the contour of a body beneath. He wakes & thinks he sees Grace bending over his bed. Thinking himself in a dream, he grabs her & forcefully takes her. He realizes too late that he is awake & has just fornicated with his landlady.

McDermott tries to rape Grace at the side of the road, saying that she had suggested it to him. She bites his ear, drawing blood, & McD is proud of her for being so chaste until they're married. G agreed to marry McD but tells Dr Jordan she intended to flee from him once they'd crossed the border. McD acts suspiciously & the two are noticed. They cross the border on a ferry but are arrested that night in a shady inn.

Grace stalls & bargains for so long that McDermott "loses his ardour." They find the blood-smeared Godey's Ladies' Book that Mr Kinnear had been reading in Nancy's bed where McD had left it. McD thinks it an omen & crosses himself. G takes advantage of this lull to convince McD that they must hurry & escape the scene. They steal several items, including some of N's clothing & Mr K's shirts. They set out for Toronto.

Grace doesn't think she would've been so heartless as to drink to the success of the murderous venture & says all she remembers is waking up in her bed wet from being revived by a bucket of water. G describes seeing McDermott in her room. He is drunk & says it's time for G to keep her promise. G doesn't remember promising herself to him, but knows he won't be refused. She suggests a larger bed to stall for time.

Grace tells Dr Jordan she would like to remember the truth about the day of the murders. Dr J returns home & finds that his landlady Mrs Humphrey has been drinking his laudanum. He goes on a rowing trip with Miss Lydia & thinks about proposing, but won't, not yet. G describes waking up wet from a bucket of water McDermott splashed on her, but McD testified that he & G drank to the success of their venture.