Serpent & Dove

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2019

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Part 2, Chapters 10-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 2

Part 2, Chapter 10 Summary: “Consummation: Lou”

After their marriage, Lou and Reid return to the cathedral, where Reid must identify her as his wife. Lou notices a bewitched body being brought into the church, and she asks Reid where they are taking the victim; he tells her to mind her own business. As they head to Reid’s quarters, Lou smells magic as they pass a staircase, but Reid tells her the floor upstairs is restricted. Above the entryway of the Chasseurs’ Tower, Lou notes the motto—“Thou shall not suffer a witch to live” (114)—and is troubled.

Reid’s room is drab, with no personal effects and a window too high to reach. Lou feels like she’s in prison. When Reid takes off his coat, Lou panics, but Reid assures her that he won’t force himself upon her. To show him she can take care of herself, she steals his dagger and holds it to his throat, telling him, “If a man touches me in any way without my permission, I’ll cut him open” (115). Reid worries about proving the marriage has been consummated, but Lou cuts open her arm and lets the blood drip onto the sheets to solve the problem. When Reid briefly leaves, Lou searches his desk and finds a Bible and a leather journal stuffed with his love letters to Célie.

That night Lou falls asleep in the bathtub, but Reid wakes her and insists she take the bed. She wonders how he got into the locked bathroom, and he admits he can pick locks. He grins at her, and his smile transforms his entire face, reminding her of the sun. Their attraction is curtailed by disagreements over the Archbishop and her assertion she will return to the theater the next day. Reid says she should stay in the Tower, but she swears until Reid storms out.

Part 2, Chapter 11 Summary: “The Interrogation: Reid”

Reid heads to the training yard where his men taunt him about Lou. Jean Luc challenges him in an exercise, but Reid wins. Jean Luc slyly implies that Lou will sleep with the rest of the Chasseurs, noting how good-looking she is. Reid reacts protectively toward Lou, and Jean Luc wonders if he’s forgotten Célie, as well as why the Archbishop forced Reid to marry Lou. Reid almost reacts in anger, but the Archbishop arrives to announce that it’s time to question Lou regarding the Tremblay heist.

However, Lou has disappeared. Reid is initially angry but then remembers her bruises and grows worried. She returns wearing pants, having rejected the clothes the Archbishop sent. Reid doesn’t understand why the guards let her out, but she notes the guards were happy to see her go and disappointed by her return. When he wonders aloud why she has returned, Lou reiterates that she has many enemies.

The Chasseurs, headed by Jean Luc, question Lou. Jean Luc, noticing her attention to some sketches of Morgane le Blanc, offers Lou a deal. He’ll forgive her for humiliating Reid if she helps them catch Morgane. Reid intervenes, pointedly noting that they are only there to discuss the Tremblay case. Lou lies and says the witch at Tremblay’s was named Alexandra. Reid asks her about her specific enemies, and she mentions Andre, Grue, and Hélène. Remembering Hélène’s seemingly coincidental appearance at the Tremblay mansion, Reid suddenly connects her with the rose-sealed letter (as in “The Bellerose”) and Ansel’s description of the woman who gave him the tip about a witch being involved in a potential robbery. Lou says she’ll answer more questions, but only if Reid says “please.” Although irritated, he complies.

Part 2, Chapter 12 Summary: “The Forbidden Infirmary: Lou”

Lou gives the Chasseurs an abbreviated story, not mentioning the magic ring or her own connection to witches. She thinks Reid is pompous but is grateful he defended her. As they return to the Tower, she focuses on getting upstairs. If there’s a laboratory or morgue, she could practice her magic undetected thanks to the cover provided by the scent of those bewitched. Reid curtails her plans by revealing he’s stationing a guard with her. She replies that she’ll seduce the guard, horrifying Reid. She confronts his hypocrisy, grabbing his journal and reading the more passionate entries aloud. Locking herself in the bathroom, she challenges him to break down the door and continues to read. He destroys the door, retrieves his journal, and storms off.

Ansel is Lou’s new guard. He reveals that he shares Reid’s surname, though they aren’t related, because all the orphans at the Church receive that name. Sympathetic, Lou reveals that she has a terrible relationship with her mother. Even so, she manipulates Ansel into giving her a tour of the cathedral, hoping to get upstairs. When he tries to refuse, she begins to sing “Big Titty Liddy,” a pub song. Mortified, Ansel agrees to show her around. Distracting him, she runs up the stairs toward the scent of magic.

Her exploration is interrupted by a priest named Father Orville, who holds a Bible and a syringe. He is dismayed by her appearance, but a disguised Coco (who arrives as Brie Perrot, a healer hired for the infirmary) explains that Lou is there to help. As she and Coco search for a room to talk in, Lou observes the ailments of the witches’ victims: One man moves on inverted limbs, a woman’s face seems to be alive with insects, and a man named Monsieur Bernard has sharpened and poisoned fingernails with which he incessantly pokes himself.

Coco explains that the priests are working on an injectable drug that causes paralysis; she thinks they mean to use it against witches. She also says she didn’t leave town because she needed to rescue Lou. Her aunt has agreed to protect them, and Coco suggests they join the Dame Rouge camp. Lou explains she’s probably safer in the cathedral, as Reid took an oath to watch over her. The infirmary will provide a good cover for her to relearn her magic as she prepares to battle with Morgane, who is coming for her. Coco says she’ll stay and help Lou train.

Part 2, Chapters 10-12 Analysis

As Lou acclimates to her new surroundings, she encounters the hypocrisy of those around her. The Archbishop wants Lou to behave perfectly, but he taught Reid to pick locks as a boy. Father Orville, someone who is supposed to help the sick, experiments on the witches’ victims in the infirmary so he can create a weapon to paralyze witches. Despite their supposed piety, several of the Chasseurs don’t have any trouble making lewd comments about sex or bullying Reid. This rampant hypocrisy makes Resisting Dogma even more important.

In these chapters, Lou also shows she is clever and strong. She makes sure Reid knows that he doesn’t control her and uses the interrogation to eliminate Andre and Grue while protecting Coco. Although Lou sometimes errs by either taking things too far (the love letters) or by omitting information (her mother is Morgane), she does manage to retain sympathy for others. This is clear in her burgeoning relationships with Reid and Ansel. While Reid and Lou continue to bicker, they begin to show moments of affection toward one another. Reid also stands up for Lou against his brethren’s comments and Jean Luc’s questioning. Meanwhile, his love letters show that he is eager for a romantic relationship, suggesting that he may be open to a more genuine marriage with Lou.

Lou’s ability to trust has suffered due to her mother’s abuse, and the patients in the ward underscore that Lou’s fear of Morgane is not unfounded. Lou’s mother is a serious enough enemy that Lou must prepare to confront her, sharpening her magic for battle rather than convenience. Coco’s Loyalty Within Friendship despite the risk to herself shows that others do value Lou and will willingly assist her. She is not as alone as she feels—a lesson she will learn throughout the novel.