# XVI: Storm explained — Hand and Ring

> Chapter companion for Hand and Ring by Anna Katharine Green.

## What happens

Mr. Byrd, convinced he is on the trail of the real assailant of Widow Clemmens, returns to the woods to find evidence against Craik Mansell. A violent storm erupts, and he witnesses a tense confrontation between Imogene Dare and Mansell, who is hiding in a hut. Imogene urges Mansell to confess his guilt and save the innocent, while Byrd observes, torn between his duty and his emotions.

## Themes in this chapter

### Guilt and Innocence

Mansell's guilt weighs heavily on him, while the innocent are suspected, and Imogene urges confession to save the innocent.

### Love and Obsession

Imogene's love for Mansell is evident in her anguish and her vow, despite the 'line of blood' between them.

### Secrets and the Past

The secret of Mansell's crime and the past ambitions that led to it are central to the confrontation.

## Character check-ins

### Mr. Byrd

Determined to find evidence against Mansell, he witnesses the storm and the confrontation between Imogene and Mansell.

### Imogene Dare

Confronts Mansell in the storm, urging him to confess and offering to take a vow of celibacy if he does.

### Craik Mansell

Hiding in the hut, he is overwhelmed by guilt and asks Imogene how to escape the consequences of his act.

## Key lines

> Oh, my offence is rank, it smells to heav’n: It hath the primal eldest curse upon ’t!

My crime is so terrible that it cries out to heaven, carrying the curse of the first murder (Cain's).

_Epigraph from Macbeth, reflecting Mansell's guilt._

> Murder is not to be avenged thus.

This storm is not the divine punishment for murder.

_Imogene dismisses the lightning as mere coincidence, not retribution._

> A dark and hideous line of blood is drawn between you and me, Craik Mansell. I cannot pass it, and you must not, forever and forever and forever.

The blood of your crime separates us forever, and we can never be together again.

_Imogene declares the permanent barrier between them due to Mansell's guilt._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hand_and_ring_se/chapters/xvi-storm
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hand_and_ring_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hand_and_ring_se/chapters