The Gadfly · Chapter
Epilogue explained
Gemma receives a final letter from the Gadfly, written the night before his execution, in which he reveals his enduring love for her and forgives past grievances.
What happens
Gemma receives a final letter from the Gadfly, written the night before his execution, in which he reveals his enduring love for her and forgives past grievances. Martini, witnessing her grief, inadvertently reveals his own feelings. The chapter ends with news of Cardinal Montanelli's sudden death, implied to be from a broken heart.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Sacrifice
The Gadfly's final letter reveals his enduring love for Gemma and his acceptance of death as a sacrifice for his cause.
Suffering and Redemption
Gemma's grief and the Gadfly's peaceful acceptance of his execution highlight themes of suffering and redemption.
Betrayal and Deception
The Gadfly's letter addresses past betrayals and deceptions, including the blow and his long-held silence about his feelings.
Characters to notice
- Gemma Warren
Receives the Gadfly's final letter and is overwhelmed by grief; she continues working on distributing cartridges despite exhaustion.
- Martini
Brings Gemma the news of Montanelli's death and inadvertently reveals his long-hidden love for her.
- The Gadfly
His final letter to Gemma is read, expressing love, forgiveness, and acceptance of his fate.
- Canon Montanelli
Reported to have died suddenly from a ruptured aneurism, implied to be from grief.
Key passages
“I am to be shot at sunrise tomorrow. So if I am to keep at all my promise to tell you everything, I must keep it now.”
The Gadfly writes that he will be executed at dawn and must fulfill his promise to reveal everything.
The Gadfly's final letter to Gemma, explaining his imminent execution and his need to confess.
“I loved you, Gemma, when you were an ugly little girl in a gingham frock, with a scratchy tucker and your hair in a pigtail down your back; and I love you still.”
The Gadfly confesses his lifelong love for Gemma, from her childhood to the present.
The Gadfly's declaration of love in his final letter.
“The cathedral bell is tolling... Someone must be dead.”
Gemma hears the cathedral bell and remarks that it signals a death.
Gemma's observation as she recovers from reading the letter.
“Our dearly beloved Bishop, His Eminence the Cardinal, Monsignor Lorenzo Montanelli, had died suddenly at Ravenna, 'from the rupture of an aneurism of the heart.'”
The placard announces Cardinal Montanelli's sudden death, officially attributed to a heart aneurism.
The official announcement of Montanelli's death, implying it was from grief.