# Chapter XX: Margaret explained — The Portent

> Chapter companion for The Portent by George MacDonald.

## What happens

Duncan Campbell, seeking help in his quest to find Lady Alice, confides in Margaret, the old Highland seeress. She listens to his story and, in a final act of love, enters a trance to locate Alice. She describes a room that Duncan believes is at Hilton Hall. Margaret gives him an ancient gold cross, a counterpart to one Alice wore, and then passes away peacefully. Duncan buries her with honor and sets out for Hilton Hall with renewed hope.

## Themes in this chapter

### Second Sight and the Supernatural

Margaret's trance and vision are central to the chapter, demonstrating her supernatural abilities and the belief in such powers.

### Love and Sacrifice

Margaret's love for Duncan leads her to exhaust her life force in a final effort to help him, a profound act of sacrifice.

### Fate and Destiny

The chapter suggests that Duncan's quest is guided by fate, with Margaret's vision and the cross serving as signs.

## Character check-ins

### Duncan Campbell

Seeks Margaret's help, shares his story, and receives her final blessing and a cross before her death.

### Margaret

The old seeress who, despite her frailty, uses her powers to help Duncan, and dies after her final vision.

### Janet

Margaret's servant, who obeys her commands and leaves the room when asked.

### Lady Alice

The object of Duncan's search; Margaret's vision reveals her location, possibly at Hilton Hall.

## Key lines

> I should like to tell you all my story, dear Margaret,” I said, conceiving a sudden hope of assistance from one who hovered so near the unseen that she often flitted across the borders.

Duncan decides to confide in Margaret, hoping her closeness to the supernatural might help him.

_Duncan's motivation for sharing his story._

> Tire me, my child!” she said, with sudden energy. “Did I not carry you in my bosom, till I loved you more than the darling I had lost?

Margaret expresses her deep love for Duncan, saying she loves him even more than the child she lost.

_Margaret's maternal affection for Duncan._

> I think the sight of the eyes is sometimes an intrusion between the heart and its love.

Margaret suggests that seeing someone in person can sometimes interfere with the love felt in the heart.

_Margaret's philosophical reflection on love and distance._

> Kiss me, my bairn; I need strength for what I am going to do for your sake.

Margaret asks Duncan for a kiss to gain strength for her upcoming effort to help him.

_Margaret's request for strength before her trance._

> She smiled feebly, closed her eyes, and went with the sun, down the hill of night. But down the hill of night is up the hill of morning in other lands, and no doubt Margaret soon found that she was more at home there than here.

Margaret dies peacefully as the sun sets, and the narrator suggests she is now more at home in the afterlife.

_The narrator's poetic description of Margaret's death._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/xx-margaret
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_portent_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_portent_se/chapters