Laying awake in the dark, Valancy comes to a couple of decisions, one being that she is not going to tell her family about her condition. She can't stand the thought of all the ruckus which will ensue. Her uncles will send her to heart specialists and then complain about the cost. Her aunts will dose her with Redfern's patent medicines because you never know- they might help. The family will call in their minister- Dr. Stalling- to talk to her solemnly about preparing for the life to come.
Having come to this decision, she thinks about her abbreviated future and realises that, while she doesn't fear death, she does resent it because she hasn't actually lived her life; she's only existed. Reflecting back bitterly over her drab and defeated history, she makes another decision: she's done trying to please other people (namely her family). She's now going to live the rest of her life, however long or short, free of pretence, saying what she wants to say and doing what she wants to do.
It is at her Uncle Herbert's and Aunt Alberta's 25th wedding anniversary that Valancy first puts this determination into practice. Her mother and Cousin Stickles already have an uneasy suspicion that something is up: she's told them that she will no longer answer to 'Doss', has taken to reading John Foster's books whenever she feels like it, and Cousin Stickles- to her horror- saw her sliding down the banister. Worst of all, Valancy has announced that she will no longer attend the Anglican church- she's going to attend the Presbyterian one instead. When her scandalised mother demands to know what she has against the Anglican church, Valancy frankly says nothing, except that she was always made to go there. If her mother had forced her to go to the Presbyterian church, Valancy would want to go to the Anglican one.
Once at Uncle Herbert's and Aunt Albert's place, Mrs. Stirling pleads with Valancy to remember she's a lady- she's terrified that the rest of the family will find out that Valancy has become odd.
For her part, Valancy- to her surprise- finds that she is enjoying a family function for the first time in her life. Her family has always considered her dull and uninteresting, and generally Valancy had escaped into her imaginary Blue Castle during familial gatherings. Now however, she is no longer intimidated and fearful and she's seeing her family members with new-and amused- eyes. Her relations, who are used to either ignoring Valancy or using her as the butt of their jokes, get the uncomfortable feeling during this meal that she is secretly laughing at them. The only thing that makes Valancy's amusement fade is the presence of her cousin Olive. Olive is close to Valancy's age, but no one worries about her becoming an old maid; she is beautiful, polished, and always surrounded by admirers. She has recently become engaged, and Valancy knows that she is not included in the wedding party although Olive has always pretended that the two are good friends, because her plain cousin is a good foil for her.
Valancy is distracted from these depressing thoughts by her Uncle Benjamin telling a joke at her expense, which makes her go from privately mocking her relatives to doing it openly. Her family is aghast: always before Doss has just sat in silence, no matter what was said to or of her. Now she is giving the sarcastic responses that she previously just thought, and they don't know what to do. They try to repress her mocking but she refuses to be repressed, so then they attempt to ignore her.