Picnic at Hanging Rock: Chapter 13 Summary & Analysis

Dinner that evening is awkward and tense. Mrs. Appleyard knows nothing of what happened in the gymnasium but is dealing with problems of her own between Mr. Leopold’s letter and another from Miranda's father. Desperate to keep the mood in the dining room buoyant and light, she questions the girls about Irma’s visit. They reply with sullen, short answers. Mrs. Appleyard notices a sparkling emerald bracelet on Mademoiselle’s wrist, but assumes the piece is faux.

After dinner, Mrs. Appleyard returns to her study to write her responses to the letters on her desk. She admires herself for not taking the easy way out by selling the college even in the face of rumors of hauntings and foul play. Mrs. Appleyard knows that in order to stave off the rumors—and thus the demise of her business—she must take decisive action. Mrs. Appleyard once again examines the ledger, stressing over finances and enrollment. She suspects that only about nine of her twenty pupils will return after Easter—much to Mrs. Appleyard’s chagrin, one of the few students remaining will be Sara. She closes the ledger, writes her letters, and goes up to bed.

The next day, Mrs. Appleyard receives a note from Bumpher—one of the city detectives wants to speak with her about “discipline” tactics employed prior to the picnic. That afternoon, Mr. Hussey pulls up to the college with a passenger in his buggy—it is Reg Lumley, Miss Lumley’s brother. As the pompous but shabby-looking man steps out of the coach, Mrs. Appleyard reluctantly goes out to meet him. She tells him it’s an inconvenient time for him to visit, but Reg states that he received a letter from his sister yesterday which made him realize that Appleyard College is no longer a “suitable place” for her to be employed, citing the recent publicity surrounding the college. Mrs. Appleyard assures him the “mystery” will soon have a solution, but Reg insists that Miss Lumley wants to leave.

Mrs. Appleyard, in response, tells Reg that his sister is a “pink-eyed imbecile” and an “ignorant dunce” of whom she’s all too happy to be rid. An hour later, Miss Lumley, having collected her bags in a hurry, sits in Mr. Hussey’s cab with her brother on the way down the road. In the wake of her departure, the staff and students are abuzz with excitement as rumors of the argument between Mr. Lumley and Mrs. Appleyard spread.

The only student uninterested in the scandal is Sara—whose increasing pallor of late has prompted Mademoiselle to ask Mrs. Appleyard to send for Doctor McKenzie. Sunday evening, as Minnie brings Sara’s supper upstairs for her to eat in bed, she runs into Mrs. Appleyard in the hall. The headmistress herself is looking poorly, even as she asks condescendingly if there’s an “invalid” about the house. Mrs. Appleyard waves Minnie on, but tells her to inform Sara that she’s not to put her light out for the night until she’s had a word with the head.

Minnie enters Sara’s room to find her sitting up in bed looking ill. Minnie tries to put the tray on her bed, but Sara insists she won’t eat it. Minnie tells Sara she’s acting childish for a girl of 13. Sara says sometimes she feels like an old woman. Minnie insists Sara needs to have some fun, but Sara scoffs at the idea and confides in Minnie, explaining that she was brought up in an orphanage where she was abused. She begins crying. Minnie leaves the tray at her feet, suggesting she eat, but Sara shouts that she wouldn’t eat the food even if she were starving.

On the train to Melbourne, Miss Lumley tells her brother Reg all about the last several weeks at Appleyard College. She and Reg make a plan to live and work together in a new town. They stay overnight at a hotel in Melbourne—but at three in the morning, an oil lamp left burning near an open window is blown to the ground. Soon, its flames consume the entire building, killing both Reg and Miss Lumley.