Three months later, Ann comes to visit. She and Judith are in the garden planting bulbs when Judy comments on how odd it is she still feels the heat of the sun under the rapidly darkening skies. She and Ann immediately realize she actually is losing her vision and approaching the end. Judy makes Ann stay mum, as Steele is leaving that day to present his most recent medical findings—which hold out the long-term prospect of a cure for her type of cancer—in New York. Judy makes an excuse to remain home, helps him pack and sends him off, telling him “What we have now can’t be destroyed. That’s our victory, our victory over the dark. It’s a victory because we’re not afraid.” Then, after bidding Ann, her housekeeper Martha (Virginia Brissac) (who has silently deduced the situation), and her dogs farewell, she goes to her bedroom. She kneels briefly, apparently praying, then lies down on the bed. Martha enters and drapes a blanket over her, then withdraws when Judy asks to be left alone. The camera focuses on the motionless Judith as the screen becomes blurry, then fades to black.