The Last Days of Night

The chapter begins with a brief history of Bell’s highly successful telephone patent. He filed mere hours before his second-place competitor and only a few weeks before Edison. Though there have been many lawsuits, Bell’s patent has held strong. Bell then turned the creation and management of his company over to a distant relative and then disappeared, moving to remote Canada with his family.

Agnes tells Jayne she’s taking a last-minute trip with her mother, then tells Fannie she’s staying an extra week in Nashville. Despite her mother’s eventual wrath, Agnes accompanies Paul to see Bell. Their trip is joyful and pleasant, despite Paul learning more details of her engagement. Ironically, they pass the trip pretending to be an engaged couple with fake names. No romance takes place between them, although Paul’s dreams of Agnes are certainly romantic.

At Westinghouse’s introduction, Paul and Agnes are rare guests at Bell’s enormous palatial estate on its own private peninsula. Although he is the richest inventor Paul has ever met, Bell is dressed simply, as is Mabel Bell.

The couple welcomes Agnes and Paul warmly, promising a tour of the laboratory after lunch. Bell has been working on early flight designs and has been in touch with the Wright brothers.