Dawn’s Left Hand marks a major turning point in Pilgrimage. Miriam returns from Switzerland knowing that she will leave the flat she shares with Selina Holland at Flaxman’s Court and find another. She meets Amabel, who will play a large role in this next chapter of her life. She consents to meet Hypo Wilson [H. G. Wells] for dinner alone, knowing he intends to seduce her. And though she puts him off at first, on a subsequent weekend visit to the Wilsons, he comes to her room and they make love. In the aftermath of that experience, Miriam feels a sense of release, as if “full of inward song and wishing for congratulations.”
Chapter 1
Miriam retraces her path back to London, leaving Berne at midnight, arriving in Paris at dawn, crossing to the Gare du Nord, and arriving at New Haven that evening. She converses with a talkative woman from New England.
Chapter 2
Miriam has breakfast with the Brooms, having stayed overnight with them. She returns to her shared flat at Flaxman’s Court and finds letters from Alma and Hypo Wilson.
Chapter 3
Still adjusting to being back in London, Miriam visits Dr. Densley and learns that Eleanor Dear has died. Densley suggests he and Miriam get married, but she does not respond. She reflects on her mother’s suicide and feels its dark shadow has passed.
Chapter 4
Later that evening, she dines with the Wilsons, discussing British pronunciations, and then attends a performance of The Flying Dutchman with them. After the opera, she walks home through the streets.
Chapter 5
At her club, Miriam meets Amabel for the first time. The next morning, she reflects on recent weeks, including a party of Lycurgans [Fabians] at Mrs. Redfern’s. This is her last day sharing a flat with Selina Holland.
Chapter 6
That afternoon, she walks to her club and meets Amabel again.
Chapter 7
Miriam visits her new room at Tansley Street and compares its view with those from Flaxman’s Court. She finds that Amabel has written “I love you” on her mirror.
Chapter 8
At work at the dental practice, she thinks about the Orlys and anticipates sleeping that night for the first time at her new flat. She recalls a weekend she spent with Mag and Jan the prior August, when she was supposed to visit the Perne sisters (from Backwater). She chats with Lord Wilderham, a patient, and receives a letter from Amabel.
Chapter 9
About a month later. Amabel and Miriam discuss the impossibility of communication between men and women. Miriam dines with Hypo — their second dinner alone — and he attempts (unsuccessfully) to seduce her. They then go to Donizetti’s and talk about literature and writing. Miriam confesses that she is “deeply immersed” in Amabel.
Chapter 10
Miriam is visiting the Wilsons. She goes to bed early and recalls a visit to Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire. In the early morning hours, Hypo comes into her room and they make love. Afterward, he treats her coldly. She returns to London and realizes that “Disadvantage had fallen from her and burden, leaving a calm delightful sense of power.”