Ophelia's Gold

Ophelia's Gold: Chapter 40 - Dark Angel of Deliverance

In the novel's climax, Ophelia phones Col. Harville during a raging storm, promising to deliver the jade Tara that has driven him mad for decades. As lightning cracks, she contemplates the strange mathematics of captivity and love: "Another hostage would be taken. Another innocence would be lost." Yet her heart feels light at the prospect—for "captivity was the purest, rarest, and possibly most dear form of intimacy."

Ophelia's Gold: Chapter 39 - Return to Righteous City

At her grandmother's grave in Righteous City, Ophelia trembles with unwanted visions and fears another fugue state. She questions whether Stanton's "seduction" of her with the treasure hunt reveals love or manipulation—and whether she even cares anymore.

Ophelia's Gold: Chapter 38 - The Devil's Redemption

Inside the Cave of Whispers, Ophelia offers to return the jade mandala carvings to whoever wants them—but insists the Tara statue belongs to Stanton's father. Two young LDS missionaries interrupt, revealing that the Yahweh Brethren likely have no connection to the smuggled artifacts. Back at the motel, Stanton reveals he has found Tara.

Ophelia's Gold: Chapter 37 - The Goddess's Fugue

Col. Harville travels to Cabo San Lucas, following cryptic instructions to "pass under the arches." After a midnight boat trip through crashing surf, he hears the voice of God commanding him to return to the Oasis and wait. Tara's light flickers and dies in his mind's eye; he is now completely God's Hostage.

Ophelia's Gold: Chapter 32 - The Forgotten Soldier

Captain Harville, now declared MIA, wraps his beloved jade Tara in batik cloth in his bamboo hut. Hallucinations blend with memories—his son's birth, his dying comrade—as Tara's shadow beckons him into madness. He is "truly lost."