On Tuesday, the day after Jefferson's trial, Grant is back at work at the plantation school. Irritated by his students' lack of discipline and motivation and his own inability to control his class, Grant dispenses his own brand of discipline. He rules with his Westcott ruler and reduces his students to tears with his physical discipline and his humiliating remarks. As a final ploy, he tells them — in graphic detail — about Jefferson's impending execution. At 2 P.M., Mr. Farrell Jarreau, Henri Pichot's yardman, stops by to tell Grant that Pichot will meet with him at five o'clock.
That evening, Grant arrives at Pichot's mansion at ten minutes to five. He is kept waiting in the kitchen for two and a half hours and learns, through Inez, that Louis Rougon is betting that Grant can't persuade Jefferson to "die like a man." After enjoying a leisurely dinner, Sheriff Guidry, Henri Pichot, Louis Rougon, and a "fat man" (who remains nameless) meet with Grant to discuss Jefferson's situation. During their talk, the white men do their best to humiliate Grant, and Sheriff Guidry tries to trick him into taking sides in an alleged disagreement between him and his wife about the value of Grant's visiting Jefferson, but Grant deftly avoids this rhetorical trap. Finally, the sheriff tells him that he can start visiting Jefferson "in a couple of weeks."
