This small chapter continues the narrative sketch of the overall war that precedes the introduction of Decoud. The break here between Chapters 1 and 2 is as arbitrary as any in the novel, and seems designed merely to separate backroom intrigue from actual war.

In this chapter we can glimpse the slow, inevitable separation of Charles and Emily Gould. Having started the San Tomé mine as a shared endeavor, they now have separate representatives at the mine who serve separate purposes (his are the administrators, hers are the doctor and priest). In the last chapter we were told that Charles entered into politics partly for the sake of his wife, but the result has been to focus him even more obsessively on his dream-ideal, leaving Emily with "no silver mine to look after."