That Hideous Strength: Chapter 3 Summary & Analysis

At the N.I.C.E.’s temporary headquarters, Feverstone introduces Mark to the N.I.C.E.’s Deputy Director John Wither, who avoids Mark’s questions about what his new position will entail. After several attempts, Mark gives up this line of questioning, afraid that he will lose the sense of trust and companionship he has found. Mark is further confused when Feverstone and Wither leave him without directing him to an office.

Mark encounters William Hingest, a Fellow of Bracton who works for the N.I.C.E. Hingest tells Mark that the N.I.C.E. would have compelled Bracton to sell Bragdon Wood no matter what the Fellows decided at the College Meeting. He reveals that he is leaving the N.I.C.E. that night, and he advises Mark to do the same. The conversation is interrupted by other employees of the N.I.C.E., who confuse Mark with conversation full of acronyms and references he doesn’t understand. One man encourages Mark to endear himself to Wither and the head of the N.I.C.E.’s police, whom he calls “the Fairy.”

Meanwhile, Jane visits Miss Ironwood at her home on St. Anne’s-on-the-Hill. A woman named Camilla Denniston brings Jane to Miss Ironwood, who matches the imposing woman from Jane’s dream. Jane awkwardly explains her dreams to Miss Ironwood, who assures Jane that there is nothing wrong with her. Miss Ironwood explains that Jane is descended from a man who saw the future in his dreams and that Jane has inherited the gift. Despite Jane’s protestations, Miss Ironwood insists that the prisoner in Jane’s dream, Alcasan, is real. The dream sheds light on a matter that Miss Ironwood and the Dimbles are already concerned with. Miss Ironwood warns Jane that her enemies and associates likely know about Jane’s gift and will want to use it. Jane, disturbed, goes home.

Mark has drinks with “the Fairy” Miss Hardcastle, who tells him about her many adventures and her belief in the importance of the N.I.C.E.’s private police force. She asserts that police restricted by the government can only punish criminals as much as they deserve, while the N.I.C.E.’s police help “treat” prisoners as long as necessary until they will benefit society. Later, Hingest once again expresses his misgivings about the N.I.C.E., but Miss Hardcastle pulls him away from Mark, and they don’t see each other again until they are leaving the headquarters.

Jane travels home from St. Anne’s, reflecting on her resentment of Mark for reducing her to the role of “wife” and her desire to have a full career before she has children. She arrives home, and these thoughts are interrupted by an alarmed phone call from Mrs. Dimble.