Chapter 40 is somewhat of a calm chapter. That's good for Isabel, because her life with Madam Lockton has been one horror after another. She's been branded, beaten, and separated from her sister, and Isabel's only friend is slowly dying in prison. When the chapter begins, Lockton leaves. This means that Isabel is left to deal with only Madam Lockton. Lady Seymour is in very poor health, and a great deal of Isabel's focus and attention is on nursing the aging woman. Near the chapter's end,

Lady Seymour finally nods off to sleep, Colonel Hawkins leaves for headquarters, and Madam Lockton is still out playing cards. Isabel finds herself in possession of a rare thing. She has some free time, so she picks up her copy of Common Sense and begins to read. She admits that she doesn't understand everything, but she does understand that the American colonists seem to have good cause to overthrow their British "masters." Isabel realizes that a person born to wealth shouldn't automatically be granted the power to rule over people. Isabel believes that the Patriots are acting "good and proper" to fight injustice.

The irony of this closing sequence is an example of dramatic irony, because readers know something that Isabel does not. We know Isabel's situation is no different than the Patriot situation. Her evil, rich oppressor is Madam Lockton. She is rich, but that shouldn't give her power to rule over other people. If it is good and proper for the Patriots to fight injustice, it is equally good for Isabel to fight against the injustices of Madam Lockton.