Malcolm tells Alice everything that happened in the priory, but he is so exhausted that he cannot paddle for long, and they tie the canoe up on a moonlit island. Malcolm wakes up hours later to a brightness that turns out to be the spangled rings in his vision. Once it has passed, he hears Alice speaking with another woman and smells the aroma of toast and coffee. However, Alice calls him “Richard,” so Malcolm knows they aren’t safe. The other voice belongs to Diania, a beautiful young woman who sits on the grass playing with Lyra. Alice pours Malcom coffee, telling him that the woman seems nice but also implying something is wrong. A cloud of blue butterflies surrounds the woman, but it’s not clear if one of them might be her dæmon.

When he has a free moment, Malcolm checks on the canoe, which is still sound, and finally opens the rucksack he took from Bonneville. The pack contains several academic papers and a wooden box that Malcolm has to puzzle out how to open. Inside, wrapped in black velvet, is an alethiometer. Malcolm is shocked and hides it immediately, wondering if it is the missing sixth instrument.