After supposedly rescuing Millicent from the alleged Collinsport Strangler, Nathan asks Naomi for a moment alone with Millicent. Naomi reluctantly retreats. It’s difficult to leave you, Nathan tells Millicent, because I love you and always have. You seem changed, Millicent observes. I warn you, I’m the same man I’ve always been, Nathan declares with perfect truth. Having snared Millicent completely, he tells her, I love you very much. He kisses her on the forehead and hands the pistols back to her. Naomi takes Millicent (now in tears) back to the house. Nathan grins at their retreating figures.
Later, when Millicent visits Nathan in his conveniently two-doored room, she says, I realize now that your first concern was for me. After a great deal of dithering on her part and some subtle coaxing on Nathan's part, she finally admits, I have misjudged you--and I want you to stay. You were right to be hurt and angry, Nathan tells her. But I swear I love you. She falls into his arms, but since her head barely comes to his shoulder she can’t see his triumphant, wolfish grin. Nathan needs to take just one more step for his plans to come to fruition.
I always thought that Millicent is mentally unstable. The world she inhabits is almost entirely imaginary.
