The Miniaturist

Nella visits Johannes in his cell at the Stadhuis. He has two black eyes and expects to face the death penalty. Nella talks of convincing the Meermanses to relent, but Johannes says Frans has wanted revenge for a long time. Revealing that prisoners are often tortured on the rack, Johannes admits he is bound to confess under these circumstances. He tells Nella she has “been a miracle” (305).

Nella returns home to find a wooden cradle in the hall: a larger version of the miniaturist’s design. She rebukes Marin for commissioning the cradle, criticizing the expense and pointing out that the neighbors may have seen its arrival. They argue, and Marin slaps Nella. Marin tells Nella she will not hire anyone to help with the baby’s delivery as midwives are legally bound to record the child’s father’s name.

Later, Nella and Marin play verkeerspel. Nella reveals that Johannes will likely be tortured in prison and begs her sister-in-law to tell Frans about the baby. Nella admits she learned from Cornelia about Johannes’s intervention in the potential marriage. Marin confirms that Johannes vetoed Frans’s proposal but only because she asked him to. She says that, although she loved Frans, she wanted to retain the freedom she enjoyed as head of her brother’s household. Johannes lied to Frans to protect his sister’s reputation and, thus, sacrificed their friendship.

Nella wants to sell the sugar without the expense of using an agent. She has the idea of selling to the confectioner, Arnoud Maakvrede. Marin writes to Arnoud, pretending to be Johannes. She meets the Maakvredes at the warehouse, and Arnoud agrees to buy 100 loaves. Negotiating fiercely over the price, Nella agrees on 1,500 guilders. She intends to give 1,000 guilders to the Meermanses and use the rest of the money to bribe Jack.

Nella and Cornelia attend the first day of Johannes’s trial. Schout Slabbaert is the judge presiding over the case (a schout is a local governmental official). Agnes Meermans is in the courtroom looking uncharacteristically agitated, and her husband, Frans, sits behind her. Hanna Maakvrede joins Nella and Cornelia and says they will soon want more sugar.

Johannes, having been tortured, struggles to walk as he enters the courtroom. He denies the charges against him. Schout Slabbaert comments on the number of young male apprentices Johannes has employed. He also disparagingly refers to Johannes’s employment of “a Negro.” Johannes’s accuser is called to give evidence.

Jack appears wearing a blood-stained bandage for effect. Schout Slabbaert reads Jack’s account of being stabbed and “sodomized” by Johannes. Jack affirms the statement, adding that Johannes called him “his little niece” during the attack (337). When the trial ends for the day, Nella follows Agnes, who has looked uncomfortable during the proceedings. Realizing Agnes has dropped something, Nella discovers a doll in her own likeness.

Nella picks up the doll of herself that Agnes dropped. Pastor Pellicorne stands outside the courtroom proclaiming that Johannes’s wealth has corrupted his soul. Sending Cornelia home, Nella approaches Frans, but he is unmoved by her appeal to have mercy on Johannes. He takes the money Nella offers from the sale of the sugar and is disturbed when he sees the doll she holds in her other hand. Nella is about to reveal that Marin is pregnant when Frans orders her never to show the doll to anyone else. He discloses that Agnes has commissioned items from the miniaturist and claims they have ruined his life. Frans describes how he hid the miniatures, but Agnes found them and believed they reflected the truth (he does not disclose exactly what the miniatures revealed or how they did so). After burning Agnes’s cabinet, he took the St. George Militia to arrest the miniaturist, only to find the premises deserted. Nella declares that Marin’s decision to reject Frans was a wise one.

Cornelia returns, telling Nella there is something wrong with Marin. When they get back to the house, Marin’s water has broken. Nella wants to fetch a midwife, suggesting she can bribe the midwife to keep quiet, but Marin refuses. Recalling the births of her younger siblings, Nella advises Marin to pace to facilitate the labor. Hours later, Marin finally gives birth to a girl. She calls the baby Thea.

Nella wakes up and realizes she is late for the trial. She instructs Cornelia to stay with Marin, who is in pain and still has the umbilical cord inside her. Marin reiterates that they should not fetch a midwife. As Nella is leaving, Cornelia urges Nella to take a closer look at the baby. However, Nella hurries out, instructing Cornelia to get a wet-nurse or midwife to check Marin over.

Nella arrives at court in time to hear Frans give his account of Johannes’s “attack” on Jack. Agnes has already testified. Frans claims he acts in God’s name and wants to save Johannes’s soul. During his testimony, he drops his hat on several occasions. When he looks at Johannes, he begins to cry.

Johannes demands to speak before the verdict is decided. He declares that everyone in the room is a sinner and judgment will catch up with them all. Placing a hand on Frans’s shoulder, Johannes says he forgives him. He also addresses Jack, predicting that he will always make trouble but never be content.

The jury finds Johannes guilty, and Schout Slabbaert sentences him to drown with weights around his neck. His execution is set for Sunday at sundown. Nella shouts to Johannes that she will come to see him. She then glimpses the miniaturist leaving the room.