Jessica explores the end of the south wing and finds an oval palm-locked door. Before entering, Mapes arrives to report that men bearing the Duke’s signet have come to bring Paul to Duke Leto. Jessica directs Mapes to Paul’s room, then opens the door and discovers it leads through an airlock into a lush wet-planet conservatory.

Inside, Jessica is shocked by the extravagant use of water on Arrakis: exotic plants, roses, misting devices, and a fountain. The room’s wastefulness signals immense wealth and power. Jessica finds a note from Margot, Lady Fenring, whose wording reveals a Bene Gesserit warning hidden nearby.

Jessica locates the coded message on a leaf. Lady Fenring warns that Paul and Duke Leto are in immediate danger: Paul’s bedroom has been arranged to attract him and contains Harkonnen death traps, while the threat to Leto involves the defection of a trusted companion or lieutenant. The note also says the Harkonnens intend to give Jessica as a gift to one of their minions.

Before Jessica can run to Paul, Paul enters the conservatory carrying the disabled hunter-seeker from his room and submerges it in the fountain to short it out. A Hawat agent reports that the operator was found hidden in a cellar cairn with a seeker console, apparently placed there long before the Atreides arrived, but the man died during capture and remains unidentified.

Jessica and Paul discuss whether Thufir Hawat could have missed the danger because of age and overwork, but Jessica insists Hawat’s long service deserves trust. Paul then tells Jessica that Mapes warned him of a traitor in the household. Jessica shows Paul Lady Fenring’s message, and they agree Leto must be warned privately because the warning itself may be intended to spread distrust.

As sunset falls beyond the Shield Wall, Jessica notices lights signaling across the basin. Because such signals avoid the tapped communications network, Jessica concludes they likely belong to Harkonnen agents. A guard then announces that the house has been cleared and that Paul should go to his father.