The Book of Dust, #3
The Rose Field
by Philip Pullman
Contents
Chapter Two: The Infirmary
Overview
Makepeace arms Glenys Godwin with resonating lodestones and hints at the alkahest. In Geneva, Delamare confirms multiple world doorways, orders Beamish’s elimination, and plans to destroy every opening. Downriver, Pantalaimon rescues a cursed gryphon and is taken to her queen. In Anatolia, the gravely wounded Malcolm Polstead awakens in a prison infirmary while Asta escapes to scout.
Summary
Before Lyra’s arrival in Madinat al-Qamar, Glenys Godwin—defiant director of the disbanded Oakley Street—receives a clandestine visitor, Makepeace. He delivers two “resonating lodestones” enabling instantaneous communication across any distance, claims they are from another world, and urges her to learn their use. He also asks for intelligence on the alkahest and warns her to relocate before the state finds her.
In Switzerland, High Council President Marcel Delamare, guided by Hugo Beamish and accompanied by Colonel Schreiber, examines a hidden “hole in the air” above Les Diablerets. Passing through reveals a near-identical landscape with an unsettling difference. The next day Beamish reports at least seventeen such doorways worldwide and describes glimpses of alien cities and six‑legged, tool‑using beings. After dismissing him, Delamare orders Schreiber to arrest and quietly kill Beamish, seize his notes, and devise a covert plan to demolish every doorway, starting with Les Diablerets.
Meanwhile, Pantalaimon follows an eastern river, is attacked by a carrion‑stinking giant bird, and saves a small winged‑lion gryphon, Gulya, from drowning and dismemberment. Gulya, cursed to remain small until she kills the sorcerer who cursed her, speaks of oghâb‑gorgs seeking war. Summoned before her immense kin, Pantalaimon declares his quest to find Lyra’s lost imagination in Karamakan and to defend imagination against its enemies. The gryphons command him to the court of Queen Shahrnavāz; he accepts and falls asleep as a gryphon carries him into the night sky.
Far to the west, in the garrison town of Küçüklü, a wounded Englishman registered as Dr. Martin Peters—Malcolm Polstead—lies near death in a filthy prison infirmary. A skeptical governor demands proper care and a hospital transfer. When Malcolm’s dæmon seemingly vanishes, staff assume death, but Malcolm revives and calmly attributes the absence to a traumatic condition, requesting cleaner bedding and medical attention. As he sleeps, his dæmon Asta silently slips out of the prison to reconnoiter the city.
Who Appears
- Glenys GodwinDefiant Oakley Street director; receives resonating lodestones from Makepeace and is warned to relocate; tasked to learn their use.
- Makepeace (Sebastian Makepeace)Elderly alchemist; delivers interworld lodestones, mentions the alkahest, and prompts Godwin to act covertly.
- Marcel DelamarePresident of the High Council; inspects a doorway, then orders Beamish’s elimination and a global plan to destroy all openings.
- Hugo BeamishGeographer-guide; documents 17 doorways and alien vistas; unknowingly condemned to death for his findings.
- Colonel SchreiberMagisterium officer; demonstrates doorway effects, then tasked to kill Beamish and execute the demolition plan.
- PantalaimonLyra’s dæmon; travels east by river, kills a giant carrion bird, saves Gulya, and agrees to petition the gryphon queen.
- GulyaCursed small gryphon; rescued by Pan; introduces him to her kin and insists he present his cause to Queen Shahrnavāz.
- GryphonsMajestic beings who defeat oghâb‑gorgs; interrogate Pan about imagination and summon him to their queen.
- Malcolm Polstead (as Dr. Martin Peters)Wounded Englishman; awakens in a Küçüklü prison infirmary, conceals circumstances, and plans recovery and escape.
- AstaMalcolm’s dæmon; feigns absence, then slips out of the prison to gather intelligence in the city.
- Prison Governor (Küçüklü)Archaeology‑minded officer; pushes for medical care and transfer, unsettled by Malcolm’s dæmon’s disappearance.
- Dr. OsmanReluctant prison doctor; poorly dresses Malcolm’s wound and resists arranging a transfusion.
- Medical OrderlySurly attendant; botches care, declares Malcolm dead, and is ordered to arrange cleaning and transfer.
- David (Glenys’s secretary)Screens Makepeace, prepares the receipt during the clandestine lodestone handover.