Robbie Writes the Obscene Letter

After the incident at the fountain, Robbie returns to his bungalow and is consumed by his newly awakened feelings for Cecilia. He lies in a bath, obsessing over the memory of her body, and then tries to write her a letter of apology. He types a draft, but in a moment of unguarded passion, he adds a crude, sexually explicit sentence: 'In my dreams I kiss your cunt, your sweet wet cunt.' Horrified, he sets the draft aside and writes a more conventional apology by hand. However, in a fatal error, he later folds the obscene draft into the envelope instead of the innocuous letter. This mistake, born of his intense desire and carelessness, becomes the catalyst for the novel's central tragedy. The letter is a physical manifestation of his passion, but it is also a weapon that Briony will use against him.