 Mrs Fitzherbert persuades Rokeby to embark alone, and wait for Rohan to be persuaded into a separation, but Clarissa pursues him to the port to say farewell.In staying out in the rain watching his ship sail away, she catches a fever and, worse still, is taken back to Lord Rohan's London house and not to the place of safety Rokeby had promised.The fever is not necessarily fatal but Hesther – putting Clarissa into a drugged sleep, opening the windows and dousing the fire in her room – ensures that it proves so, so clearing the way for herself to marry Rohan.