Mrs De Winter tries to hope that the ball will be a success, though she is scared and always conscious of her lack of beauty and charm, compared to Rebecca. On the night of the ball, the De Winters have dinner with Beatrice, her husband Giles, and Frank Crawley, before the party.
Trying to be light hearted she teases Frank and Maxim about her dress… and goes off to change. When she comes downstairs, dressed like the portrait, Maxim explodes with rage. He tells her to go and change and wear an ordinary frock…
Bewildered and in tears she hurries away and then Beatrice tells her that the dress and look was how Rebecca was costumed at the last Manderley ball. Mrs De Winter is in tears and horrified at her gaffe and realises that Mrs Danvers has set her up to make this horrible mistake. She does not understand why, and is upset that Maxim has reacted so violently. She refuses to come downstairs at first… Beatrice tells people that she feels ill, and tries to persuade her to put on an ordinary gown and join the party, but Mrs De Winter feels that she does not have the upper class confidence to do this.
Eventually after a lot of tears, she manages to face the ball. She still cannot fathom why Mrs Danvers hates her so much, even if the housekeeper loved Rebecca....
Maxim avoids her, and she takes part in the dancing, but she cannot convince herself now that her marriage is not a failure.
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