A few months later, Christy and David are finalizing their wedding plans when a surprise vistor shows up -- Dr. MacNeill. Suddenly, a torrential storm hits the mountain cove; as winds and floods wash away cabins, the residents seek refuge in the mission house. At the height of the storm, MacNeill and Christy are stranded in a hunter's cabin where, before it's too late, the doctor proposes marriage. Before she can sort out her feelings, Christy bolts into the torrential rain, running and falling into a steep ravine. MacNeill rescues her and tends to her back at the cabin where she starts burning up with fever. The following morning, when her fever breaks, MacNeill carries her back to the mission house. Christy's struggles to survive the spiritual, emotional and physical tests that she had endured, have brought her to a place of newfound, adult maturity. At the very moment Christy realizes that she can maintain a life without either Grantland or MacNeill, she makes her choice of a groom.
