The first thing the reader learns in Section 5 is that Percival has died. How did he die, and who does it seem to have the strongest effect on?

Percival has died by falling off his horse in India. It clearly has a deep effect Rhoda and even more so on Neville. For Neville, he believes it to be equivalent to the end of his life, while for Rhoda, Percival's death serves to confirm all of her previous feelings of despair and misanthropy. Neville is completely paralyzed by the news, as we encounter him unable to move up and down the stairs, and cursing the unfamiliar masses around him. In this sense, his misanthropy begins to approach that of Rhoda, though the reader should be sure that his is not as enveloping as Rhoda's.