In Part I, Cathy tells Jory that she's "compelled" to dance in the attic, despite the dust there and the fact that there's a ballet barre downstairs. When Chris finds her there, he's always angry and Jory doesn't understand this, though it's a foreshadowing of the story that will emerge - that Cathy and Chris had been locked in an attic for a long time during their childhoods.
If There Be Thorns