Chapter 5 Summary

Swede receives a letter from Rita telling him Merry is working in Newark. She refers to Merry as some kind of divine, suffering disciple whose spell Rita has been under. Dawn has been in and out of a suicidal condition for five years, blaming the Miss New Jersey pageant and blaming Swede. He has been indulging her every little desire trying to keep her happy, but she says she married him only to feel normal. He recalls the exciting time when she became Miss New Jersey and was in the running for Miss America, an overly stimulating event that she was told she would win. Dawn has gone to Geneva for a facelift with Dr. LaPlante.

A year after Merry disappeared, Swede had sold Dawn's entire cattle ranch operation, and Dawn is now designing a new house. She tells her architect, Bill Orcutt...