Part 3: Ceremony, Chapters 8, 9, 10 and 11 Summary

Gwendolyn Savage has developed a special affection for Iris and extends numerous social invitations to Iris who always accepts, although she is usually uncomfortable in the company of the Savages' older friends. Soon Iris finds herself adopting the genteel Southern ways of Mrs. Savage so different from Iris's mother about whom Mrs. Savage continues to gently probe. As the visits increase, Iris is urged to share information about her own family. Iris alters the truth by telling that her early-divorced mother struggled to raise Iris and died nobly from a lengthy illness while Iris's father supposedly is a politician in one of the Western states. Iris maintains her story of Persia's untimely death and avoids any other details about life in Hammond.

Under Mrs. Savage's guidance, Iris begins to bloom with feminine graces and self-confidence, while Dr...