1665, Pages 95 - 125 Summary

Griet continues to visit with her parents, describing Vermeer's paintings to her father. He is confused by the new one, of the butcher's daughter pouring water into a basin. He has been confused and moody since Agnes' death and Griet struggles to hide her irritation, especially when she believes her father is critiquing Vermeer's work when he cannot even see it on his own. After the meal, Griet's mother walks with her to the river and states, bluntly, that she has heard that the butcher's son is paying her attention. She instructs Griet to be kind, welcoming to the attention. Griet is flustered by this advise. On her walk home, she thinks about how she wasn't truly honest with her family about the portrait, and reveals to the reader that she has been assisting Vermeer.

One evening in January, when the...