Chapter 7 Summary

For weeks after Marie hears that Sister Leopolda is dying, she resolves to feel no pity. The stab wound she suffered from the nun still throbs when it rains, and even though many years have passed, Marie still enjoys imagining a fitting punishment. One afternoon, while canning apples, her thoughts wander back to Leopolda. Marie knows that it has been a slow decline, but now Leopolda is kept in a small closet-like room in the convent where she spends the day banging on her bedpost with an iron spoon, to drive away the spirits. If the room isn't cleaned regularly, Leopolda will lick the dust from her windowsill. Her appetite for dust is an introduction to death. Distracted, Marie accidentally pours hot syrup over her hand, screaming aloud as if it were Leopolda's fault. She decides to take it as a sign. She...