Part 2 Chapter 3 Summary

Lou has married Annie Lee and now has three daughters and a son. The eldest, Milly, is Alexandra's favorite. Alexandra does not get along well with Oscar's wife, who is from Missouri and is ashamed of marrying "a foreigner." Oscar now has four sons aged five to twelve. He has prospered, making more money than his brother but much less than his sister.

At a family dinner Lou and Oscar and their families are all present; Emil is away at his friend Amedee's wedding. Alexandra's brothers pick on her for keeping Ivar. Lou says that when he was in Hastings, he spoke to a doctor about Ivar. The doctor says Ivar's case is of the most dangerous kind and that any day he could take an axe to Alexandra. Moreover the neighbors are afraid of Ivar and do not like that...