Summary

In September 1884, one of the Dakota's future residents, Mrs. Horace Putnam, tours her already-elaborate apartment with Sara and makes a number of drastic new demands. Once Mrs. Putnam leaves, Sara and Mr. Camden laugh about her, and mock the design of the Dakota, which they both see as overly elaborate. They make plans to take a trip into the city, which Sara has yet to see.

That night, Sara is awoken when she hears an intruder in the building. It is a threatening, unidentified man, who Sara and Mrs. Haines help chase away. The two women go to Daisy Cavanaugh's room and comfort her, as the intruder had been in her room, forcing himself on Daisy. The frightening scene causes Sara to remember the abuse she had once received from a Mr. Ainsworth, her superior during her work as a seamstress, before she...