Summary

The section begins in August of 1897. Esme returns to Oxford while on break from her boarding school Cauldshiels. Esme peeks into the empty Scriptorium and notices an envelope from Ditte. She takes it back to the house and opens it, reading the proofs. She mentions how much she had wanted to see Ditte at school, but she never came even though she was the one who pushed Da to send her to boarding school. Lizzie finds Esme and tells her that she is lucky to be able to go to school, but Esme does not feel this way.

Esme decides to write a letter to Ditte asking Ditte to bring Esme to live with her and her sister, Beth. The reader learns about this through the letter Ditte sends back telling Esme. The letter states that that while they would have really...