Summary

Felix returns home in Chapter 18 only to leave a few days later, but Willa cannot ask about his trip. While she plays with Geraldine, Mrs. Lee notes that Willa does not look like her mother and nastily observes that the girl is a Romeyn through and through. Rather than admit that her mother lives in sin with the married Mr. Parnell Rudy, Willa lies that Sylvia is a leper before leaving to avoid Mrs. Lee. She enjoys being alone as she thinks about her visits to Sylvia who mourns that her children are lost to her, but when she sees Felix, she follows him to Mr. Tare Russell's house, watching silently as he enters the basement. Walking along with Inez Tapscott, Jottie is relieved at the freedom when she excuses herself to buy ice cream for the girls, but she feels guilty for...