38

At sunset, Agnes rides with Aunt Estée through quiet streets, feeling like an outcast even as she chooses exile from her former life. She asks their destination and learns they are going to Ardua Hall, a place long shrouded in secrecy and rumor among girls.

Agnes recalls household talk painting the Aunts’ work as dirty and mind-corrupting, which both repelled and intrigued her. Approaching a gated, floodlit complex guarded by Eyes, she sees a grand brick building that was once a library, contradicting her imagined castle or prison.

Inside the grounds, Aunt Estée points out a statue of Aunt Lydia. Agnes notes the statue’s difference from the woman she has seen, and Estée deflects by saying statues aren’t people. They proceed to the modest red-brick residence that constitutes Ardua Hall, its doorways marked with writing Agnes cannot read.

Estée explains that no man can enter without Aunts’ permission, promising temporary safety while she visits Agnes’s parents. She leads Agnes to a small room and has Aunt Silhouette bring warm milk, urging Agnes to rest and trust that matters will be all right.

Alone, Agnes mistrusts the milk and stays alert. The room’s images—Aunt Lydia smiling inscrutably and Baby Nicole—oddly comfort her. On the desk lies a book; after a day of forbidden acts, Agnes feels a powerful pull toward reading it, wondering what dangerous knowledge it contains.