58

Agnes and Becka are summoned to Aunt Lydia’s office expecting questions about Jade’s progress. Instead, Aunt Lydia reveals that Baby Nicole is in Gilead and then discloses that Jade herself is Baby Nicole and Agnes’s half-sister. Shock follows, but Agnes and Becka welcome Nicole, trying to include Becka as family.

Aunt Lydia states Nicole must soon return to Canada carrying an important message and asks Agnes and Becka to help. She frames their silence as treachery punishable by death, coercing agreement. After a brief private debate, Becka urges obedience, recalling Lydia’s past rescues; they resolve to comply.

Back at their rooms, Agnes shows Nicole the purloined Bloodlines pages with their mother’s photo. They speculate about their parents and missing names, then decide the papers are too dangerous and tear and flush them. They continue routine behavior to avoid suspicion, though Agnes fears repercussions if Nicole is discovered.

With Thanks Giving approaching, Aunt Lydia details the plan: Nicole will leave Gilead as a Pearl Girl, while Becka will occupy a Retreat House room under Nicole’s identity to cover her absence. Becka is dismayed when told she will go to Canada later; Agnes suspects this promise is false.