35

Agnes recalls Becka’s self-harm with the secateurs and the blood on the daisies, then describes months of silence about Becka’s fate. The absence of information fuels Agnes’s worry about Becka’s recovery and potential punishment, while even the household Marthas hear nothing.

At school, Shunammite dismisses Becka’s act as attention seeking. Agnes disagrees, and this conflict creates a lasting coolness between them through the remainder of their classes.

In spring, Aunt Gabbana visits with Paula and Commander Kyle to present three vetted suitors for Agnes. Agnes is told her inclinations will be considered, but Paula’s smile and the framing make clear her choice is constrained and her guardians mainly want her placed elsewhere.

The first candidate is Commander Judd, an early Son of Jacob with a fearsome reputation and multiple dead Wives, credited with helping found Gilead. The second is a younger, intellectual Commander with one deceased child and a Wife who died in an asylum. The third is a 25-year-old, lower-ranking Commander’s son, enthusiastically backed by his family despite lesser prospects.

That night, Agnes imagines each man in the marital act and feels profound revulsion, picturing herself as stone-cold and effectively dead. Remembering the silent corpse of Ofkyle, she recognizes a grim power in stillness and resignation, signaling her deepened despair about the enforced marriage ahead.