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Agnes’s literacy advances haltingly as Becka tutors her with approved Bible verses, including lines that comforted Agnes after Tabitha’s death. Becka reframes reading as hearing words like a song, then brings a hymnbook so Agnes can sing and eventually read the childhood prayer Tabitha used to sing, turning study into solace.

Writing follows, taught with pens, ink, and scarce supplies reserved for Aunts. Becka models beautiful handwriting and has Agnes copy Biblical mottoes repeatedly, using comparison to show improvement. The words provoke questions in Agnes, revealing that literacy opens doubts rather than settling them.

Agnes performs communal labor, from kitchen work to painting modest clothing in children’s books. She repeatedly scrubs spotless toilets under Aunt Abby’s supervision, learning the point is obedience to unreasonable orders. Becka coaches Agnes with calming techniques and reminders to avoid hatred, framing the ordeal as a Job-like test.

After passing her six-month examination and becoming a permanent Supplicant, Agnes earns access first to the Hildegard Library’s outer room, then the Reading Room, where she types and fair-copies Aunt Lydia’s evolving speeches. She glimpses Lydia en route to a private archive said to contain genealogies, Bibles, theology, and dangerous literature, accessible only to stronger minds.

Over months and years, Agnes and Becka forge a close, sisterlike friendship. They exchange confessions about Paula, Crystal’s death, their unknown mothers, and Dr. Grove’s abuses, each validating the other’s pain. Their trust strengthens Agnes’s resolve and sense of belonging within Ardua Hall even as she learns that knowledge brings new questions.