When Laura turned seventeen, Winifred planned a debut for the teenager. However, Winifred did so without telling Laura about it. Iris tried to warn Winifred that Laura might not go along with her idea, but Winifred ignored Iris’s warnings. Winifred was determined to find a husband for Laura with or without the official societal debut. Winifred confided to Iris that she was hoping to find a rich bachelor who was too stupid to realize that Laura had psychological problems. When Iris asked Winifred what she thought Laura’s problems were, Winifred stated that Laura was a bit odd. For example, Laura had told Winifred a few days prior that she did not think marriage was very important. Laura had added that only love was necessary. Winifred was concerned that with an attitude like that, Laura was bound to get into trouble. That was why Winifred suggested that they marry Laura off to some unknowing man and then encourage Laura to have extramarital affairs, if that was what she wanted.

In February Winifred and Richard told Iris they had committed Laura to a mental institution. They said Laura had “snapped.” Laura had been volunteering at a hospital, where she helped some of the poorest patients—a job Winifred had said she could never have done. However, one day Laura went into a rage while working. Laura also claimed she was pregnant.

After determining that Laura was at risk of hurting others as well as herself, Winifred and Richard signed papers to have Laura taken to the BellaVista Sanctuary, where she would remain until the psychiatrist determined that she was no longer a threat to herself or others. They did this without informing Iris or allowing Iris to see her sister. When Iris demanded to visit Laura, Winifred and Richard told her that this was impossible because the doctor had told them Laura needed time alone without any family interference. The doctor, apparently, had told Winifred and Richard that he believed Laura was extremely jealous of Iris. This statement insinuated that Laura was not really pregnant but had become confused about her own identity and took on Iris’s pregnancy as her own. This made Iris wonder if Laura was really pregnant and that Richard and Winifred had sent Laura away to hide the fact.

In April, Iris gave birth to her daughter, Aimee. At the birth, Winifred said the baby was very dark. Winifred had expected Iris and Richard to have created a blond baby. Iris later considered that she was glad Laura was not present at the birth because she would have denounced Iris’s statement that dark features ran in their family. She said that Laura, upon seeing the dark haired child, “would have known right away.” Readers are left not knowing to what this statement refers.

A brief history of Aimee’s life is next offered. As a young adult, Aimee became addicted to drugs. She moved out of the family home and would have nothing to do with her mother or with Winifred or Richard. Aimee was later found dead in her apartment. Aimee’s daughter, Sabrina, who was only three, had reported her mother’s death to neighbors. Upon hearing the news, Winifred claimed the young child and gained guardianship of Sabrina. Iris, for some unexplained reason, did not fight the claim, although she later regretted not doing so.

The story then goes back to Laura at the time of Aimee’s birth. Iris traveled back home and visited Reenie, who told her that Laura had been released from the hospital where she had been confined. A man had appeared at the clinic and said he was Laura’s lawyer. He was able to arrange for Laura’s release. Reenie did not know where Laura was staying, but she claimed that Laura looked and acted as she always did, despite the horrific experience she had endured.