The Address

Sara awakens in a strange room, and a new doctor comes to see her. He promises to do all he can to help Sara, but a nurse drugs her, and Sara passes out again. When she wakes, the doctor tells her the baby died and that he was severely malformed. He says she needs to focus on recovery and tells her the baby was buried near the Charity Hospital. Sara enters a deep depression and contemplates death by suicide; she’s moved to a new room.

A few days later, she gets a roommate who introduces herself as Nellie Brown. Nellie can see Sara is not “insane,” and she prevails on Sara to open up. Several days later, Natalia tells Sara that Nellie was there for a few days but disappeared. The women discuss the improved quality of the food for the past several days and how they each received new bed linens. One of the nurses asks Sara to accompany her to the superintendent’s office; when she arrives, she sees Nellie. The superintendent tells Sara that she is free to go.

Nellie’s real name is Nellie Bly, and she’s an undercover journalist who cleared Sara’s name. Sara walks outside with Nellie, and Natalia comes to say goodbye. Sara promises she will not forget Natalia. On the ferry, Nellie shows Sara her article, exposing the conditions at the psychiatric hospital. She takes Sara to a hotel to get cleaned up and says everyone in the city knows Sara’s name. Daisy was arrested for theft a few months after Sara, and she admitted to stealing the emerald necklace and putting it on Sara’s desk. Though Daisy confessed, Mr. Douglas let Sara languish in the psychiatric hospital, telling everyone she chose to return to England. He was fired when the truth came out, and Sara has been offered her job back. After seven months away, Nellie tells her to relax, though Theodore wants to see her. He contacted Nellie the day she published Sara’s story.

The next day, Nellie takes Sara to Camden’s office. When Sara sees him, she cries, relieved that he didn’t forget her after all. He says that Mr. Douglas told him that she went back to England, and this is why he didn’t pursue her. Theo conveys his wife’s apologies; she grew ill and went to the country, though Sara still thinks Minnie was behind the “scheme” to incarcerate her. Mrs. Haines also reported that she saw Daisy walking in Central Park with the very man who broke into her room. Now, Sara thinks that “something had seemed off” the night he broke in (256), especially because Daisy avoided eye contact. Theo invites Sara to work for him, and he assures her that he and Minnie have come to “an understanding” that they have different priorities, and he is free to pursue his ambitions. He offers to get her an apartment in the building, and she accepts.

Bailey spends hours at the library reading Nellie Bly’s articles. She feels for Sara, especially because Christopher never received her letter. Bailey blames Minnie for hiding the truth. Bailey goes to lunch with Melinda and Tony and tells them about the letter. Bailey suggests she could be Theodore’s descendant, and Melinda impatiently demands that she “stop this” and “[l]et it go, already” (263). She tries to change the subject, but Tony is interested. Bailey tells him about the sheath she found with Renzo, which also annoys Melinda. However, when Tony suggests the sheath might be valuable, Melinda is all ears. She assumes that because the sheath was found with “[her] stuff,” it belongs to her. Bailey is disappointed that Melinda cares more about the value of the sheath than the possibility that they might be cousins.

Melinda and Tony accompany Bailey to Renzo’s office, and he shows them the sheath and bone. The couple are “crass” and “careless,” insisting that since she found the sheath in Theodore’s trunk, it belongs to Melinda. However, the trunk was in the building’s storage area, not Melinda’s, so Renzo insists they go through the management company. Tony suggests they might be able to prove the sheath and bone were Theodore’s because they can get the DNA tested to see if it matches Melinda’s. Bailey would like to have her DNA tested too, but Melinda refuses.

Sara is allowed to live for free at the Dakota for one year. Theo’s new firm doesn’t get much business because he hasn’t yet made a name for himself, and Sara encourages him to do so during an upcoming speech he is scheduled to give. They work on it together. He talks about the city of the future: what it could be like and how space could benefit everyone, including the poorer tenants who typically live in overcrowded, squalid tenements. The speech is a resounding success, and Theo tells Sara he loves her; she returns the sentiment, determined to hold onto happiness.

Sara and Theo renew their intimacy that night, and, a few days later, she accompanies him to a client meeting. He forgot some papers, so she returns to his apartment for them. When she arrives, Mrs. Haines is there to oversee the delivery of a crib. Sara now wonders if Mrs. Camden was moved upstate because she was pregnant, not sick.

That night, Sara asks Theo about the crib. He explains that his wife befriended an ill but pregnant young woman who asked her to care for the baby after her death. Mrs. Camden agrees against Theo’s wishes, but he says this is his agreement: his wife can keep the baby, and he can keep Sara. The baby’s name is Christopher. Sara doesn’t feel she can agree to carry on sleeping with Theo while his wife is here.

One weekend, Theo leaves town, but he promises to stop at Sara’s apartment when he returns. While he’s gone, though, Sara has an overwhelming urge to walk to see the Camdens’ apartment, but when she reaches the hallway, she finds Lula crying. Lula says her mother is ill, so Sara enters. She immediately calls for the doctor for Mrs. Camden, and she hears the baby wailing. With the nanny gone, Sara tries to comfort the child. Though Mrs. Camden’s expression reveals no emotion, Sara can tell she knows everything about Theo and Sara’s relationship.

Melinda’s apartment is rapidly changing, and Bailey goes to AA every morning. Melinda warns her to keep away from Renzo, but Bailey decides to visit Fred Osborn, the family’s financial advisor. She tells him of her suspicion that Christopher is the son of Sara Smythe and Theo Camden, but if she wants her DNA tested, she’ll have to pay for it. Further, though the trust was set up to benefit Theodore Camden’s blood descendants, only men’s DNA can be tested. Therefore, Manvel, rather than Melinda, submitted a blood sample. Bailey confirms that her father could be tested to see if he’s a match.

Later, Bailey calls Jack, but he’s out, so she goes to Kenneth’s apartment. Renzo is there, and Bailey updates him on the DNA testing. He doesn’t like how Melinda and Tony treat Bailey, and he accuses her of maintaining a toxic relationship because she lacks courage. Kenneth introduces Bailey to a slew of friends who all want to buy her sketches of the Dakota. She makes enough money to pay for the DNA testing. When she finally reaches Jack, though, he doesn’t want to provide a blood sample. He doesn’t want her to “unravel” the past, saying it won’t lead to anything good. When she tells him that he hasn’t escaped his past, he hangs up on her.