The Girls of Good Fortune

Celia has one week to find a new living situation. Marie has agreed to let her stay and work if she keeps the baby quiet. Celia names her daughter Pearl, after her own mother. She feels that she could never face Stephen if she gave their baby up for adoption, and she also could never forgive herself. She goes to the post office, hoping to send another letter to Stephen. When she sees a nanny watching her and the baby, she fears that the woman has observed in Pearl “a subtle ‘other’ quality that couldn’t be pinpointed” (123). However, the nanny says that Pearl has a fever and advises Celia to take her home and cool her down.

Celia rushes back to the Dewdrop and interrupts Lettie’s work with a patron to ask for help with the baby. Lettie fetches ice while Celia wipes Peal with water from the washbasin. Marie arrives, and predicts that a doctor could do nothing; she offers to help. Bringing needles, she asks if Celia trusts her to treat the baby. She then places the needles along Pearl’s back and spine. Celia believes that this treatment is “a frightening design that seemed straight from a book of witchcraft” (130).