Ruth is getting some fresh air because the Neosalvaran has made her weak . A taxi arrives, and she recognizes her mother approaching the building. She runs toward her mother as Baker steps outside. Baker cautions Ruth, who tries to quickly tell her mother everything she hasn’t been able to write. However, Baker stops Ruth before she can talk about her time in the solitary confinement of “meditation.” Ruth’s mother notes her changed appearance, and Baker insists that reliable physicians have conducted “positive tests” confirming Ruth’s venereal disease. Baker explains the Chamberlain-Kahn Act and claims that Ruth is leading her mother astray with inaccuracies about the Colony. Baker says it is common for “[w]omen of a promiscuous nature” (166) to hide their behavior from their families. When Baker labels Ruth a “danger to society” (167), Ruth can see her mother beginning to doubt. Mrs. Foster doesn’t know what to think and reflects on Ruth’s father’s beliefs about unmarried women living independently. Finally, convinced by Baker’s words, Mrs. Foster backs down. 

After her mother leaves, Ruth tells the other residents what happened. She says that they’ll never be free of this place and cites the many times Lucy has been returned to the Colony. Lucy compares being here to wearing “that scarlet letter” (171).

Maynard takes Ruth to Baker’s office, where Baker promises to allow Ruth to continue in her current role in the kitchen if she will agree to write a letter that describes how the Colony is helping her to turn her life around. Ruth asks what will happen if she refuses. Baker implies that she’ll return to meditation. Ruth has until tomorrow evening to give Maynard her letter. When Ruth returns to the kitchen, she is grateful for the presence of her friends there.

Stella returns to the laundry, explaining to Lucy she had an infection from her operation. Lucy asks about the operation, and Stella says she had a tumor. Lucy knows this is not why Stella had surgery, but she doesn’t correct the girl. Stella had thought that Baker was in charge, but now she realizes that the doctors can do whatever they want because they are men. When Stella finds an undergarment stained with menstrual blood, she recalls that she hasn’t had her “monthly” since before the “predicament” that landed her here. Baker comes, telling Lucy that Stella will no longer work in the laundry. 

Stella follows Baker, who walks with a limp. Baker explains that her limp came about when she misbehaved as a child and paid for it. Baker says that she and Stella are alike, that they have both made “significant mistakes” and have paid a “permanent price” (179). Stella doesn’t understand. Baker says that Stella is special. She gives the girl pencil and paper, and Stella writes her letter. Afterward, Baker plans to have Stella help Frances a few hours a day; Stella will spend the rest of her time in the kitchen. Stella is so happy that she’ll get to work with Ruth. Baker tells Stella to report any rule infractions she witnesses there, and Stella’s guilt returns.

Ruth does not turn in a letter, enraging Baker. In Baker’s mind, Ruth resembles the type of woman that her husband liked: the very type she is now trying to reform at the Colony. Maynard arrives with Dillard, the other housemother, and alerts Baker that Lucy is missing. Baker questions Ruth and tells her to come to her office after breakfast tomorrow. 

The next day, Baker tells the nurse to come to her office to take Ruth’s blood for her next round of testing. Baker can see that Ruth’s appearance has changed; this makes her happy. She says that until Ruth’s tests return, Ruth will be in quarantine. Maynard protests, as this is not the protocol for someone with demerits, but Baker watches as the nurse takes Ruth’s blood. Baker tells Ruth that she is starting over at day one; she has a clean record, with no history of running off. Baker tells Maynard to give Ruth a task that will occupy her and keep her away from others.

Ruth was not brave enough to escape with Lucy, but now she regrets it. Lucy promised Ruth that she would tell a man she knows on the outside what is really happening at the Colony; she promised to tell him to look for Ruth. Lucy wouldn’t tell Ruth what the man does, but she promised that he is smart. This gave Ruth hope. 

Now, Maynard assigns Ruth to varnish the hallway floors, and when the other women see her, they are disappointed that she won’t be cooking. Frances holds out her hand, and Ruth passes her the rag. Frances inhales deeply, and Ruth panics. Frances obviously likes the high feeling that smelling the varnish gives her. Ruth varnishes the floors for days, learning to enjoy the semi-high that she gets from the fumes. When her test results come back, Baker tells her that they are positive but won’t let her see them.

Stella and Frances sit in a small room. Stella tries to get Frances to talk to her, to no avail. She shows Frances a book about the alphabet, but Frances goes to sleep. After a while, Frances wakes up and walks to the door. She strides outside as Stella follows, complaining that they aren’t supposed to be outdoors. Frances gets to the barbed wire again, and Stella implores her, saying they’ll be whipped or put into meditation if they’re caught. When Frances’s expression changes, Stella could swear that the woman is scheming. Frances goes back inside, and when Stella catches up, Frances has written a neat line of capital and lowercase letters. Stella shows the housemother, but Maynard doesn’t believe that Frances wrote them. When Maynard isn’t paying attention, Frances repeats Stella’s words from earlier in the day. Then she tells Stella not to tell anyone or she’ll bite her. At lunch, Frances sits next to Stella.

Word has gotten out that Ruth refused to write a letter, but Baker cannot understand why the other women respect Ruth. Maynard shows Baker Frances’s paper and accuses Stella of lying to please Baker. Baker compares Stella’s handwritten letter to the letters written on the paper, and the handwriting does not match. Maynard says she was surprised not to see Baker at Dr. Woodall’s dinner party a few nights ago; she tells Baker that the board is now accepting applications for her position. Deciding to deploy her most powerful leverage over Maynard, Baker accuses the woman of enjoying the group punishments, of watching the girls get beaten and even beating them herself. She suggests that Maynard’s husband and Woodall would both find this information distasteful and embarrassing. Baker says that if Maynard speaks against her, she will share what she knows about Maynard’s behavior. Stella arrives, confirming that Frances wrote the letters on the paper. Frances enters next, but when she refuses to say anything, Baker decides that Maynard must be right and that Frances simply is not intelligent enough to write. Baker is glad that Frances will not be able to bear children, as they would have her same deficiencies. However, she is disappointed to think that Stella must have lied to her.