Beloved becomes attached to Sethe, constantly following and watching her, even haunting her. She waits for her in the kitchen in the mornings before she leaves for work, and then meets her on the road on her way home. Sethe is flattered by her devotion. Beloved is happiest when Denver gives her sweets and Sethe tells her stories, so Sethe tells her the stories of her past, even though they're painful stories that she hasn't told Denver or anyone else. Beloved asks Sethe where her diamonds are, and Sethe tells her about the crystal earrings that Mrs. Garner, Sweet Home's mistress, gave her when she married Halle, Denver's father.
Sethe also tells Beloved about the wedding dress that she made for herself from Mrs. Garner's sewing scraps and mosquito netting. Beloved asks Sethe about her own mother, and Sethe tells her the only memory of her mother was of a brand -- a circle around a cross -- over her rib used as her identifying mark. Shortly after that encounter, Sethe remembers that the woman was hanged. Sethe explains that the wet nurse that cared for her told her that she was the only baby her mother kept because she was the only child conceived with a man for whom her mother cared. While Sethe tells these stories, Denver is unhappy. She hates the stories that aren't about her, and notices that Beloved asks odd questions about things she shouldn't know about -- the earrings and Sethe's mother, for instance.
