Antoinette lives for three more years, while Léonie and Madeleine continue to visit the family in Blémont during the summer holidays. As Antoinette becomes weaker, Rose comes to stay at the house and relieves Madeleine of some of the household chores. Antoinette craves company, and Madeleine and Thérèse spend time with her as her illness continues. The girls are asked to take on additional household responsibilities. They often prepare meals and listen as Victorine and Rose gossip about people in the village. The two women discuss the Germans and recount how one day Antoinette lost her shoes and was too ashamed to come back inside the house. The women wonder if they could have done anything differently and then become quiet, realizing that the girls have been listening.
Thérèse, meanwhile, spends.....
