Part 10 Summary

Elizabeth remembers living in an all-female boarding house, occupied by young graduate students, and older, single women with jobs. The woman that she remembers most clearly is Miss Lavore. Miss Lavore gets through her days of drudgery in order to enjoy her evenings. Every night, after Miss Lavore eats dinner, she changes clothes and emerges in brightly-colored dancing dresses and costume jewelry. She adores her dance lessons, which she has been attending for ten years. One night, as Miss Lavore is riding the subway home from her dance lesson, Elizabeth happens to be riding the same car, and Miss Lavore does not see her. Looking at the large woman who drifts to sleep in her fancy dress, Elizabeth feels sorry for her, and thinks that "Miss Lavore" is probably a stage name. Elizabeth notices the sad attitude of most of the women living...