Summary

After dinner that evening, Leda goes home not feeling well. She sees Giovanni with a group of his friends but ignores his greeting. She returns to her apartment feeling "very unhappy," with a "sense of dissolving" (84). She goes into the kitchen to take something to help her sleep, and she notices Nani sitting on the table. Remembering the doll clothes she had purchased, she takes the doll into the living room and sits on the couch with her, looking at the body to discern whether the clothes will fit. Leda thinks that tomorrow she will return the doll to Nina, along with the clothes, pretending she had found Nani in the pinewood and bought the clothes as a surprise for Elena. As Leda stands up, she notices that Nani has emitted more dark liquid onto her clothes. She looks closely at the doll's mouth...