Summary

The narrator continues living among the sisters as they wait for Sister Jenny’s remains to be transported home, a process slowed by closed borders and shifting arrival dates. Bonaventure’s grief becomes visible in daily prayer, and the narrator hears more about tensions beyond the abbey, including rumors that Simone has been criticized by higher authorities for not being strict enough. The narrator notices her own careful way of handling these hints, using silence and observation to avoid being pulled into open conflict.

At lunch Simone announces that Jenny’s bones are expected within a fortnight and speaks as if the news were a practical matter to be managed rather than an emotional upheaval. The announcement collides with an unsettling mystery the narrator has been holding back: she has heard a piano playing in the night. When the piano sounds again, the whole...