Her first month in town was a season of shopping and of warm anticipations--and then came a sudden crash.

Afterward it was hard to remember.

For tragedy entered into these rooms, and it was not easy to look back and see them clearly as they had been.

That first month became confused, the memories uneven; in some spots clear and vivid, in others hazy and unreal.
"I want you to be gay, my dear," Amy told her at the start.

"You've been through such a lonely time.