In her mind, she wandered down the hall and entered the room she had shared as a child with her two sisters. The room was large. Tall windows offered a view of the garden and lotus pond. Pink lotuses were in full bloom.

The smell of curry filled her nostrils, and she heard the house servant, Fatima, call them all to dinner. Home! Familiar food! Rice rather than potatoes. Mangos and fragrant spices. Dear Krishna, how she missed it all.

Upstairs, Hannah lay in bed and worried. Zachary was hostile and mean-spirited. His manner of speaking to Sarina bordered on verbal abuse. Dark circles ringed the young woman’s eyes, and Sarina was increasingly impatient with Sarah, who had been the light of her life and source of joy.

“Zachary’s behavior is intolerable for Sarina,” she told Max. “I think she won’t stay with him much longer if he continues his crude behavior.”

“Aren’t you overreacting? He isn’t any worse than he was.”

“Which is bad enough, and he is worse. You don’t see it. You’re busy with the sale of the dairy. It’s all happening so fast. You’re off to Asheville talking to lawyers, having the cows checked by the vet, and preparing everything for shipping. There’s the emotional aspect of it, too, giving up the dairy. You’re exhausted every night. Your heart is heavy with the loss of it.”

The next morning, carrying Sarah upstairs, Sarina slipped and fell on the stairs. She lay there weeping, sheltering the baby with her body, until Hannah heard her and rushed to help.

“Are you hurt?”

Sarina shook her head. “Just so tired, I think I cannot take another step.”

“I’ll help you up. Go and lie down. I’ll have Anna bring you up breakfast.” Hannah found Max out back. “We’ve got to do something, Max. Zachary must go into therapy.” She told about Sarina falling. “That girl’s going to collapse.”

“I’m sorry, Hannah. You’re right. I didn’t realize. What shall we do?”

“Let me think about this.”

Hannah went directly to the end of the hall, to the baby’s nursery, and knocked.

A soft voice answered. “Come in.” Sarina rocked, her head thrown back, her eyes closed. The baby seemed to be sleeping on her shoulder. “She finished nursing! I have been sitting here looking at her. She has grown so fast, has she not, Hannah? I think when she grows, she will not be small as I am.”

“She’s beautiful, and you’re a good mother, Sarina.”

“She cannot count on affection from her father.”

“Zachary doesn’t spend much time with her, does he?”

The corners of Sarina’s mouth turned down. “Hardly at all, and he is very demanding and unpleasant. If she cries, he puts her on the bed, in a chair, even on the floor, and walks out.”

“You’re very tired, my dear,” Hannah said.