The Echo of Old Books: A Novel

Belle and Hemi make love. They begin spending as much time together as possible at Hemi’s apartment. Belle imagines what life would be like if she were married to Hemi and hopes that Teddy will break off their engagement, as she doesn’t have the courage to do so herself.

Hemi grows increasingly surly about Belle’s reluctance to end her engagement to Teddy. He accuses Belle of playing games again, and not being willing to give up a lifestyle she has grown up with by marrying a man with limited prospects.

Belle is upset that Hemi doesn’t understand her situation and remembers how her father strong-armed her into the engagement. He announced one evening that she would be marrying Teddy, slapping her when she resisted. Later that evening, Cee-Cee warned Belle that she would end up like their mother if she kept resisting their father’s plans. Their father is concerned with family duty above all else; he has no problem getting rid of people who prove troublesome to him.

After a week of not hearing back from Ethan, Ashlyn finally drives up to his house in Rye. Her plan is to leave Forever, and Other Lies covered in sticky notes with her questions in his mailbox.