The Testaments

Aunt Lydia prepares for bed, thinking about how thin her hair has become, and how she once preached to the other Aunts against the vanity of caring about hair. She sees that her health is diminishing and wonders how her life will end. She suspects one of her enemies will kill her. Aunt Lydia is a figure of authority, a bogeyman, a model of pious behavior, but she wishes she could be ordinary again.

It is the Spring Equinox and Aunt Lydia leads the dinner prayer, blessing all in Gilead, as well as Baby Nicole, who was stolen by her Handmaid mother and spirited away to Canada, where she represents all the innocents doomed to be raised by the depraved. They pray that Baby Nicole will return to them. Aunt Lydia explains in her memoir how the story of Baby Nicole is a useful tool to inspire hatred of Gilead’s enemies. Nicole also reminds them of the treachery of Handmaids.

During dinner, Aunt Lydia watches her fellow senior Aunts: Aunt Elizabeth, Aunt Helena, and Aunt Vidala, wondering about what schemes they are planning. Afterwards, she walks to the Hildegard Library.