Uprising

Spring has come and the girls walk to work with light spirits. Jane has been working as a governess for a month. During her first week, she worked out an arrangement with the Blanck’s chauffeur whereby she can walk to The Triangle with Yetta and Bella, then be driven back after he drops off Mr. Blanck.

Bella asks about the clothes the girls buy when Jane takes them shopping. Yetta chastises her, saying that the Blancks can afford that clothing because of their underpaid labor. Bella explains that she doesn’t worry about such things, that she has so much more than in America than she ever thought she would have. She also admits that the few things she does want (namely, for Pietro to come back), are merely fantasies. She confesses that she never really knew Pietro.

Yetta asks what else Bella wants from life. She says she wants to learn to read so she has more autonomy and can’t be tricked as easily. Jane and Bella offer to teach her. Yetta says they should all make a pact to keep learning things and avoid being “useless girls” (233).