Lily returns to her room at the hotel in time for the afternoon shift, glad to escape her brother’s company. She’s afraid he’ll take the law into his own hands, but knows there’s no point in trying to stop him. Now she’s standing in front of the mirror, trying to follow Rhianna Polkerris’s advice, before reporting for kitchen duty at 2 p.m.
The girl has brought her mother’s make-up bag back from the house, but emotions surface when she undoes the zip. The scent of lily of the valley brings her mother’s image to mind, standing in the hallway, dabbing perfume behind her ears then applying dark pink lipstick. When Lily does the same, the effect is clownish. The vivid tone accentuates her pallor, making her look plainer than before.
Lily gazes down at the beauty kit her mother used every day. When she opens the old-fashioned powder compact, the make-up is crumbling. She closes her eyes and inhales deeply, hoping to picture her mother again, but Sabine appears instead. Her friend is haunting her, demanding the justice she deserves.
Suddenly the heat feels so overwhelming, Lily throws open the window, her hands clutching the sill, while she gasps for air. Her legs are still shaking when she forces herself out of the room.