Lyddie

After Rachel leaves, Lyddie feels a new kind of loneliness. To cope, she throws herself more deeply into her work, shaking off even Brigid and Diana. There is nothing else to do, Lyddie thinks; “everything else that ma[kes] her know herself as Lyddie Worthen was gone.” Lyddie barely cares when the girls at the nearby Massachusetts Corporation successfully protest their working conditions, refusing to take on extra looms until the factory agents back down.

Despite Lyddie’s focus on her work, she eventually notices that Diana seems sick. Wanting to show kindness to her old friend, Lyddie resolves to sign Diana’s petition, no matter the consequences. Lyddie tracks Diana down to one of her Tuesday meetings, where she works with other young women to protest conditions. The meeting is being led by a kind woman named Mary Emerson.

Lyddie announces that she wants to sign the petition, but Mary seems confused by this, and Lyddie’s enthusiasm just makes Diana sadder. Eventually, Diana reveals that despite getting 4,000 signatures on the first petition, no one in the legislature would listen to it. Mary wants to get 8,000 signatures next year, and she remains optimistic, but Diana is not so hopeful.

Embarrassed, Lyddie and Diana walk home. Diana tells Lyddie that she is leaving Lowell—not because of the petition, but because she is pregnant. Diana confesses that she’s been having an affair with Dr. Craven, who is married to a woman a few towns over. Diana hugs Lyddie goodbye, and a few days later, she is gone, having earned an honorable dismissal.