Chapter 12

Estel's secret torment following the abortion lasted for months, although no one except her knew about it. Some of her coworkers and friends were happy with the transformation, especially Henrick Larsen. Still, most people just noticed a little difference from the previous Estel. The new Estel gave him a lot of pleasure since she was tougher, less idealistic, and willing to take on tasks that before would have upset her. If he had known that she had adopted her current stance because she now cared less about her external circumstances, he could have had cause for concern. On the inside, her suffering was all-consuming.

The feelings of remorse and doubt began soon after she got home from the hospital. She was weaker than she had anticipated after the abortion. Still, she knew that this was due more to emotional shock than to any actual physical weakness. She had taken off work for a whole week and spent much of it sitting in Central Park, looking sightlessly at the world around her. Th