"Ethan looks forward to an evening alone with Mattie, and recalls how warm and inviting the kitchen was in the days when his mother was alive. He remembers that his mother had been a "talker," until her illness, when she fell silent and began to hear voices. When Zenobia Pierce, his cousin, came to help nurse his mother, Ethan was grateful for the company and conversation, and when his mother died, rather than being alone again he asked Zeena to marry him."
