French Braid

Mercy is the protagonist of Chapter 3, which begins on September 6, 1970. Robin and Mercy drive David to Pennsylvania for his freshman year at Islington College. On the return trip, Robin says, “I suppose we should go out and kick up our heels tonight, now that we’re back to just the two of us. Go out for a fancy meal or, I don’t know, have wild sex on the living-room floor or something” (62). David’s absence is especially difficult for Mercy because she feels closer to him than she is to Alice, who is bossy and overconfident, or Lily, who is portrayed as “emotional.”

Mercy also feels joyful anticipation as she puts a secret plan into action. The following day, Labor Day, when Robin goes to work, Mercy places her favorite clothes in a box and carries them several blocks to her art studio, situated above a garage. The room has a tiny bathroom, a kitchen area, a table and chair, and a daybed. As she dreams about the studio, she experiences “a kind of inner leap at this thought, a sense of enthusiasm she [hasn’t] felt in years” (65).

When no letter arrives from David by Wednesday, Mercy calls her daughters to ask if they have heard from him. Alice—now a stay-at-home mom with a nine-month-old daughter, Robby, named for Robin—says Mercy shouldn’t expect a teenage boy to keep in touch. Lily is between jobs and sounds downcast when she answers. She tells Mercy she is pregnant. Lily’s motorcycle-mechanic husband, BJ, with whom she eloped, has expressed no interest in children, so the news surprises Mercy. She remarks that BJ must be excited, to which Lily responds that BJ is unaware of the pregnancy and is not the father. The father is a married real-estate agent with whom she recently worked. Mercy suggests Lily consider not telling BJ that this child is not his. Lily replies that she and BJ are estranged. She mentions the name “Morris,” who Mercy realizes is the father. Lily asks for permission to move into Mercy’s studio for a respite. Instead, Mercy offers to let Lily use the bedroom she grew up in. Lily replies, “My room! Do you know how defeated I’d feel, moving back into my childhood bedroom?” (69). Mercy promises not to tell Robin until Lily is ready. As the conversation ends, Mercy feels ashamed that her main concern is keeping Lily from moving in to her studio, which has begun to look and smell like her personal dwelling.

Mercy sends a postcard to David, telling him they miss him and asking him to write. She has created a stack of her own postcards, featuring her painting of a single room and advertising her readiness to paint house portraits. Mercy trained at the LaSalle art school and dreamed of living in an attic room in Paris and studying art there.

On Friday, Mercy receives a brief letter from David and reads it over the phone to Robin. Robin is upset that David will major in English, which he perceives as useless, even though his tuition is covered by a bequest from Mercy’s father.

On Saturday, Mercy fixes Robin’s favorite meal, pours his favorite beer, dresses in clothes Robin likes, and puts flowers on the table. Mercy tells Robin she will start painting home interiors for commissions. Robin eventually comprehends what she suggests and says it sounds like a good idea. Mercy explains that she will have to spend more time at the studio, perhaps occasionally spending a night there. Robin asks if she is leaving him. She replies, “No, dear one, I would never leave you! How could you think that?” (76).

Late in September, Lily rings her parents’ doorbell and introduces a 40-ish man, Morris Drew. Mercy steps past the puzzled Robin to take Morris’s hand and invite them inside. Lily says that she and Morris will get married, though not right away; Morris is looking for the right house for them to buy. Mercy responds, “When you’ve found a place to your liking […] I’ll come and paint its portrait for your wedding present” (80), which Lily dismisses. Mercy makes conversation while Robin remains silent. When Lily and Morris leave, Robin turns his bewilderment and resentment on Mercy. Mercy points out, “Nobody outside a marriage has any real notion what goes on inside; you know that yourself” (81), to which Robin replies he doesn’t know any such thing. Mercy reflects that Robin doesn’t even realize she has been gradually moving out of their house and into her studio.

Alice calls Mercy to talk about Lily. The sisters have never been close. Alice asks Mercy what she thinks of Morris. Mercy replies that Lily might bring Morris over for a family dinner. When they try to establish a meal date, Robin refuses to allow Lily to bring her paramour to a family meal. Mercy has not told Robin that Lily is pregnant, unsure if it will make him more understanding or enrage him.

Mercy’s first portrait customers are Evelyn and Clarence Shepard. Mercy tours their house and shows them samples of her work. Mercy decides they are pretentious people “newly settled in a house designed to be imposing, wearing clothes they’d bought expressly to live up to what was required of them” (84). She sets her price at $100, though she had intended to ask for more. Clarence agrees, so long as they get final approval of the painting.

In November, when Mercy calls David’s dorm and manages to get him on the phone, she learns he will not be coming home for Thanksgiving. Lily shows up at Mercy’s studio, saying she will not come to Thanksgiving dinner unless Morris can come as well. She explains that they both have divorces underway; they have purchased a three-bedroom house, which they will soon occupy. Lily asks Mercy to persuade Robin to allow Morris to attend the meal. Mercy confidently acquiesces. At Thanksgiving, Robin and Morris sit together and fall into a conversation about the virtues of enclosed shopping malls. The emotional distance between them instantly disappears.

Mercy’s painting for the Shepards is a grandfather clock. Clarence implies it has been handed down to him through his family, though Evelyn tells Mercy they bought it at an antique store 18 months ago. They accept the portrait on sight. Mercy hopes they will tell others about her work. The person who does spread the word is Morris. When someone buys a home, he gives them Mercy’s postcard, resulting in some commissions.

David comes home at Christmas. Mercy continually hugs and touches him over his three-week stay, during which she does not spend the night at the studio. Mercy thinks about how easily Lily smoothed over the messiness of her affair with Morris, just as Mercy has quietly moved into her studio: “Was it really so easy to convince the world that life was proceeding as usual? Mercy had wondered. Yes, it was, evidently” (93).

In January, Mr. Mott, the studio’s landlord, asks a favor of Mercy: to keep their cat, Desmond, in her studio while they travel indefinitely. Mercy agrees. Desmond does not intrude in Mercy’s affairs. She develops the habit of talking to him when she paints.

As she paints, Mercy reflects on her past. She recalls Robin, as a young plumber, coming into her father’s store to buy inconsequential things just for the opportunity to speak to Mercy. He was extremely courteous and infatuated with her. In him, she saw a trustworthy person full of hope. She also found him acceptably good-looking. He instinctively understood mechanical things, much like her father. Robin once took Mercy to see his great-aunt, Alice, who was his only living close relative. She was a severe woman who intimidated Mercy. After they wed, Robin turned out to be a good husband. They mutually loved each other. For some reason, however, Mercy used to have fantasies about leaving home, imagining herself as a totally different person, slipping in and out of various scenes, dressing and acting differently, and traveling unrecognized. She feels glad now that she did not act upon her fantasies, for she would have missed the joy her three children brought when they were small. She loved different tender things about each of them. Mercy remembers the time they spent at Deep Creek Lake as a “lovely carefree week” (100).

In April, Lily delivers her first child, a boy they name Robby, after Robin. Lily and Morris move into their new house. David writes that the college produced a skit he wrote. Mercy invites three friends to her studio for tea. They ask her why she paints one detailed part of each house. She explains that it’s the only part of the house she really remembers, which must mean it is important.

In May, Mr. Mott begs Mercy to adopt Desmond permanently, as they won’t be returning. She recognizes his desperation and agrees. The following Saturday morning, when she has access to her car, Mercy puts Desmond in his carrying case and delivers him to the animal shelter.

Through the summer, David comes home briefly. He works with a traveling theater group. Sometimes, while working, Mercy finds herself stopping and going back to a particular painting, focusing on some specific element, and asking herself, “Am I missing something? […] Am I overlooking something?” (107).