Evangeline dons a scarlet riding habit and rides Falada away to visit her wealthy "benefactor," the man who keeps them financially supported. Cordelia, relieved at her mother's absence, settles in to peel potatoes and savor a rare moment of unobserved solitude, even briefly fantasizing about running away—though she refuses to abandon Falada.

Within an hour, Evangeline returns enraged, smelling of wormwood, muttering that she should have killed her benefactor by forcing him into obedience or having Falada trample him. From this, Cordelia realizes with horror that her mother's obedience magic also controls Falada. She slips to the stable and tearfully apologizes to him for never having understood, vowing to protect him though knowing she cannot.

At dinner, Evangeline shifts to an unsettling good mood. She announces that the benefactor is finished, so they must move and find a new source of income. Studying Cordelia, she calculates that at fourteen-and-a-half, Cordelia is an inconvenient burden on her own marriage prospects but that a country squire with money and a title might serve as a husband, enabling them both to enter society.

Evangeline reveals that wedding ceremonies—performed with water, salt, and wine on holy ground—break spells, which is why she relies on "benefactors" rather than ensorcelled husbands. In doing so, she casually identifies herself as a sorcerer. The word stuns Cordelia, who had never associated her mother's terrifying powers with the petty charlatans described in school. Evangeline instructs Cordelia to claim she is seventeen and soon-to-be-married. Cordelia goes upstairs unsettled, contemplating asking Ellen about sorcerers but fearing discovery.