As Paul D, Sethe, and Denver return from the carnival late Thursday afternoon, they encounter a lone young woman, wet and wheezing, who has walked up from the stream and is napping on the stump outside the house. To Paul's questions, the girl gives hazy responses, introducing herself as Beloved and denying that she has a last name. Concerned for her tenuous state of health, Sethe and Paul D take her in; Denver quivers with anticipation. The girl sleeps for four days in Baby Suggs's former room. Paul D fears that Beloved may suffer from cholera. Denver takes care of her, hiding Beloved's urine-soaked sheets and lying about the fact that Beloved appears weak on her feet even though she is able to lift a rocking chair with one hand.
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