At the end of five weeks, Beloved, who is hesitant to reveal personal information, gives a clue to her past — the fact that she "was at the bridge." Sethe halts Paul D's intrusive grilling about how Beloved could have walked a long way without soiling her new shoes. Beloved bursts out in baby talk: "I take the shoes! I take the dress! The shoe strings don't fix!" Denver, recognizing that Beloved has never learned to tie a bow, promises to teach her.
Paul D, uneasy about the glow that illuminates Beloved, concludes that there is some significance to the girl's arrival on the very day that Sethe and he had "patched up their quarrel, gone out in public and had a right good time — like a family." Just as he determines to investigate Beloved, she chokes on a raisin and then says she wants to go to sleep. Delighted to have an intimate companion, Denver escorts her to the upstairs bedroom.
