Lily spends a sleepless night in the honey house. She unleashes all the anger inside her and throws all the jars of honey against the back wall, breaking them in her rage. Then she throws a tin pail and tray of candle molds. She's half-mad, and her arms are bleeding. She feels empty because all the romantic dreams of her mother have been cancelled by the fact that her mother left her. She lies down in a fetal position near Mary. Lily wants to open a door in Mary and climb in for consolation.
The next morning, Rosaleen shakes her awake, demanding to know what happened. She takes Lily to the house and cleans up her cuts. Lily tells her that she found out the truth about her mother's leaving her, and Rosaleen confirms the fact from phone conversations she'd overheard in Sylvan. Lily explains what August told her and discovers a terrible bitterness in her voice. She asks Rosaleen why she didn't tell her before, and Rosaleen gently asks why she would hurt Lily that way. They both revert to silence and clean up the disorder in the honey house.
That afternoon, the Daughters show up and everyone feasts on Rosaleen's corn fritters. Lily doesn't talk to Zach but asks August to tell him about her mother. June plays the cello for the last part of the ceremony. Neil and Zach bring Our Lady out to the yard. They chant about Mary's escape and put their arms in the air with a powerful message of her Daughters' rising. But a brooding Lily doesn't join in. August turns a jar of honey over the head of the statue. Then, like a beehive, the queen's attendants rub the honey all over the statue. This time Lily does participate. August explains that the honey is like holy water and they are preserving the statue for another year. Both ants and bees show up for the honey, and Lily feels content for now.
