Sunday’s effort to protect Daisy and report Pinnegar

Sunday’s effort to protect Daisy and report Pinnegar is a struggle over who will control the consequences of Daisy’s pregnancy: Daisy herself, the adults who employ and shelter her, or the workhouse master who has already used institutional power to silence another girl. Sunday’s response is shaped by Cissie’s earlier removal to Hatter’s Hall. She first hides Daisy’s condition because she fears that reporting the assault could expose Daisy to the same fate; once secrecy is no longer possible, she works to bring the truth to people able to act.

The precedent of Cissie

Sunday’s fear has a specific history. Cissie had confided that she was pregnant and hoped to care for her baby. When the carriage from Hatter’s Hall arrived instead of the promised safe placement, Cissie understood that she was being taken to an asylum. She protested that Pinnegar was responsible and denied the accusation that she had been involved with male inmates. Miss Frost dismissed her account, and the men took Cissie away despite her resistance. Sunday had witnessed the deception and never heard from Cissie again.

That experience leaves Sunday with reason to doubt that an official disclosure will protect a vulnerable girl. Later, when Lady Lavinia Huntley asks whether Pinnegar had been a kind master, Sunday recounts how he drew Cissie into his office, how Cissie became ill and suspected she was pregnant, and how Miss Frost had promised a safe destination before the asylum carriage arrived. Sunday’s account is not an abstract suspicion: it is the history against which she measures the danger to Daisy. Cissie’s fate makes silence seem protective, even as it leaves Pinnegar’s conduct unchallenged.

Daisy’s disclosure and Sunday’s first decision

After Daisy and Tommy arrive, Sunday recognizes the significance of Daisy’s swollen stomach. Daisy confirms that Pinnegar began making her go to his office after Sunday left. She tells Sunday that he did bad things to her and hurt her; when she threatened to tell, he threatened to send Tommy to Hatter’s Hall. The threat reaches beyond Daisy herself, making her brother’s safety part of the means by which Pinnegar keeps her quiet.

Sunday does not immediately take the discovery to Biddy Spooner or Lady Lavinia. She fears that Daisy might be treated as Cissie was, and decides that, for the time being, they will say nothing. She suggests that Daisy continue wearing her loose dress so that her pregnancy will not attract notice, buying time to decide what to do. As she comforts Daisy, Sunday recognizes the injustice: Pinnegar has already caused Cissie great distress, and Daisy now appears to face a similar burden. Her secrecy is therefore both an act of care and a constrained response to a system she has seen punish the victim rather than confront the man responsible.

Daisy asks Sunday to promise that no one will lock her away in Hatter’s Hall. Sunday reassures her and embraces her; together they leave the room hand in hand, resolved to behave as though nothing is wrong. The gesture offers immediate comfort, but it cannot settle the danger or determine what will happen next. Daisy’s fear makes clear how little control she believes she has over her own future.

From concealment to disclosure

The plan fails when Annie notices that Daisy looks unwell and asks whether she is often sick in the mornings. Daisy is too frightened to answer, and Sunday understands that their secret can no longer be kept. She tells Annie that Pinnegar is responsible and connects Daisy’s case to what happened to Cissie. Annie believes her, recognizes that the pregnancy cannot remain hidden much longer, and insists that Biddy Spooner needs to know. She offers to explain that Daisy is not at fault.

Sunday then goes to Biddy in the dining room and asks to speak with her. Annie has already rejected the idea that Tommy should confront Pinnegar himself: the matter, she says, must be handled properly. Rather than leaving Daisy without protection, Annie offers her own home as an alternative if Biddy will not keep her. This gives Daisy a practical refuge while also moving the matter out of private whispering and toward adult intervention.

Biddy agrees, though begrudgingly, that Daisy can stay for the time being. She sends Sunday to Treetops Manor to ask Lady Lavinia to come and see her. Sunday hurries there, and Lady Lavinia gives her a lift back in her carriage. Once they are on the way, she asks what is wrong; Sunday relates the story again. The journey repeats the act of disclosure in a setting where someone with greater authority is prepared to listen, contrasting with Cissie’s earlier experience of being disbelieved and removed.

The report and its stakes

Lady Lavinia is furious and sees Daisy’s case as a possible final piece of evidence against Pinnegar. At a meeting with Biddy and Annie, they agree that Daisy will remain where she is for the present. Lady Lavinia promises to speak with Reverend Lockett and call an urgent meeting of the Board of Guardians. Annie passes this plan to Sunday, who is grateful that Pinnegar may finally face consequences.

The outcome established here is the start of formal action, not a completed inquiry or a confirmed punishment. Sunday’s report supplies another account of Pinnegar’s abuse, while the decision to keep Daisy at the Spooners’ home protects her from an immediate return to the institution she fears. The distinction matters: the people around Daisy can offer shelter and take her testimony seriously, but Pinnegar’s position means that stopping him requires action beyond private sympathy.

Significance

Sunday’s choices expose the double bind facing girls harmed by those who hold authority over them. Speaking up may bring help, but Cissie’s removal has taught Sunday that a disclosure can instead lead to confinement and separation. Pinnegar exploits that fear by threatening Tommy, while the stigma attached to unmarried pregnancy makes Daisy anticipate punishment rather than protection. Sunday’s initial concealment is not indifference to justice; it is an attempt to keep Daisy safe until she can see a path to intervention.

The change from a private promise between the two girls to a report carried through Annie, Biddy, and Lady Lavinia gives the episode its movement. Each woman provides a different form of support: Sunday believes Daisy and stays beside her; Annie recognizes the need to act and offers refuge; Biddy allows Daisy to remain; Lady Lavinia connects the report to the guardians’ authority. The episode thus turns the solidarity of friends and household allies into the possibility of public accountability, while leaving the promised meeting and Pinnegar’s ultimate fate beyond its immediate resolution.