Paula and Commander Kyle

Paula and Commander Kyle form a relationship that is central to the unraveling of Agnes Jemima's childhood and to the hidden criminal history of Gilead's elite. Paula, the widow of Commander Saunders, marries Commander Kyle shortly after the death of his first wife, Tabitha, and the union transforms Agnes's home from a place of love into one of cold calculation and open hostility.

Identity and Background

Paula first appears at Tabitha's funeral, where she gives Agnes a measuring look and pats her on the head as if she were five. She is already known for a scandal: her first husband, Commander Saunders, was killed by their Handmaid with a kitchen skewer, a story that circulates in two versions. Paula's official account is that the Handmaid was insane and crept downstairs to murder him, but Shunammite's version, passed through the Marthas, involves a sinful liaison and Paula's discovery of the corpse without trousers, which she had to wrestle back onto the dead man while covered in blood. Commander Kyle, Agnes's adoptive father, is a high-ranking Commander who was largely absent during Tabitha's life, vanishing into his study for important work. After Tabitha's death, he marries Paula, and Tabitha's magic ring—the three-diamond ring she told Agnes was used to rescue her from the enchanted castle—appears on Paula's finger.

The Affair and the Murder of Commander Saunders

Years later, Agnes discovers the truth about Paula and Commander Kyle through a blue folder left on her desk in the Hildegard Library. The file contains photographs and transcripts of secretly recorded conversations revealing that Paula and Commander Kyle had been having an affair even before Tabitha died. Paula had befriended the Handmaid assigned to Commander Saunders, offered to help her escape Gilead, and provided a map and Mayday contacts. After the Handmaid set out, Paula herself skewered Commander Saunders. She then bribed and threatened her Martha to back up the murderous-Handmaid story, called the Angels, and accused the Handmaid, who was caught, interrogated, and hanged despite her innocence. The Aunts knew the truth but did nothing to Paula.

Life After the Wedding

Once married, Paula and Commander Kyle treat Agnes as an inconvenience. Paula ignores her or barks orders, and they discuss her in the third person as a pedagogical exercise in ignoring moods. They bring a Handmaid, Ofkyle, into the household because Paula wants a baby and does not count Agnes as her child. When Ofkyle becomes pregnant, Paula throws tea parties for other Wives, parading the Handmaid and calling the baby "her baby." Ofkyle dies in childbirth, and Paula and Commander Kyle name the healthy son Mark. Paula then arranges Agnes's marriage to Commander Judd, a powerful and dangerous man, to dispose of her. Agnes escapes this fate by declaring a calling to become an Aunt, and Aunt Lydia forces Paula to relinquish her by revealing the truth about Commander Saunders's murder. Paula leaves the Schlafly Café looking sick, and Commander Kyle signs the permission that same afternoon.