3879. What
Emily had done seemed so monstrous that her parents were unable even to
confront her about it. It seemed to them that if they pretended it had never
happened it would diminish its reality, and to talk about it would give it a
reality they could not bear to accept.
3880.
Regardless of the fact that they were loath to confront Emily about her attempt
to run away, still, they felt compelled to punish her in some significant way.
The punishment was this, Emily was never to ride any horses again, and
furthermore she was not allowed to even enter the stables to help the grooms
with cleaning the stalls and feeding the horses.
3881. For
Emily, this punishment was somehow worse that a sentence of life in prison for
a convict. It was worse because she was to be denied access to the only thing
she truly loved in the world. From the day her punishment began Emily was a
changed person. She was moody and despondent where before she had been always
of a gay and carefree disposition.
3882. Perhaps
it was instinct, or on the other hand, perhaps it was a deep insight that led
Frida to make the suggestion she made when Emily was handed down her terms of
punishment. As soon as she was alone with her charge she made the offhand
request that Emily do a drawing on her favorite horse from memory.
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