In this part of the story, Nelly is having a talk with a lame girl in the Church. The lame girl is carrying a bottle containing Lourdes water, which is said to have healing properties, "Our Blessed Lady cures folks who go there to use the water" (47). It's interesting to hear this since this shows Catholics have faith in healing water. Indeed according to the footnote, "Lourdes water flows from a spring in Lourdes, France, a site of Catholic pilgrimage after the report of a vision there of the Virgin Mary in 1858. The water is believed by some Catholics to have healing properties".

The Katharine Buildings are represented by the Charlotte Buildings in the novella A City Girl. The Katharine Buildings were the first model apartment buildings made by the East End Dwellings Company. Harkness briefly lived in the Katharine Buildings in 1888. The buildings operated on a rent-collection system that was run by women-collectors that ventured out of their societal gender roles in regard to occupation, dress, behavior, and more.