The House Is on Fire

Gilbert carries Dr. McCaw to the Baptist meeting house, which has become a makeshift hospital. Mrs. Johnston, Dr. McCaw’s sister, has come with him. Gilbert manages to place McCaw on a pew. Around him, he begins to hear people praising his actions that evening and becomes nervous about how white men will react to him being praised as a hero. He tells Mrs. Johnston that he did what anyone would have done, and she says she isn’t sure that’s true.

Cecily begins to feel afraid. She knows how terrible the consequences of running will be if she is caught. Cecily considers going back to the theater, overcome by thoughts of home, but does not turn around. As she nears the edge of town, she realizes she doesn’t know where to go as she’s never been outside of Richmond and that she will need warmer clothes, food, and guidance to travel north. For those things, she needs someone she can trust, and the person she trusts the most is her mother.

Sally finds Mr. Scott outside the theater. Though at first he appears to be dead, he is alive but injured. Sally helps him limp to Mrs. Cowley’s house. His watch falls from his pocket, and Sally sees that it is not actually a watch but a miniature containing a portrait of a woman and a lock of hair.

Mrs. Cowley and Sally find that Mr. Scott’s lower back is injured. Mrs. Cowley also realizes his shoulder is dislocated and quickly resets it. It is clear to Sally that Mrs. Cowley is more talented than most of the physicians she has met. Mrs. Cowley says her mother was a healer, which Sally notices as “healer” is the word the enslaved people at her family home, Red Hill, use to describe the woman who mixes cures for them. Sally asks Mrs. Cowley if she could set Margaret’s leg. Mrs. Cowley tells her that to prevent infection, the leg should be amputated. She then tells Sally that they will do the best they can until a surgeon arrives.

The theater troupe has gathered in a tavern. Jack tells the story of what happened, and the group devolves into accusations. Placide calms them and says that he believes they would all be sent to the gallows if the truth came out due to the number of victims. Jack is horrified, feeling at least partially responsible for the deaths. Placide tells Jack that they won’t say what actually happened to protect themselves. When Jack expresses distaste at the idea of lying, Placide says that it isn’t lying—it’s acting.

Mrs. Johnston’s husband has arrived. Though Mrs. Johnston praises Gilbert’s actions, Mr. Johnston ignores her and is dismissive of Gilbert. Gilbert, despite wanting to get away from Mr. Johnston, offers to help get Dr. McCaw home but is told that it isn’t necessary. Gilbert goes to leave, but Mrs. Johnston expresses anxiety at his departure. He tells her that he is looking for Louisa Mayo, and Mrs. Johnston expresses dismay that she might have died in the fire. Gilbert asks that she send word to him on Dr. McCaw’s condition, and Mrs. Johnston agrees. Before Gilbert goes, she tells him she and the other women won’t forget what he did that night.

Cecily has returned to the Price house and is sneaking around her family’s cabin. She hears people gossiping about the fire but not her parents, and realizes they must be up at the main house. She wishes she could go directly to them and tell them she isn’t dead. As she waits for them to return, she hears people speak about her like she is already dead. She remains in her hiding place.

Mrs. Cowley is giving Sally and a few other women who have congregated in her house a rapid lesson in first aid. Elliott Price, who found Maria upstairs in Mrs. Cowley’s house, comes down saying she’s vomiting. Sally runs upstairs to help. Maria is in a room with another girl who is severely burned; Mrs. Cowley says won’t survive the night. Maria is okay except for having been hit in the head. Sally helps her lie down. Elliott returns to the room, introduces himself, and says that their father went home to get a carriage. Maria starts to slur her words and becomes disoriented, and Sally says they shouldn’t move her. Maria then begins to ask for Cecily. Elliott confesses that he believes she is dead. As Sally cleans Maria up, she asks her what she would like to tell Cecily. Maria says to tell her to come back.

The theater troupe is discussing various excuses they could use to explain how the fire started. Jack is listening on in disgust. One member of the company, Young, suggests that they could blame the fire on a revolt started by enslaved people. Jack and another member of the company, West, protest, but Placide likes the idea. Upset at the thought of lying, Jack decides he will go to his former teacher, Girardin, with the truth. Jack runs out into the night before anyone can stop him.

Gilbert returns to the Mayo-Preston house and finds out that Louisa has still not been found. Another enslaved woman, Mary, tells Gilbert that Sara is at the big house comforting Elizabeth Preston.

Gilbert reflects on how Elizabeth neglected Louisa. Louisa looked to Sara as a mother figure, and Gilbert charmed her in order to spend more time with Sara. He would bring Louisa gifts and listen to her stories. Eventually, Louisa taught him how to read. Gilbert felt like the world opened up after he learned to read. He appreciated it so much that he even spent some of the money he was saving up to buy a Bible.

Gilbert tells Mary that maybe Elizabeth will be stronger now after marrying her new husband. Mary tells him that her new husband, General Preston, is so drunk that he’s no use. Gilbert says he’ll wait for Sara, even though Mary warns him against it. She tells him that he’s a good man and that he will be rewarded in the next life if not in this one.

Cecily waits until she hears her mother arrive at the cabin. Her mother tells Cecily’s younger brother, Moses, that their father has gone to the theater to look for Cecily. After he falls back asleep, Cecily quietly enters the cabin. Her mother is shocked to see her, and Cecily convinces her to quietly go outside. Once outside, she tells her mother how bad the fire was and says that because of it, she has “a unique opportunity” to be free (106).

A surgeon, Dr. Foushee, finally arrives at Mrs. Cowley’s house. He sees Mr. Scott and immediately begins to treat him, even as Sally tells him that that is not the patient he was called for. Sally relays what Mrs. Cowley told her, and Dr. Foushee says that Mrs. Cowley is talented but should be careful not to overstep. He tells Sally to continue Mrs. Cowley’s treatment for the burns.

Sally brings him to Margaret, whom he recognizes. Sally asks if he will amputate her leg, but Dr. Foushee is reluctant because he fears it will affect Margaret’s ability to mother her children. He says he has to wait a few hours to get some supplies and see if he can locate Margaret’s husband, as he will decide if Margaret should keep the leg or not.

Jack is almost at Professor Girardin’s house when a company member, Anderson, overtakes him. Jack says he is going to tell Girardin what happened, and Anderson says that the professor would likely tell Jack to cover it up anyway. He tells Jack that the Globe Theatre burned down because some actors shot a canon into the thatched roof, but the important thing is that no one knows who shot the canon. He also tells Jack that acting is a hard profession to break into, but Placide could help him. They arrive back at the tavern, and Anderson ushers Jack inside, saying that maybe in 200 years, no one will know who started the Richmond Theatre fire.

Gilbert arrives back at Cameron Kemp’s smithy, where he is enslaved. Kemp is not there; instead, he is out with the slave patrol, a volunteer night watch that harasses Black people. Only Marcus, another enslaved person, is awake. Gilbert feels a certain intimacy with Marcus, as he knows Marcus is keeping his smithing abilities a secret, and Marcus knows that Gilbert can read. Kemp suddenly arrives back and starts barking orders at everyone. Kemp questions Gilbert about where he was. Gilbert tells him he was looking for Louisa Mayo, and Kemp forces Gilbert to say he works for Kemp.

As Cecily speaks to her mother, Della, about her plan, Della resists the idea. She worries about what will happen if Cecily gets caught. Cecily says that no one saw her alive, and even if they did, they couldn’t know that she hadn’t run back into the fire looking for Maria. Della tells her that Maria was found alive at Mrs. Cowley’s house. Cecily feels bad that she didn’t look for Maria as hard as she could have and wonders if she was already thinking about running subconsciously.

Della then asks if the fire was really as bad as everyone is saying, and Cecily confirms that it was. Cecily tells her mother that Mr. Price is going to give her to Elliott as a wedding present. Della is disappointed, and Cecily wonders about the rumors that she is actually Mr. Price’s child. Thinking about these rumors, Cecily tells her mother that Mr. Price will never protect her the way she wants him to. Della asks her where she will run to and tells her that “North” isn’t a plan. Della agrees to help her and tells her to go hide in the neighbor’s boathouse until she comes to get her. Cecily says that she is scared, and her mother says she would be more worried if she wasn’t.

Sally arrives at Margaret and Archie’s house and finds Archie alive. Upon seeing Sally, he goes into hysterics, holding her and crying. Sally is angry that he is perfectly fine while Margaret may be dying. She tells him, to his shock, that she and Margaret are alive because they jumped out the window. He asks if Margaret is okay, and Sally informs him of the situation. He doesn’t want to amputate Margaret’s leg. Sally argues with him, trying to convey Margaret’s will to live. Archie asks for directions to Mrs. Cowley’s house, but Sally doesn’t want him and Dr. Foushee to make decisions for Margaret without her being there. She remains angry about Archie abandoning Margaret at the theater and has a hard time reconciling the Archie she first met with the one in front of her. He asks if Margaret will forgive him, and Sally thinks that the question is not whether or not Margaret will forgive him, but whether or not she will live.

Cecily easily finds the boathouse, an old structure that is beginning to rot and fall apart. Though the building is decrepit and infested with mice, Cecily is glad to be out of the cold. Pulling herself into a canoe, she begins to feel the effects of her long and traumatic night. Holding herself, she calms down until she falls asleep.

Jack and Anderson wait in the tavern. When they returned, the troupe had already vanished. At last, Placide returns and begins to berate Jack for not wanting to blame the fire on a revolt started by enslaved people. Placide then orders Jack to write a letter to the newspaper editor, Thomas Ritchie. Jack doesn’t want to, as Ritchie was a friend of his father’s and he does not want him to know that he is lying. Placide pressures him, and Jack writes the first part of the letter, but when he gets to the lie about the revolt, he hesitates. He remembers the woman enslaved at the Girardin house, Ivy, who cared for him when he stayed there. He then thinks about how plays work and how heroes always want something very badly. Jack wonders if what he wants is security and a livelihood in the theater. He continues writing the letter.

Though the Richmond Common Council has declared that all work should be suspended for the next two days out of respect, Kemp decides to keep the forge going. All the men seem to unanimously decide to work slower. Two members of the Placide and Green Theater Company show up at the forge, looking for Kemp as a member of the slave patrol. They tell him that they’re looking for a dozen or so enslaved men who set the theater aflame. Kemp seems overjoyed at the prospect of hunting them down. Twaits and Young, two members of the company, continue to describe the made-up riot. Gilbert thinks to himself that the story doesn’t seem true and worries over the possible repercussions. As they are about to leave, Twaits and Young recognize Gilbert and praise his heroism. After they leave, Kemp berates Gilbert, saying that he belongs to him and that he should not have put himself in harm’s way because it could have damaged Kemp’s investment.

Sally falls asleep in the kitchen house at Margaret and Archie’s house and is woken up by Effie, one of the women enslaved there. Effie has gathered supplies for Sally to take back to Mrs. Cowley’s home. Joe, Effie’s husband, helps Sally as they start to head back to Mrs. Cowley’s.

Joe asks Sally if she saw Gilbert Hunt the night before, and she says she didn’t. Joe tells her about Gilbert’s actions. Sally asks him if he has seen the theater yet, and he tells her he was here last night looking for her and Margaret. As they pass the theater, they see it is all ash. People have organized body collections, looking for identifying objects and using them to mark people’s remains. One man calls out that he thinks he’s found the governor’s ashes. Sally remembers seeing him with his son the night before. She asks a nearby woman if the boy made it out, and the woman tells her he did, but his father didn’t know it and stayed behind looking for him.

Kemp leaves the smithy, and so do most of the others. Gilbert and Marcus discuss the rumors of a revolt started by enslaved people, both of them disbelieving it. Marcus shares that he heard the fire started backstage, and that he thinks the theater company is trying to make the enslaved population of Richmond into scapegoats.

Gilbert feels increasingly frustrated with his situation. He thinks of Sara and the fact that Louisa is likely dead. Gilbert decides to head back to the Mayo-Preston house to be with Sara, despite possible retribution should Kemp find out.

Jack and Anderson are dispatched to deliver the letter to Ritchie. As they walk to the newspaper offices, they hear a man preaching against sin, and Anderson tells Jack the history of actors being persecuted. He says that they used to be servants of the king, but that moralists and censors had made their lives increasingly difficult. Anderson says that the United States may think it is different from England, but it grows more and more Puritan.

Sally returns to Mrs. Cowley’s and finds Margaret in the same condition. She offers Mrs. Cowley her help and encourages her to get some sleep, which Mrs. Cowley promises to do if there is time. She tells Sally that she moved Mr. Scott to a bed, and Sally is filled with relief, though she isn’t sure why. Mrs. Cowley says that saving someone from a burning building can form a connection.

Dr. Foushee arrives back at the house, and he begins speaking with Archie, who says that he wants Margaret to keep her leg. Sally argues, trying to impress the gravity of the situation on him and how much better Margaret’s chances would be if they amputated the leg. She tries to get Mrs. Cowley to back her up, but Dr. Foushee’s presence keeps her from doing more than agreeing with Sally. Sally lies, saying that the night before, Margaret said she’d take whichever course gave her the best chance of survival, but Archie still refuses to allow the operation.

Gilbert passes the theater and sees men tallying the dead and collecting ashes. He begins to look for anything that may have belonged to Louisa but is shooed off. He notices that many of the white men are staring at him and begins to feel nervous. Someone calls out his name, and he stops. Suddenly, a round of applause rings out, and various men begin to thank him for saving their female relatives. Gilbert knows that Kemp will not be happy at him receiving recognition and that his deeds will likely not receive any publicity, but he still is moved by the recognition. It makes him feel like a citizen of the city.

Dr. Foushee sets Margaret’s leg. Sally grows increasingly frustrated by Archie and hides herself away. Mrs. Cowley goes to her, and Sally says that she obviously has much more knowledge than Dr. Foushee. Mrs. Cowley agrees but says that she did not attend the University of Edinburgh. When Sally tries to say that neither did most of the physicians in town, Mrs. Cowley tells her that they are white men, so it doesn’t matter. She says that she is allowed to treat patients because she treats Black people whom white physicians will not see, but if she oversteps her bounds, she may be arrested or killed. Sally says that is an old slave law and shouldn’t apply, but Mrs. Cowley silently confirms the rumors that she is not Indigenous but part Black.

Mrs. Cowley says that her husband was English, and she was protected before he died but now has to be more careful. Sally begins to cry and tells her about Archie ignoring her when she said they should go back for Margaret. That is part of the reason she is so angry about Archie’s decision to keep Margaret’s leg—he left her and now gets to make such an important choice. Mrs. Cowley shows her the list of injured people in the house and asks Sally to deliver the list to the capitol, giving her a chance to get out of the house.

Anderson and Jack reach the offices of The Richmond Enquirer. They enter the building and are directed to Mr. Ritchie’s office. Ritchie recognizes Jack as his friend’s son. He reads the letter and tells them that he has been interviewing witnesses and has heard no one say anything about a slave revolt. As Ritchie questions them, Jack is unable to bring himself to give answers that affirm the lie. Anderson is barely keeping up with Ritchie’s suspicious questions, and Jack tries to help him by saying there were hay bales outside the theatre that could have been used to start the fire. Anderson claims to have someone who will corroborate the story, and Ritchie gives them two hours.

Sally arrives at the capitol and moves toward the Hall of Delegates. She sees Mrs. Green, still in her costume, and some men outside the doors. She is stopped by one of the men, who is the uncle of Tom Marshall, whom Sally had seen the night before. He confirms that Tom made it out just fine, and Sally again is angered by how the men seem to have left the women behind to die. The men offer to take Sally’s list, and she hands it over. One of them remarks on Alexander Scott’s name, and Sally asks if his family has come looking for him. They say that Tom Marshall might know. They also mention that a monument committee and a burial committee have both been formed, which Sally feels is premature. The Hall of Delegates lets out, and Sally asks what they were doing. Mrs. Green tells her they were passing a resolution but that it won’t do the victims any good. Sally wonders what a resolution written by a grieving woman would be like.

Cecily is woken by someone entering the boathouse. She hears her brother, Moses, call out her name. He tells her that he saw her the night before but that Della told him it was just a dream. Cecily worries over Moses’s presence in the boathouse, but he is confident that he won’t get them caught. This makes Cecily more worried. She knows that for the right price, anyone, even another enslaved person, may turn on them. Moses has brought her food and an extra jacket. She tries to convince him not to come again, saying their mother will be the least of his worries if they’re caught.

Gilbert continues to look for news of Louisa. He arrives at Mrs. Cowley’s, and she leads him to the badly burned girl in the same room as Maria Price. Gilbert can tell it isn’t Louisa but thanks Mrs. Cowley anyway. As Gilbert continues searching, he sees Kemp and the slave patrol and hides. Gilbert sees that they are interrogating three Black men. One of them is Cecil, Cecily’s father, who is out searching for her. Kemp arrests them on suspicion of starting the fire. Gilbert runs to tell Della but finds only Moses at the cabin. He learns from Moses that Cecily was at the fire and that she hasn’t been found.

Anderson and Jack tell Placide how the meeting with Ritchie went. Anderson had named one of the actors, Caulfield, as the witness, and Placide is worried because Caulfield isn’t very intelligent. Jack offers to help him prepare to be interviewed by Ritchie. Placide tells them that the Richmond government has decreed that there will be no public performances for four months, which upsets Jack and makes Anderson once again complain about the growing Puritanism in the United States. Placide says they’re having another meeting at the capitol that afternoon, and Anderson volunteers to go.

Sally goes to the Marshall home to get information from Tom Marshall about Mr. Scott’s family. Tom is cheerful, which further upsets Sally. She asks about Mr. Scott’s family, and Tom tells her that his wife died a few years before. Sally asks Tom to contact Mr. Scott’s family to tell them where he is, but Tom is reluctant to take on the task. Sally pressures him into it, disgusted with how self-centered he is. As she goes to leave, she asks Tom how he made it out of the theater so fast. At Sally’s insistence, he finally replies that he “pushed and shoved like everyone else” (178).

Jack and Anderson send Caulfield off to do his interview and then return to the tavern. Twaits and Young are talking about how easy it was to get the slave patrol going. Anderson expresses his confidence in Placide, telling Jack about how Placide was a dancer in the French Royal Court and how he staged the first ballet in the United States. One of the actors, West, says they’re fools for thinking this far ahead and storms off.

Gilbert is returning to the smithy from the Price estate. He is upset that he didn’t try to save Cecily the night before, wishing he had known she was there. Mrs. Johnston approaches him. He is reluctant to talk to her but feels he has no choice. She tells him that Dr. McCaw is still in grave condition and gives him a list of all 11 women he saved the night before. She tells him that they want to start a fundraiser to buy his freedom for him. Gilbert is shocked but knows that Kemp will refuse their offer to buy his freedom on principle. He asks that they instead buy Sara’s freedom for her. Mrs. Johnston is shocked but agrees. She also confides that General Preston is in debt, and he will likely agree to sell Sara easily. As she leaves, Gilbert hopes that he really will be rewarded for doing the right thing.

Jack accompanies Anderson to the meeting at the capitol and is stunned by the grandeur there. Anderson begins to gossip among the crowd, saying that it was a slave revolt that caused the fire the night before. The mayor opens the meeting, and the bereaved begin to speak. As the mass funeral and burial are planned, Jack’s guilt and shame increase. The mayor announces a memorial committee and an inquest committee; the inquest committee is to be headed by Thomas Ritchie. Anderson wishes it was Mr. Wirt, a lawyer who supports the theater company, who was heading the inquest.

As the meeting breaks up a man from the crowd yells, demanding answers about the revolt. The crowd seems about to riot, and when Jack looks around for Anderson, he sees the man has fled. Before the people can devolve into violence, Ritchie asks if any of them actually witnessed a revolt of enslaved people. When no one answers, he asks who told them about it. As they all begin to look for Anderson, Jack escapes from the hall.

Sally is on her way back to Mrs. Cowley’s when Elliott Price stops her and offers a ride in his carriage. In the carriage, he questions her about her marital status, making her uncomfortable. As they pass the theater, he asks her about the fire, saying she looks fine despite jumping from a third-story window. He says that the odds are good that any one person survived. Sally is upset, saying that it certainly didn’t feel like that inside the fire. She realizes he has been asking around for Cecily, and she realizes that Elliott is convinced Cecily is alive. Sally admits that she can’t see an enslaved person giving up their life for their enslaver, nor can she see any reason why they should. Elliot tells her he believes Cecily has run away.

Jack says that innocent people are going to be hurt because of their lie, and Anderson says that the fire was Jack’s fault. Jack hits Anderson, and Anderson begins to fight back. Jack says if Anderson won’t tell the truth, he will, and he doesn’t care anymore about being a part of the theater company or getting a letter of introduction. Anderson drags him off the road and begins to strangle him. He tells Jack that there will be no more talk of telling the truth. Just as Jack is about to pass out, Anderson lets go and makes him agree not to go to Ritchie.

Gilbert gets back to the smithy, and Marcus tells him his sister, Della, is there waiting for him. Della takes Gilbert for a walk and tells him about how Cecily is faking her death. She tells him that no one else knows that Cecily is alive and that she’s hiding in the neighbor’s old boathouse. Della asks him to write Cecily a pass to use to travel north. She’s trying to make arrangements with Samuel Jefferson, a freedman who works for a carriage maker, to smuggle Cecily out of town. The problem is that Jefferson charges $100 to smuggle someone, and she and Cecily don’t have any money. Her other idea is to put Cecily on a normal stagecoach and have her pretend to be traveling to Philadelphia. A stagecoach ticket is cheaper but will still be $10. Gilbert feels reluctant to share the money he has saved as it will further delay him and Sara being free, but he also feels compelled to help. Gilbert promises to write the pass and says that they’ll figure the rest out.

Sally arrives back at Mrs. Cowley’s and begins to check on the injured, including Margaret. Sally begins to read Mr. Ritchie’s newspaper account of the fire. She feels it’s overly melodramatic and doesn’t reflect her experience. Sally notices that Ritchie doesn’t make any mention of men abandoning their wives to escape the theater. A city ordinance has been passed saying that all citizens of Richmond should wear mourning for one month. Sally feels this is ridiculous and wishes the mayor would instead provide medical supplies, but Archie and Mrs. Kimball begin to discuss the practicalities of getting their mourning clothes ready. The dead and missing are listed at the end of the article, and Sally notices that the vast majority are women. Though Archie tries to dismiss this, Sally knows it is because the men left the women behind to die.

Thomas Ritchie shows up at the tavern where Jack is half asleep. He is looking for Placide and Green and asks that Jack take him to them. Though Jack is scared of being killed by Anderson for even being alone with Ritchie, he agrees. As they walk, Ritchie asks about what Jack has been doing since his father died. When they arrive at the boarding house, Jack goes to get Placide, but his daughter, Lydia, says he has taken something to help him sleep. Lydia and Jack team up to get him awake and downstairs.

Ritchie is upset by Placide’s half-awake state and wants to know where Green is. He relents when they tell him that Green’s daughter is among the dead. It is clear Ritchie is not convinced by the “slave revolt” story; he reveals that Caulfield messed up the story, and Jack is scared of being killed for his failure to prepare Caulfield properly. Jack tries to protect himself by saying it was Twaits, not Caulfield, who saw everything. Ritchie remains suspicious, and Jack continues to feel deep shame at perpetuating the lie. Ritchie says he will investigate the accusations but that in return, he needs a list of every company member who was at the theater.

Gilbert goes to speak with Sara at the Mayo-Preston house. Another woman enslaved there, Lecretia, tells him she’ll go get Sara and that it is almost certain that Louisa is dead. Gilbert is devastated, and though he wants to tell Sara about Cecily, he also doesn’t want to burden her further. Lecretia begins talking about his heroism, but Gilbert is still distracted thinking about Louisa. Lecretia asks if all those white men would have clapped like that if he had saved a bunch of Black women instead.

Sally goes to the Enquirer’s offices looking for Thomas Ritchie. He is reluctant to meet with her, but she uses her maiden name to get his attention. Ritchie has been meeting with Mr. Wirt, a Richmond lawyer. Sally quickly moves past small talk and asks for Ritchie to take note of how many women died the night before. Ritchie and Wirt offer weak excuses, such as that dresses are more flammable than dress coats. They both start to listen when Sally tells them that she was in the box seats and that no men stopped to help, instead pushing women aside in their attempts to escape. Ritchie says that is a serious claim, and Sally tells him to interview women to get the full story.

Della arrives at the boathouse. She tells Cecily that Gilbert is going to help and will write her a pass and buy her a stagecoach ticket. Though Cecily is nervous about taking a stagecoach, she says she will do whatever her mother tells her to. Cecily tells her mother about Moses’s visit, and they worry over his lack of caution. Della tells her she shouldn’t have come back to Price’s estate, and Cecily feels guilty for putting her family in danger. Cecily offers to leave right away, but Della tells her that the slave patrol is out right now because of the rumors of a revolt started by enslaved people. Cecily and Della agree that the revolt story makes no sense. Della tells Cecily that they’ll get her out of town in the next day or two.

Jack is putting together a list of the theater company members for Ritchie. West, another actor and the theater’s landowner, sits down to help Jack. He tells Jack he is being pressured to sell the land to the city. West inherited it from his parents, talented actors who founded the theater company in Richmond. West tells Jack about his mother getting the rich men of the town to invest in the theater after the first one burned down, offering them box seats and dalliances with the actresses (though West says this last part half-jokingly). Jack is shocked as no one has been this honest with him since he joined the company. West tells Jack they want to turn the theater site into a burial ground, and he will likely have to sell to fulfill the terms of the contract his mother had with the city.

Sara never shows up, and so Gilbert heads back to the smithy. Marcus warns him that Kemp is back and looking for him, so Gilbert pretends that he’s been in the latrine. When Kemp finds him, he punches him in the face, upset about the applause Gilbert received on the theater green earlier that day. Kemp keeps hitting Gilbert, asking why he was at the theater, and Gilbert finally tells him that his niece died in the fire. Kemp stops beating him but takes the pass that allows him to walk free around Richmond and tears it to pieces. Gilbert thinks about how Mrs. Johnston could never have convinced Kemp to sell her his freedom.