The House Is on Fire

Jack spent the night in the same room as Anderson, who wanted to make sure he wouldn’t run off. He dreamed that Anderson locked him in the burning theater.

Placide arrives, and the members of the company gather together. Jack sits with Lydia Placide and is brave enough to hold her hand. He thinks about how she will always have a job in the theater but never a father who is honest or kind. Twaits reports that the slave revolt story has taken hold well, and Jack regrets naming him as a witness. They discuss the Black men arrested on suspicion of revolting, and though Jack asks what will happen to them, the rest of the troupe seems unconcerned. As the company tries to formulate a coherent story, Jack realizes they will never be able to keep it straight when interviewed by Ritchie.

Gilbert is still injured from the beating Kemp gave him the day before. In the forge, everyone is ready to begin work if Kemp tells them to, scared after his outburst. Someone knocks on the door, and Gilbert opens it to find Elliott Price. He is looking for Kemp and says he’ll wait until he returns. When Kemp arrives, Elliott tells him that he thinks Cecily ran away and begins to share details with an excited Kemp. Gilbert is worried but keeps quiet. Elliott doesn’t seem to know that Gilbert is Cecily’s uncle.

Cecily decides to risk going down to the river for a drink. After she does, she hears an odd noise in the woods and sees her brother Moses in a tree. He tells her he is looking out for her and that he was going to hit anyone who came looking for her with a spade. Cecily is touched by how much he cares but is angry that he isn’t being more cautious and tells him to act like she really is dead. This upsets Moses, and she begins to think about how hard leaving will be on her family. Moses tells her that their father was taken in by the slave patrol. Cecily thanks him for telling her and sends him home.

Sally brings Maria Price some food and finds her sobbing underneath her bed. Maria says the room won’t stop spinning and that it is better in the dark. Sally says she’ll join her and crawls under the bed too. After a few minutes, Maria begins to tell her about her experiences in the fire. She and her friends, including Louisa, were in a second-floor box. When the fire broke out, they all hooked arms and ran for the stairs, but the ceiling began to groan above them. Maria knew she had to do something or she would die, and she let go of Louisa’s hand and jumped forward. All her friends died. Sally comforts her and thinks about how even though she is considered a young woman, Maria is very much a child.

Ritchie arrives at the tavern and begins to berate Placide. It turns out that another newspaper editor, Skelton, was at the theater. His paper printed that a stagehand was forced to raise a lit chandelier against his better judgment, which caused the fire. Ritchie asks why he’s being told about a barely plausible slave revolt when Skelton has an exclusive on a much more believable story. Placide claims that Skelton’s story is a lie, and they begin to argue. Ritchie declares he will immediately interview each member of the company individually. Ritchie asks if Jack is the stagehand Skelton referred to and says he’ll speak with him first.

Gilbert knows he has to warn Della that Elliott and Kemp are looking for Cecily. He manages to steal some paper and ink and hides himself upstairs in the smithy to write the passes. He first forges himself a new pass, then moves on to Cecily’s, giving her a new name and an owner who lives far away. Marcus finds him and asks about Cecily. Gilbert says she’s dead and that he is forging a pass to go be with Della. Marcus says he’ll cover for him and asks if Kemp knows that he and Cecily are related. Gilbert tells him Kemp never asked.

As Sally is helping Maria back to bed, Mrs. Cowley comes to tell them that a carriage arrived for Maria with strict orders to bring her home. Maria isn’t well enough to leave and she is scared to be in the same house as Elliott, but she doesn’t have a choice. Maria is obviously unwell going toward the carriage, and Sally tells the enslaved man the Prices sent, Harrison, that she will accompany Maria back home.

Jack is leaving his interview with Ritchie. Placide asks him how it went, but all Jack will say is that it went fine. Jack tells Placide that Ritchie wanted to know about the Skelton article more than the slave revolt story. Placide begins to accuse Jack of being the person who leaked the story to Skelton, and Jack counters that it might have been Green out of guilt for his daughter’s death. Placide says it doesn’t make sense that Green wouldn’t have given his own name, and it especially doesn’t make sense that he wouldn’t have given Jack’s.

Cecily is woken by a bird call she thinks was made by Moses. She exits the boathouse to look for him but can’t see anything wrong. She rushes back into the boathouse just before some men on horses come into sight. She hears another noise and realizes Moses is trying to lure the horsemen away from her. Cecily hears one of the men cry out that they have caught him, and she quickly rushes back out of the boathouse. She can find no trace of Moses and realizes she has to run to be safe.

Gilbert is going to buy Cecily’s stagecoach ticket. He feels bad for not consulting Sara, as spending this money will delay her becoming free. He hopes that Mrs. Johnston will be able to buy her freedom instead. Gilbert arrives at the coffeehouse where stagecoach tickets are sold. There are many men there trying to get word to relatives about people who were lost in the fire. On the wall, he sees a flyer put up for Cecily and realizes she can’t travel by stagecoach. He runs off to find Della.

Cecily gets to her parents’ cabin and finds Gilbert hiding in the brush behind it. He motions for her to stay quiet, and they hear the men on horseback deliver Moses to Elliott Price. Moses is a little beaten up. Elliott asks what he was doing, and Della says he didn’t have to be at the mill today. Elliott says that no one is grieving Cecily the way they should and goes to tear apart Cecily’s parents’ cabin. Della takes the opportunity to check on Moses. Elliott finds Cecily’s shawl that she wore to the theater and shows it to Della as proof that Cecily is alive.

Della tells him that she came back and changed before going to the theater because she wanted to tell Della about Elliott’s plan to take Cecily with him when he got married. She tells Elliott that Cecily is his half sister, confirming the rumors that Cecily is Mr. Price’s daughter. Della says that what Elliott has been doing is an abomination in the eyes of God, and she is glad that Cecily is dead because it means she got away from him. Elliott punches Della in the face and declares that they’re about to find out where Cecily is once and for all.

Sally finds some of the fugitive from slavery flyers for Cecily in the Prices’ carriage. She reads them to Maria, and Maria tells Sally that Elliott is obsessed with Cecily. She tells Sally about the rapes and about how Elliott’s marriage was arranged to get him out of the house. Maria goes on, talking about Elliott’s cruelty and how their father agreed to give him Cecily to get rid of him. Sally is shocked by Elliott’s behavior but also recognizes that it is in keeping with what she has seen of him. Sally asks if she thinks that Cecily ran, and Maria says no, insisting that Cecily wouldn’t have left her. Sally doesn’t say anything, wanting to let Maria believe that someone loves her.

Jack sits in the tavern watching company members go in one by one to be interviewed by Ritchie. Twaits comes back from the jail, saying he pointed out a couple of Black men who were locked up as the instigators of the supposed revolt. Jack is horrified at Twaits’s lack of care for other people. The company begins to discuss the burial planning, and Jack feels increasingly sick at how callous they are being. West says he’s thinking of selling the land, which sparks an argument with Anderson, who can’t understand why West would sell when it isn’t the most advantageous option for him. West ends up lunging at Anderson, and they start brawling on the floor. It gets bad enough that Ritchie has to come out and break up the fight. Ritchie asks what happened, and no one answers. He says if the company is really sorry for the fire, someone should go find Green.

Gilbert tries to convince Cecily to run, but she’s worried about Elliott hurting her mother. Cecily wants to turn herself in, but Gilbert convinces her that this would only result in Della and Moses being sold south. Gilbert sends her back to the boathouse and tells her he will come get her. Gilbert goes to Moses and tells him to run to get Mr. Price. He says to say that Elliott is going to whip Della and that he’s been acting strangely since Cecily died. He also gives Moses one of the flyers and tells him to show it to Mr. Price, as Gilbert noticed that Mr. Price hadn’t signed the flyer. He tells Moses to tell Della he’s trying Samuel Jefferson again. Finally, he warns Moses not to say a word, saying that Della will protect Cecily to her last breath if she has to. Moses declares that he will, too.

Sally and Maria arrive at the Price house and hear screaming. They go to the yard, where they find Elliott whipping Della in front of the other enslaved people. Elliott is screaming about Cecily, to the confusion of the gathered crowd. Maria tells him that Della won’t be able to tell him anything, but Elliott doesn’t listen. Sally sends Maria to get her parents and then tries to stop the whipping by telling Elliott she has to speak to him and his parents about Maria’s care. Elliott disregards Sally. Mr. Price shows up and forces Elliott to put down the whip. Elliott claims that Maria saw Cecily alive, but Sally and Maria both say that she was unwell when she said that.

They continue to argue about Cecily until Elliott makes an insinuation about her being his sister. Mr. Price then attacks his son, and they begin to beat each other. When Mrs. Price tries to break them up, Elliot elbows her in the chest. Eventually, Elliott wins, pinning his father and slamming their skulls together, then walking off. Sally is horrified by the violence and surprised that she can still be shocked by men’s brutality. She thinks back to Robert and how she loved him but knows he wasn’t perfect. She hopes he would have stayed with her in the theater, but after all that she’s witnessed, she isn’t sure.

Gilbert rushes over to Murrow’s carriage shop, where Samuel Jefferson works. Samuel greets him happily and quickly brings up Della. He has figured out that Cecily needs to be smuggled. He explains how complicated free papers will be to forge for her, but Gilbert insists he will be able to. Gilbert says that Cecily needs to get out of town tonight. He asks about the fee, and Samuel says he uses the money to buy his family’s freedom. Gilbert says they can’t get the money, and Samuel says that he understands, but every Black person in Richmond has just as sad a story. Gilbert pulls out the $73 he has saved and offers it up to pay the fee.

Jack spends two hours looking for Mr. Green, finally finding him in another tavern. Green hasn’t changed since the performance and has a vacant look on his face. There has been no news about his daughter, Nancy, and Mrs. Green is trying to identify Nancy’s remains. She blames him for Nancy’s death. Green then breaks down and begins sobbing. Jack tries to comfort him, saying that he should have refused to raise the chandelier and that he only did it because he admires Green.

Jack asks if he told Skelton what happened, and Green says he hasn’t been in his right mind and wouldn’t know. Jack says that Ritchie wants to speak to him. He tells Green about the lie that Placide invented about the revolt. Green dislikes the lie, and Jack tells him that he could just tell the truth and it wouldn’t really be turning on Placide. Green tells Jack that he’s a good kid but daft. He implies he will keep up Placide’s lie while talking to Ritchie.

Sally inspects the Prices’ injuries. Mrs. Price’s aren’t visible, but Mr. Price has obviously been beaten. Sally tells Maria to get out of the house if Elliott doesn’t get married, inviting her to come stay with her and her mother for the summer. As Maria leads Sally out, a hired carriage arrives. Out steps Augustine Saunders, the sex worker Cecily introduced herself to before the show. She asks to speak to Elliott, but both Sally and Maria say he isn’t there.

Augustine reveals that Cecily made it out of the theater alive. Maria says she would have come back inside to get her, but Augustine refutes that by asking Maria if she was the reason Cecily was so upset that night. Maria looks shocked, and she realizes for the first time that Cecily would not have gone back for her. Maria thanks Augustine and tells her that she can go. Maria admits to Sally that she wasn’t very good to Cecily and that she should have done more to stop Elliott. Sally tells her that if she keeps what she’s learned to herself, she can still help Cecily.

Gilbert goes to the Mayo-Preston house and finds Sara lying down. He comforts her as she cries over Louisa. Gilbert then explains Mrs. Johnston’s plan, but Sara doesn’t think Elizabeth will let her go. He then tells her about General Preston’s debts and gets ready to tell her about Cecily.

Jack has gone to Professor Girardin’s home to ask what he should do. He asks to see him, but Ivy, the woman enslaved there, tells him Girardin isn’t seeing anyone. Jack forces his way inside and finds Girardin sitting alone with his head on his knees. Jack realizes that one of Girardin’s sons is missing, as is his wife. Girardin tells him that he left after the first act, but his wife and her brother wanted to stay. His son, Lou, had fallen asleep on her lap. They both perished in the fire. Jack is devastated and realizes that he already knows the right thing to do.

Gilbert gets to the boathouse and tells Cecily that her mother is injured but okay. He also has fancy clothes for Cecily and tells her that Samuel Jefferson is going to take her out of town. Gilbert gives her the pass he forged for her. He tells her the plan is to walk through town to the carriage shop, as it will be less suspicious. They walk slightly separated from each other, and Cecily becomes increasingly nervous about being recognized. Gilbert is stopped by someone, but Cecily follows his orders and keeps walking.

Margaret has been moved to the bed Maria Price was in, and she and Sally are talking. They both agree that it will be hard to go back to being who they were before the fire, and Margaret tells Sally she was right to argue for the leg to be amputated. She says she feels like she has been lied to, as the men who were supposed to protect them abandoned them, and she reveals the real circumstances of how they were separated—when they were both knocked down, Archie let go of Margaret and stepped on her to pull himself back up. Margaret says she isn’t sure how she’s going to look at him after this.

Jack goes back to Ritchie and retracts the first statement he made. He asks that Ritchie not reveal what he’s about to do to the company and tells the real story of how the fire got started. Ritchie sends him to bed but first asks who knew about Green giving the order. Jack says just him and Mr. and Mrs. Green. Ritchie realizes that Mrs. Green gave the true story to Skelton. Jack asks why she would have left their names out of it, and Ritchie tells him that she must still love Mr. Green. When Jack questions why his own name was left out, Ritchie says it is because Mrs. Green is absolving him of guilt.

Gilbert arrives at the barn where Samuel and Cecily are waiting. He says it was just a customer who stopped him, wanting to discuss his heroics at the fire. Samuel will get Cecily as far as Washington DC, and then she can take a stagecoach further north with the free papers Gilbert will forge for her. Samuel wants to leave the next day during the funeral for the fire victims. Samuel gives his free papers to Gilbert to copy.

As Gilbert makes Cecily’s set of papers, he sees how little difference there is between the forged set and the real set. As much as he wants to buy his freedom, he decides that if Mrs. Johnston manages to buy Sara’s freedom, he might be willing to forge himself a set of free papers. He tells Cecily that the name he gave her, Ruth, was her grandmother’s name.