Weyward

Kate hesitantly calls her mother, who is living in Canada. The latter says that Simon has been frantic with worry. Kate can’t work up the courage to tell her mother that she left her boyfriend. She simply says that she’s staying at the cottage she inherited from Aunt Violet and asks her mother not to tell Simon where she is.

Kate then goes out exploring in the cottage garden, recalling how much she loved insects, birds, and other wild creatures as a child. She still has an old brooch of a bee but has no recollection of how it came into her possession. After her father’s death, she put all that behind her. Going back inside the house, Kate continues her investigation into Violet’s past. She climbs into the attic and finds a mysterious packet of papers in a bureau drawer.

Back at Altha’s trial, Grace gives her testimony. Her husband, John, and his field hand, Daniel, went to take the cows into the pasture after milking them. She didn’t see how it happened, but the cows stampeded, trampling John under their hooves. At that moment, she saw Altha walking along the edge of the field. The latter came running and covered the dead man with her cloak, ordering Daniel to fetch the doctor. The prosecutor presses for more information about Altha, and Grace admits that her mother died while under the medical care of Altha and Jennet.

Violet is dressing in anticipation of going clay pigeon shooting with Frederick, Graham, and her father. She slips on the pendant necklace that belonged to her mother but conceals it under her dress, assuming the sight of it will upset her father. She wants to bring the crow feather along as well but fears her father might see it. Down at breakfast, Violet asks Frederick if he’s ever killed a man. He is frank in his response, saying that this is his job. Later, they go out shooting, and Frederick helps Violet hold her rifle. When she shoots, she accidentally falls backward into his arms.

Kate goes down to the kitchen to inspect the contents of the packet that she found in the attic. Inside, she finds love letters dating from 1925. They are from her grandfather, Lord Rupert of Orton Hall, to a woman named Elizabeth (Lizzie). He wants to marry her over the objections of his family.

Kate is struck by the similarities between Rupert and Simon. When Kate first met Simon, she was withdrawn and out of place, still considering herself a monster for causing her father’s death. She recalls their early dating experience. Simon was able to charm and flatter her into shattering the glass wall she built around herself. Her thoughts now turn to the fetus she is carrying. Kate isn’t sure what to do about the situation. She wonders, “Will it be a boy, she wonders, and grow up to be like Simon? Or a girl, and grow up to be like her? She isn’t sure what would be worse” (93).

The following day in court, Altha is confronted by Dr. Smythson, the physician who attended to Grace’s dying mother. Smythson was also summoned by Daniel the day that John was trampled. He describes the dead man’s injuries to the court and is then asked for his opinion of Altha. He says that she and Jennet practiced folk medicine, which he considered obstructive to his own medical treatments.

He is then asked if he saw Altha accompanied by a witch’s familiar. These are animals that do a witch’s bidding. Even though Altha’s mother always had a pet crow perched on her shoulders, Smythson had never seen it. He is also asked about a witch’s mark on Altha’s body when she was first arrested. The judge calls it “[a]n unnatural teat, from which she may give suck to the devil and his servants” (99). Smythson discovered the mole on Altha’s ribcage during a previous examination, but she scraped it off in prison, leaving nothing but a scab behind. When she is stripped and inspected in the courtroom, Smythson can no longer verify the mark.

On the afternoon following the clay shooting party, Frederick proposes a walk around the manor grounds with Violet. She finds herself attracted to the dashing young soldier. Frederick recalls visiting Orton Hall as a child when Violet was still a toddler. She presses him for information about her mother. He can’t recall much but says that Elizabeth was odd. She had a pet crow with white-streaked feathers that she called Morg.

Violet secretly wonders if the crow feather in her father’s desk belonged to Morg. Frederick then says that Elizabeth grew more eccentric over time and was said to have a nervous disorder. She was eventually shut away to keep from harming the baby. Later, his parents told him that Uncle Rupert had been bewitched when he married Elizabeth.

The two young people continue strolling as the sun sets. Frederick kisses Violet, and she isn’t sure if she likes it or not. Back in her room, Violet recalls Frederick’s comment about her mother potentially harming the baby. She had always thought that her mother had died giving birth to Graham, making this yet another mystery to unravel.

After three weeks at the cottage, Kate goes for a checkup at the medical center. She hopes for a female doctor, but the male doctor on duty that day performs an ultrasound on the fetus. After her appointment, Kate picks up a brochure about terminating the pregnancy. While out in the corridor, she hears a patient gossiping with the receptionist about the Weyward women. All of them are known witches.

Much later that same night, unable to sleep, Kate sorts through more of Violet’s papers and finds her great-aunt’s birth certificate. Her mother’s name was Elizabeth Weyward. This means that Kate is also a Weyward. The following morning, she comes to a decision about the fetus: “She will keep her baby, her Weyward child. She knows, somehow, that she is carrying a girl. She will keep her safe” (115).

The day after the Smythson testimony, Daniel is called to the witness stand. He was near John when he was killed and saw what disturbed the cows in the first place: a crow diving straight at the herd. John tried to calm the cattle but was trampled in their panic. Then, Daniel saw Altha run up to try to help. By this time, the cows miraculously calmed down. Daniel ends his testimony by saying that he hadn’t seen Altha before that time but had felt as if somebody was watching him from the woods.