Summary

Oliver has taken the children and the governess into town to watch the Fourth of July fireworks. Susan has not gone for she pleads she is tired. She changes into her dressing gown and sits on the hammock to watch the fireworks alone. Susan feels adrift and hopeless. Frank drops in. Susan tells him that Oliver is not there, but he has not come to see Oliver. He had hoped she would be alone. He never sees her alone. Frank tries to convince her to leave with him. Ollie, he contends, is old enough to be all right and the girls are young enough not to question. For her, he would betray his friend.

Lyman wonders about the relationship between Susan and Frank. He does not know if they had a sexual relationship, but he knows that Frank loved his grandmother and she him...