Summary

In Chapter 4, Mary's mother visits. Mary's brothers, Giles and Charles, remained in England where they had started families. Since Mary was 16 years-old when Priscilla and James moved to Boston, she had no choice but to accompany them. James felt the move was both a religious calling and a way to expand his business. Mary berates herself for thinking the business side was more important. In England, Mary would have had many suitors, most much better choices than Thomas. In Boston, there were not many men who had “the means and social rank to marry the daughter of James Burden” (37). Priscilla presents Mary with three-pronged forks. Mary and Thomas have two-pronged forks for carving, but Mary objects to the three-pronged forks, saying they are instruments of the Devil. Priscilla says people in England are beginning to use them. They discuss how to use the...