Chapter 2 Summary

In the autumn of 1840, God-fearing John Skiffington decides to obey the Bible and marry. For two years, Skiffington serves as Sheriff Gilly Patterson's deputy, after leaving North Carolina with his father and his mother's remains, as his father has seen in a dream they must free their slaves and flee the state. Invited to the home of the Pattersons for Sunday dinner, John falls in love with cousin Winifred Patterson, visiting form Philadelphia. By March, John and Winifred are engaged, and in June they marry grandly. Cousin Counsel and his wife Belle represent the North Carolina clan. Their generous wedding present to Winifred is a nine-year-old slave, Minerva. John and the Philadelphians are stunned but polite. Belle warns Winifred not to spoil Minerva. Minerva longs for a sister she will not see for twenty years. Neither newlywed wants a slave, but selling or...