Chapter 7 Summary

Saskia Wilhelm and never-do-well husband Thorbecke, married against her parents' wishes, contract small pox en route from the Netherlands to England. Exiled from England, they come to New York. Nasty Thorbecke fails as a fisherman and peddler, and when Saskia's wages as a maid do not suffice, Thorbecke sells her into prostitution in Philadelphia and eventually North Carolina. The Wilhelms and their dog appear in Calvin's photograph.

Manfred Carlyle, one of Saskia's regular customers, falls in love with her. Counsel Skiffington welcomes Carlyle's periodic "airing out" on his plantation, because Carlyle is one of his creditors. Counsel has suffered three years of failed crops, but was treated kindly by his creditors, and now is recovering. His slave overseer, Cameron Darr, suffers a cough and soon all the slaves develop smallpox. The quarantine is ineffective, and soon Counsel's plantation, "A Child's Dream," is in...