As a boy, Jamie works running errands for Mr. Kinnear and Nancy Montgomery. Jamie is awkward, shy, and smitten with Grace. He often spends evenings at the Kinnear house playing his flute for Nancy and Grace. At Grace’s trial, Jamie testifies against her; he also points out that Grace is wearing one of Nancy’s dresses, which, according to both Grace and Kenneth MacKenzie, turns public opinion against Grace and directly leads to her guilty sentence. After Grace receives a pardon and is freed from prison, she is sent to live in Ithaca, New York, where she marries Jamie. Grown-up Jamie is fascinated by Grace’s life story and pressures Grace to relive her traumatic experiences by narrating them to him.