Hope Leslie: Volume 1, Chapter 10 Summary & Analysis

Alone, Hope and Esther fall into an embarrassed silence. Hope wonders why Esther never told her that she already knows Everell—Esther’s blushes made it obvious. Startled by Esther’s evident distress, Hope abandons her teasing tone and embraces her friend. Esther finally tells her story, which the narrator relates.

Esther is the niece of Governor Winthrop and “of a reserved, tender, and timid cast of character.” She is strict in her religious principles, Puritanism’s teachings fitting easily with her temperament, and she lives out her beliefs. Esther,  now 19, is lovely in a sober, restrained way, and she would have been a “belle” in the author’s day; in her own day, she is commonly called “godly” or “gracious.”

Esther had never given a thought to romance in her life before. While Everell was living with his uncle Stretton, a moderate Anglican, he came to Esther’s father’s house to spend two months. During his time with Stretton, Everell’s Puritan beliefs had been somewhat tempered. When Esther first met Everell, she was slightly shocked by his gaiety and social graces at first. Gradually, though, she grew attracted to his charms, even becoming more cheerful herself.

Esther remained oblivious to what was happening, until her maid commented that their minister had noticed Esther’s absence from recent church meetings. The minister had picked up Esther’s psalm-book and noticed that a sheet of poetry fell out. Esther is horrified, since the verses she’d written were “a profane sentimental effusion.” She is awakened as to the nature of her true feelings, and since Everell does not seem to reciprocate them, she feels ashamed.

In the 17th century, the narrator remarks, though human affections did not have to be crushed, they were certainly expected to be secondary to religious devotion. Being such a devout girl, Esther became stricken with guilt that she had trespassed in this way, and she fell into a severe illness. While she thought she was on her deathbed, Esther felt moved to confess her feelings to Everell, supposing this might encourage Everell, too, to give up youthful follies.

At first, Everell thought Esther was delirious. He promised her that he would try to live a moral life, but he did not express any reciprocal feelings. Then, just when everyone thought Esther was about to die, she began to recover, seemingly unburdened. The next autumn, Esther’s father sent her to the Winthrops in Boston, in hopes of strengthening her health. There, Esther befriended Hope, who is different from her in every way. Where Esther might scold Hope for her gaiety, Hope sometimes scolds Esther for being over-scrupulous. But the two complement each other’s personalities and become firm confidants.

Though Hope often spoke of her childhood companion, Everell, Esther never gave any indication that she knew him. Now that she knows the full story, Hope encourages Esther to trust her guidance—she is sure that Everell must love Esther but has simply not declared it yet. Esther is cheered by this.

Then Jennet comes in to summon the girls to dinner, where Sir Philip Gardiner will be a guest. Jennet thinks that Sir Philip looks “godly,” while Everell looks too “gay” and “heathen.” Jennet had been hired by Mr. Fletcher because of her outward “godliness,” but that quality is mostly limited to her dress and vocabulary. At dinner, Esther and Hope appear in some of their nicest outfits, and, heading in to dinner, Everell chats slightly awkwardly with Esther, and warmly and naturally with Hope.