Hope Leslie: Volume 2, Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

The following week is filled with anxiety for everyone in the Governor’s household. The Governor is distracted, frequently meeting with Sir Philip. The leaders of the colony are distracted by state concerns, and though Governor Winthrop normally confides in his wife about such things, he remains aloof this time. But Madam Winthrop is distracted by the romantic life of her beloved niece Esther.

Where Hope is distracted and undeferential, Esther is constantly respectful toward Madam Winthrop. While Hope is distracted by the situation with Magawisca and Faith, Everell supposes that Hope must be in love with Sir Philip. Hope is indifferent to Sir Philip’s every attention, but Everell imagines that she likes the knight. Hope, meanwhile, feels hurt by Everell’s seeming coldness toward her and withdraws accordingly—prompting Everell to spend more time with the more predictable Esther.

Besides her worry that the meeting with Faith may not happen, Hope is tormented by a sense of divided loyalty. She wonders if her desire to rescue Faith and bring her home is more important than the promise she made to Magawisca. Yet she loves Magawisca, too. She cannot confide in any of her friends. At last, Friday, the appointed day, arrives.

Hope had successfully proposed an excursion to Governor Winthrop’s garden, and it looks as if everything is going to go smoothly, when Madam Winthrop speaks up with vague premonitions of something bad happening. She dreamed about Esther last night and fears that she should keep the girl safely at home, to which Esther readily assents. Everell is disappointed to see that Hope isn’t concerned about Esther’s disappointment, and he offers to take care of Esther during the trip. Madam Winthrop changes her mind.

As the trip gets underway, Hope, Sir Philip, Mrs. Grafton, and Master Cradock get into a somewhat humorous debate about theology, but Hope is not much focused on the conversation until someone mentions Everell giving Esther a bunch of rosebuds that morning. Even though she has been striving to bring Everell and Esther together, she now feels a sense of loss, even grief, at the thought of her wishes being fulfilled. She has hidden her feelings even from herself. She tries to mask her sadness with excessive cheerfulness, which Everell attributes to Sir Philip’s presence.

When the group arrives on the island, they go directly to Digby’s house, and Digby and Everell have a happy reunion. As he reminisces, Digby recalls what loving companions Everell and Hope were in their childhood, though at one time he’d imagined that Everell and Magawisca would marry. Everell says that marriage to Magawisca would do him honor, but “nature had put barriers between us.” Now, Digby thinks, Hope’s arrival in the family has set everything right. When Digby notices that Everell, Hope, and Esther look uncomfortable, he awkwardly backtracks.

Generously, Hope speaks up, saying that Digby was right to imagine that a wedding is coming, but was wrong about the bride’s identity. She places Esther’s hand in Everell’s, kisses Esther’s cheek, and runs off. Digby, confused and embarrassed, leaves. Esther and Everell are even more humiliated. In his confusion, Everell mumbles something about the pleasure of holding Esther’s hand, and Esther interprets Everell as mirroring her own feelings. Meanwhile, Hope, believing herself to have conquered her own selfish feelings, has actually jeopardized everyone’s happiness.

Hope walks in the fruit orchards on the eastern side of the island, where she is soon joined by Sir Philip. Sir Philip makes a coy reference to the delicate grapevines which cannot thrive in this climate. Hope, determined to take these remarks at face value, calls the grape arbor a worthy experiment. Sir Philip recites a French poem, with the gist that God and love are not at odds with each other, at the end of which he drops to his knee and takes her hand. Hope freezes with surprise and displeasure. At that moment, Everell appears, blushes, and disappears. Hope tells Sir Philip that if he is a real gentleman, he should save his “profane verses” for somebody who has asked for them. Sir Philip is mortified, having assumed that with Everell all but engaged to Esther, the path was clear for him to declare his love.

As Sir Philip stands alone, pulling a rose to pieces, Mrs. Grafton appears. She notices that Sir Philip looks upset and comforts him with the claim that women’s moods change. Sir Philip offers her a rose in reply, and Mrs. Grafton says that he reminds her of the late Mr. Grafton. She reminisces about her courtship with her late husband, to Sir Philip’s intense aggravation. When he sees Hope talking with Everell a little distance away, Sir Philip abruptly bows and disappears.

Then Master Cradock appears and informs Mrs. Grafton that the tide has turned, and it’s time for them to board the boat for the return to town. Meanwhile, Hope tells Everell that she is determined to remain on the island that night. Everell takes the opportunity to tell Hope that he loves her and cannot bear to “see [her] the prey of a hollow-hearted adventurer.” In a flash, Hope realizes that Everell loves her and that she may have ruined everything. Everell tells her that she has ruined his happiness, and begs her not to ruin her own.

Weeping, Hope urges Everell to get on the boat. She can see no middle ground between accepting her circumstances or offering an elaborate explanation which cannot fix anything. She wishes him happiness with Esther and runs away. Everell grieves that Hope, having succumbed to Sir Philip, is of weaker character than he’d believed. He is further dismayed when it appears that Hope has invited Sir Philip to remain on the island with her. When he boards the boat, he finds Master Cradock, Mrs. Grafton, and Esther similarly mortified by Hope’s apparent indiscretion.