Hope Leslie: Volume 2, Chapter 8 Summary & Analysis

The next day, Boston is full of gossip about an attempted jailbreak. Many attribute it to Gorton’s followers, since their sentence is soon to be carried out. Secretly, Governor Winthrop instructs Barnaby Tuttle to move Magawisca into a basement dungeon; soon after, Gorton and his men are exiled from Boston. Whatever suspicions the Governor has regarding Everell Fletcher’s involvement, he keeps them quiet.

By this time, Hope has recovered from her illness and rejoined the family at meals, to everyone’s delight—except for Faith’s. Hope’s sister languishes, spending her days going “from window to window, like an imprisoned bird.” Faith continues wearing her mantle, rejecting English styles and jewelry, to Aunt Grafton’s consternation.

After the meal, Governor Winthrop invites Hope to tell the story of her escape. Hope apologizes for her crossness and secrecy in the days leading up to the meeting with Faith. Then she explains that Sir Philip had been bothering her, and the Governor says that she ought rather to be thankful to him. Hope skirts the issue and talks about everything that occurred after she and Magawisca were parted. When she describes her encounter with Antonio, Master Cradock laughs uproariously, taking credit for teaching her Italian.

After Hope finishes narrating her escape, Governor Winthrop admonishes Hope for failing to denounce “the idol worship of that darkened papistical youth.” He and Mr. Fletcher get into an argument as to whether Hope ought to have disabused Antonio of his “superstitions.”

After the group disperses for the night, Hope goes to Governor Winthrop’s study and begs him to release Magawisca from prison. The Governor urges her not to meddle in this—no matter what good Magawisca has done in the past, she and her father are responsible for stirring up the tribes’ anger against the English; “it will be difficult to make a private benefit outweigh such a public crime.”

Hope returns to her room, disheartened. Soon, Esther enters, in great agitation, and throws herself on the bed in tears. Hope struggles to find out what is troubling her friend. Esther cries for a long time, then prays for help. She promises Hope that in time, Hope will understand everything, but that is all she can say for now. However, as they are getting ready for bed, Esther quietly admits that Everell has been trying to get her to help him break Magawisca out of prison. She won’t say anything more.

Earlier that evening, while they were alone together, Everell had tried to enlist Esther’s help in his plan. After struggling internally, she admitted that she didn’t believe she had warrant from the Bible to do so. While Scripture commands people to practice mercy and compassion, it also says that lawful authorities must be obeyed. She believes it would be presumptuous for her to go against that. Everell cannot understand Esther’s convictions. Esther has, however, been visiting Magawisca daily in prison, hoping that Magawisca might be persuaded to convert to Christianity, whereupon her uncle Winthrop might grant Magawisca freedom and allow her, instead of following her father back into the forest, to join a community of Christian Indians. Everell isn’t impressed, and Esther leaves the room, but still hears Everell say, “Oh, Hope Leslie! […] why has fate cruelly severed us?” That’s when she retreated to her room in tears.