Nancy Hewitt Character Analysis

A young woman who was engaged to marry Barclay Goodson. Just before their union, though, Nancy died. When the stranger privately writes to Edward Richards and tricks him into thinking Barclay Goodson would have wanted Edward to claim the sack of gold in his place, Edward tries to think of a scenario in which he helped Goodson. In doing so, he deludes himself into thinking that the reason Goodson didn’t marry Nancy was because Edward discovered Nancy was part African American, thus saving Goodson from a (racist) social disgrace. Of course, this is obviously not the case, since the only reason Goodson didn’t marry Nancy is because she died, but Edward chooses to ignore this logistical detail in order to believe wholeheartedly that he deserves to claim the money Goodson would have won if he were still alive.