She writes Edwin to make it clear that when he brings Miss Devlin back to her family in Philadelphia, there will be no welcome in the house of Sleeper and Asia Clarke.

She writes to Jean:

. . . Oh Jean—you don’t know the trials I bear, little annoyances, rising merely from the fact that I cannot adore Miss Devlin, a quiet ladylike reception would be as Ned terms it—a wet blanket. He has written some sharp letters inferring that I am not a lady—At any rate I am not a fool . . .

In the midst of all this family tumult, down in Virginia, John Brown and twenty-one men under his command—sixteen white, five black—take control of the Harpers Ferry armory.

Caution, Sir! I am eternally tired of hearing that word caution.

It is nothing but the word of cowardice!

—John Brown

—

October 16th, 1859.

The five black men who accompany Brown are Osborne Anderson, John Copeland, Shields Green, Lewis Leary, and Dangerfield Newby. Brown’s plan is to distribute the guns to slaves throughout Virginia and then to lead a slave rebellion. God has commanded this.

But His ways are mysterious. Brown holds the armory only a short time before it’s retaken by Colonel Robert E. Lee’s marines. Most of the insurrectionists are killed, including Brown’s sons. Brown himself is wounded and captured.

The magnitude of this event temporarily shocks the Booths out of their private concerns. They are all, despite their differences, despite their general aversion to politics, passionate about the preservation of the Union.

Off in Richmond, where John is, people talk of nothing else. John’s become a frequent and popular guest at Richmond’s balls, shooting ranges, whorehouses, saloons, and salons. Everywhere he’s assessed approvingly, despite his connections to the theater and his Maryland upbringing, as a real Southern gentleman.

—

Weeks pass and the rest of the family return one by one to personal issues and grievances. Rosalie is finding the move to Asia’s house every bit as bad as she’d feared. Sleeper kisses Asia’s shoes, her gloves, her shawls—anything that’s touched her body finds its way to his lips. It’s an appalling thing to witness.

Edwin works to stay sober. He’s focused on his career, on his intended, and on his health. He’s never been political.

Asia returns to her terrible pregnancy and her search for new adjectives to hurl in the direction of Mary Devlin.

Only John remains obsessed with the John Brown affair. Asia is, as always, the one he confides in. Once again, he’s remembering Christiana, the Gorsuch family, his happy nights spent at Retreat Farm. Mostly he remembers how no one was held accountable. But Virginia is not Pennsylvania, praise the Lord. This time will be different, he tells Asia. This time blood will pay for blood.