He had finished planting his new and larger garden when Saturday morning came, and was strangely excited as he walked toward the Nischman’s house. He assumed it was from the possible chance of seeing the big collection of books. He knocked timidly on the door, which was immediately snatched open by Epsey. She introduced him to her parents and grandmother. Her father, Georg, asked Ethan how he had liked the book.

“Very much,” the boy replied. “It has the kind of information I’ve always wanted but didn’t even know was written down anywhere.”

They moved into the library, a small room with walls covered by bookshelves filled with stacked magazines, old newspapers, and carefully arranged books.

“I inherited many of these from my father, the church has furnished me with others, and I have bought a few. Most of them are about religion and other practical subjects,” Mr. Nischman said, then glanced at Ethan. He was pleased when the boy did not respond but acknowledged his small joke with a smile.

“You are welcome to come here anytime you wish, and there are some of these books that you can take home to read.”

After that, Ethan visited the Nischman home often, and he and Epsey explored the library together. Ethan soon realized that she was thoroughly familiar with her father’s work and assessed even the most mundane issue through its religious connotations. God was obviously directly involved in the characteristics of seeds and the plants they produced, and engaged in how they were grown and used. She soon found that the interests of her new friend were quite narrow, focused on subjects concerning farming, animal husbandry, handicrafts, and information about life in other parts of the New World. Although their motivations were unrelated, their involvement in farming overlapped because the Moravians were dedicated to sharing agricultural knowledge with native populations in the Caribbean islands and the more western regions of the colonies.

Epsey was soon working with Ethan in his garden, and Mr. Nischman helped them locate different varieties of seeds and seedlings with which Ethan had not been familiar. Ethan learned that Epsey was somewhat solemn but not unhappy and, unlike Ethan’s, her parents were eager to gratify her modest wishes. She didn’t talk much, which suited Ethan well, but they communicated without restraint on the management of the vegetable plots.

Neither Ethan nor Epsey had many friends, and both families obviously welcomed their growing friendship. Their courtship was just a series of small evolutionary steps of shared experiences, mostly involving the study of botany and geography and the planting and cultivation of the garden. The next summer, it seemed natural to everyone when they decided to marry. Much later, when their relationship had become formal and permanent, Ethan couldn’t remember the first time he held her hand or when he had given her the first, dutiful kiss.