Calico Captive

Miriam leaves Susanna at home—enjoying her daughters—while she and Hortense go to the May Day celebration. After the May Day pole is raised, dancing starts. Miriam is swept up in the dancing and she loves it, because it reminds her of the lively dances the night before her capture. Hortense asks Miriam if she would like to come back to her family’s cottage to help with planting, but Miriam does not want to tag along with Hortense and Jules. The streets are busy with celebrations as Miriam walks back to the tailor’s shop, and Pierre intercepts her. Miriam is embarrassed to be dressed so badly. Pierre tells her that Felicité said Miriam had been ransomed and returned home.

Pierre asks her to drink wine with him, which Miriam responds to with panic. He remembers she is a Puritan and invites her to get a cup of chocolate. Miriam loves the drink, and Pierre takes Miriam walking. Pierre points out that the French work with the Indigenous people much better than the English. Miriam tells him the French lower themselves, but Pierre asks, “What makes you so sure their ways are lower? The Indians lived in these woods long before we ever came here. They can teach us plenty” (202). Miriam does not agree with Pierre but thinks “this was strange talk for a white man!” (202).

Miriam spots Sylvanus running with other boys. Pierre catches him, and then Sylvanus bites Pierre and he releases him. Miriam is furious that Pierre released Sylvanus, but he asks her what she planned to do. Sylvanus clearly did not want to go with her. Pierre is disappointed in Miriam. Miriam tells him to leave her alone then, but he escorts her back to the tailor’s shop. Pierre tells her he will visit her again, and she tells him not to come back. Pierre does not take her seriously.

Miriam decides not to tell Susanna about Sylvanus, because even if they could find him, they could not feed him or keep him trapped. That night, Miriam tries to think of Phineas Whitney, but she does not remember him clearly and he brings her no comfort. Instead, it is Pierre who she dreams about.

The first day of June, James arrives abruptly. Susanna is joyous. James explains that he went to Boston and applied to Governor Shirley for money. He was across Massachusetts when the war began and he had to return to Boston, where he stayed through the winter and spring. Then he set out for Canada on foot. After telling them what happened, Susanna and Miriam tell him what has happened in the last seven months. James is relieved it is not worse, and tells them the war has begun and they must leave as soon as possible. Susanna tells James that they must get Sylvanus.

At the mention of Sylvanus, Miriam tries to leave the room, but James gives her a letter he was given from Phineas Whitney. Phineas tells her he became a soldier, but will still become a minister after the war. Then he shares that he hopes that one day they can share a future together. Miriam does not feel the elation she expected, and realizes that she has changed from the person she was when she knew Phineas.

Later that night, soldiers come to arrest James, Susanna, and the two children. Susanna protests that they are free, but there is a new governor and James tells her they should go peaceably. Miriam tries to go with them, but the soldier says there is not a warrant for her. For five days, Miriam tries to get information. On the sixth day, she goes to Madame Du Quesne because she must work or she’ll starve. Miriam asks Madame for information, but Madame rebuffs her. That night, she writes a note to Pierre and bribes a boy to take it to him.

On the third evening after sending the note, Pierre comes to the tailor shop. Pierre takes her to get chocolate, and says he would have come sooner but he had no one to read him her letter. Miriam tells him about what happened to James, Susanna, and the children, and Pierre seems unsurprised. He tells her that James could not have expected to get them back to Massachusetts, because some tribes are killing the English. Pierre tries to get Miriam to go to a party and offers to buy her a dress, but she wants him to help her visit jail. Pierre says that he cannot help get her family out of jail, but he can take her to visit them.

The next day, Pierre takes her to the jail and bribes a sentry. James, Susanna, and the children are being held in a cell. Miriam is appalled at the ghastly environment. James writes a note, and Susanna tells Miriam she’s worried for her. Miriam reassures her she is fine. When she leaves, Pierre is waiting. Miriam explains that James sent a letter, and Pierre agrees to have an Indigenous runner take the letter to Albany and return with the money. Miriam is ecstatic, and she agrees to go on a carriage ride with him.

Miriam finishes the dress for Madame Du Quesne and works for the tailor. She worries for her sister, and feels ashamed that she is happy. Pierre visits frequently with food or takes her for chocolate, and she looks forward to spending time with him. He does not mention meeting his friends again, and he takes her to places where they will not be. Pierre talks constantly of his adventures in the wilderness and of his grandfather. Miriam is entranced by Pierre’s stories, and embarrassed when Pierre lets her know that he knows how interested she is. When she returns afterward, she makes herself read Phineas Whitney’s letter and reminds herself Phineas is a much better man than Pierre. Despite this, she waits for Pierre to visit.

Miriam works through the unseasonably hot weather, because the tailor gave her more work. A footman interrupts her work and he says that she should go to the Governor’s chateau. She wonders if she can plead her case to the Governor or if she is being summoned because she is going to jail. Miriam is surprised that it is not the Governor who summoned her, but his wife. The marquise wants her to make her a dress, because she has grown thin and her gowns do not fit her.

The marquise invites Miriam to work in an airy room in the Governor’s mansion during the day. She has Miriam eat with her every morning, and her kindness and thoughtfulness helps Miriam’s spirits heal. Miriam is wary of the marquise at first, but comes to revere her for her gentleness and unfailing kindness. In the Governor’s chateau, Miriam becomes less impatient and curbs her bluntness. Miriam notices the love between the Governor and his wife is like the love between James and Susanna. When the Governor leaves, the marquise tells Miriam that the marquise caught a fever in New Orleans when her husband was governor there and he has worried about her since. Miriam tells the marquise that she reminds her of Susanna.

Miriam tells the marquise about Susanna and all she went through and asks her if she will speak for her sister. The marquise says that her husband does not wish her to be involved in public affairs, but she will try. Miriam is overcome with gratitude. The marquise gives a bolt of cloth to Miriam, saying the fabric is too young for her. Miriam tries to decline, but the marquise insists.

On her way home, Miriam bumps into Hortense. Hortense insists that Miriam comes to her wedding in three days. At the tailor’s shop, Miriam wants to begin on her own dress. She imagines wearing it to the wedding and Pierre seeing her. But then she remembers Hortense wishing for a beautiful dress for her wedding. She thinks:

The girl of last winter would not have hesitated. But in these last months the old defenses had worn thin. […] Always Hortense had given. Now, unexpectedly, here in her hands was something to give, a perfect wedding present (238).

Miriam struggles to give away her only item of beauty, but she is rewarded with Hortense’s happiness. Miriam feels as though she’s been included as part of the family for the first time.