The Foundling

Jake sends Mary a letter. He is disappointed that he doesn’t get to see her and warns her that Dr. Vogel is trying to mold her in her image. He is especially concerned about Dr. Vogel’s public rhetoric blaming social problems and crime on minorities and the disenfranchised. Jake doesn’t believe that Mary is like Dr. Vogel and hopes that Mary can resist her charm. He is going to see Mary in two weeks, no matter what she says. Mary responds that she misses Jake. She defends Dr. Vogel and tells Jake that she has Jewish friends and is proud of her abolitionist grandfather, who had ties to Frederick Douglass. She jokes that Dr. Vogel will never be able to mold Mary in her image because she is slim, and Mary is not.

When Dr. Vogel arrives at work, she is upset about an article that questions why Nettleton has been purchasing cases of champagne and whiskey. Dr. Vogel immediately calls Judge Filmore to arrange for Mary to pick up bottles with more recent dates stamped on them. Mary picks up the bottles and helps Dr. Vogel unload them. Mary becomes suspicious when she accidentally breaks a case of empty bottles because she picks them up with too much strength—anticipating that the case would contain full bottles. However, she justifies Dr. Vogel and Judge Filmore’s actions and thinks to herself that powerful people are above the law because they need to make important decisions to uphold the law. She thinks back to Jake’s warnings and dismisses him. She decides that she understands power better than Jake despite her youth because she spends all of her time with important and powerful people.

Bertie and Mary go to church, and the priest asks to meet them for lunch after the sermon. He tells them that he received a letter from Sister Beatrice about girls not receiving mass at Nettleton. Mary admits to writing the letter because she is concerned about Lillian. The priest points out that Lillian married a Protestant and is no longer a Catholic.

Mary was hoping to expose that Lillian does not belong at Nettleton. Bertie also tries to help and explains that some of the girls at Nettleton have been misused. The priest becomes frustrated with them and says that the girls should be glad to be at an institution like Nettleton, where they are safe. Bertie recognizes the danger of the conversation and asks the father to offer a prayer as if their meeting is a confession, binding him to secrecy.

Later, Mary reveals almost everything about her relationship with Lillian to Bertie. She omits the story of her and her uncle Teddy. Bertie points out that Nettleton is basically a prison. She is compassionate to Lillian’s situation and says that she would have done the same thing in Lillian’s shoes. Mary mistakes Bertie’s compassion for judgment of Mary’s cruelty. She becomes defensive and says that she stuck her neck out for Lillian. Bertie points out that Dr. Vogel likes Mary, and she could risk much more before Dr. Vogel would consider letting her go.

Bertie wants to leave Nettleton and has a risky plan to get Lillian out. When Mary returns to Nettleton, she writes a note to Lillian, informing her that she has a plan to help her escape.

Mary anxiously waits for Lillian to come to Dr. Vogel’s house while Dr. Vogel is away. She arrives in men’s work boots and her sheer dress soaked through. Amazed by the grandeur of Mary’s room and overwhelmed by Mary’s bath, she doesn’t want to be left alone. Mary notices that she is pale, bruised, and unwell.

Mary tells Lillian about the plan. Bertie is organizing a Christmas concert, and Lillian will sing “Ave Maria” in Latin to raise questions about why such an educated girl is at Nettleton. Then Lillian will explain that she was raped by a Black man without revealing Graham’s name and explain her situation. Lillian is excited about the prospect of escape, but she doesn’t want to dwell on the plan. She asks Mary to tell her stories about Mary’s dad like when they were kids. Mary protests and says that the stories were all made up. Her dad was a bad man like her uncle. Lillian knows, but she wants to hear the stories anyway.

Mary remembers Teddy’s death. One day after he abused her, she took $65 from him and put his car into gear so that he would roll into a bog and wake up covered in mud. However, Teddy woke up and swerved into a ravine, where he plummeted to his death. Mary is able to admit to herself that Lillian never made Mary do anything, that Teddy’s death was an accident, and that she is glad that he is dead. Mary confesses that she was slow to help Lillian because she was afraid that Lillian would reveal that Mary murdered her uncle to everyone. In the early morning, Mary cleans up any trace of Lillian as she sneaks away. Mary feels relieved by her confession and is no longer angry at Lillian.

In the office, Dr. Vogel is cold toward Mary because she found out that Mary is in a relationship with Jake, who wrote an article about the steel mill that her brother-in-law runs. Dr. Vogel calls Jake a Jewish communist, agitator, and anarchist. Jake also wrote a story about three girls at Nettleton whose families all went to court to get them out, but all of them failed because the cases were presided over by Judge Filmore. Jake’s article mentions the purchase of alcohol at Nettleton.

Mary denies her closeness with Jake and feels betrayed by him. She breaks down crying, and Dr. Vogel forgives Mary in a maternal way. Later, Mary helps her entertain the women who come to play bridge at Dr. Vogel’s residence. Mrs. Whitcomb—the bank president’s wife—reveals that she has a new girl from Nettleton, and Mary is shocked. She excuses herself with a headache. She is angry that Dr. Vogel sent another girl to Mr. Whitcomb, who raped Ida, and she is ashamed that she ever aligned with Dr. Vogel against Lillian and Jake. She realizes that Dr. Vogel is capable of anything.