Bartley Crossen

When the main character first meets Bartley Crossen, a neighboring farmer, she observes “something kindly in his look and in his words.” Ned, the farmhand, insists that Crossen is decent and “a man you can trust.” He often is solicitous in his dealings with her, mentioning his wife waiting for him at home, which she understands as “meant to put her at her ease.” When he comes to her house at night, he tries to allay any fear of his motives when he says, “I'm long gone beyond taking any account of what a woman has on her. I'm gone beyond taking notice of women at all.” This claim proves false, however.

Crossen's relationship with his first wife Bridie suggests that he is a passionate man. Ned notes that he had the same passion for her as she for him. They were both “mad with love . . . she...