Summary

In 1659, Ester reflects on what has happened in London in the wake of “the Lord Protector’s son,” the younger Cromwell’s abdication; shopkeepers say change is everywhere, and theatre and gambling are beginning to resurface. The Jewish community is “defying the morbid sobriety of the Puritans” (108). The HaLevy brothers, Manuel and Alvaro, are two young men and pupils of the rabbi. According to Rivka, the sons of the merchant Benjamin HaLevy are only the rabbi’s pupils because their father wished to gain favor with the rabbi’s rich nephew, Diego da Costa Mendes, with whom he is involved in a trade venture.

The elder brother, Manuel, stares at Ester who matches his “stony” expression with her own and is “amused by her defiance” (110). Manuel’s stare had woken “some dim hunger” within her (111). Referring to the HaLevy family, Rivka says “They’ve...