Play 1, Act 2, Summary

This scene is set in Ezra Mannon's study, which is dominated by a large portrait of Ezra hanging on one wall. In the painting, he wears the robes of a judge, and we learn that he had been a judge before he went off to war. Lavinia paces, trying to control herself. Christine comes in, and Lavinia confronts her with the information that she had followed her to New York and seen her making love with Brant. For a moment Christine denies it and then changes her mind and confesses, telling Lavinia that she did it because she's always hated Ezra. As Lavinia protests, Christine tells her that the reason she and Lavinia have never gotten along is that Lavinia is the product of Christine and Ezra's first night together. Christine adds that while she was pregnant with Orin, Ezra had...