Summary

In “Edwin Chase of Nantucket,” Edwin is 20 years old and lives with his mother Laurel on their farm in Nantucket. The year prior, in 1795, his father Silas died. After the war, Silas’s mental health deteriorated. One morning, Edwin found him floating face-down in the pond.

Edwin and Laurel are delousing the horse when two strangers appear in the distance. When they arrive, Laurel discovers the man is her childhood friend Will. The woman with him is his wife Rivkah. Will says that he and Rivkah are moving to Barbados. He wanted to see Laurel before he left.

Inside, Laurel and Will sit by the fire while Rivkah goes upstairs to Edwin’s room to rest. Meanwhile, Edwin goes out to kill a duck for dinner. When he returns, Laurel and Will are sitting “so close to...