Summary

In Book 1, “Washington Square,” Part 1, David Bingham returned home late for Sunday dinner with his grandfather, siblings, John and Eliza, and their spouses, Peter and Eden. Grandfather gave the siblings some news. He had raised them after their parents’ deaths, and wanted them to be prepared for the future (7). When he died, Eden would receive his properties at Frog’s Pond Way and Fifth Avenue. John would have the properties at Larkspur and Newport. David would receive the Washington Square home where he currently lived with Grandfather.

In Part 2, David did not sleep and was weary the next morning. Unlike his siblings, he was always “alone and purposeless” (11). He was unmarried, lived at home, and worked only tangentially for his Grandfather’s charitable foundation. Today he was miserable because of Grandfather’s news. Washington Square had always been home. Now that it...