Yellow Wife

Rubin prepares for Essex’s arrival. The pen that holds enslaved prisoners has never been cleaned, and Rubin commands his workers to scrub it. People from all over the South are coming to Lapier’s jail to see Essex punished. The other men and women are housed in a separate containing area, left without food, water, or care. Pheby hears the cries of an infant in the night and visits the captured mother and child, offering medicine and water. The next morning, Rubin leaves with Monroe without telling Pheby where he is taking her son.

Pheby sees her children playing and asks about the game. Isabel tells her mother that they are playing auction, taking turns pretending to sell one another. Pheby is outraged. At dinner, Rubin admonishes Pheby for disobeying him by caring for the enslaved prisoners. He regrets that he has been so lenient with her. He chokes her and forces Pheby to call him “master.” Later that night, as she is bathing and caring for her bruises, she sees Monroe walking across the lawn, his head hung low.