Summer

It is spring when Charity, the ward of Lawyer Royall, meets charming architect Lucius Harney one day in the library. Unsettled by Royall’s unwanted sexual advances, Charity is saving her money in hopes of moving away from him. Narrator Laurel Lefkow offers a vivacious performance, communicating Charity’s indignance when she berates Royall after he tries to have her fired from work. When a drunken Royall sees the two friends kissing, Lefkow embodies his jealous rage as he humiliates Charity publicly and pushes her closer to Harney. The lovers spend many clandestine nights at an abandoned cabin until one day, he stands her up. Charity is bitter at Lucius for this slight and is deeply hurt when he goes on to marry a wealthy young woman. It is autumn when Charity learns she is pregnant. She packs her things and heads to the mountains, seeking her long-lost mother. Charity’s heartbreak at learning of her mother’s death is palpable in Lefkow’s narration, as is her resolution to marry Royall and raise her child with him.