MD3PAD 169-171

[Toby G Levy]

        Mason hopes to catch a glimpse of Susannah Peach at the cheese
rolling. She would be in silk, because her father Samuel Peach was a
silk merchant and a rising power in the East India Company. The Peaches
lived in nearby Minchinhampton. He imagined her selecting from among may
bolts of silk and offering to teach Mason about silk. Mason had been to
her house (we are not told why) and had seen her bedroom and pressed his
face on her silk counterpane.

        Mason was at the hill where the cheeses were to be rolled and he
was moping because all the other young people around him appeared to be
paired off. The giant cheese was not supposed to be rolled down the
hill, but an accident occurred and the wagon tipped over, launching the
cheese down the hill, right at Mason. At the last moment he was shoved
out of the way and fell face down on the grass.  He looked up to see his
savior was a young woman. He fell in love with Rebekah as soon as he saw
her face.

        A parenthetical break in the narrative has Uncle Ives stating
that no records exist of her in Gloucestershire.  He suggests that
Wicks' story might have taken place somewhere else in England, perhaps
Greenwich.

        Flashback over, Mason continues to be haunted by visits from
Rebekah. He thinks he sees evidence of hell and damnation in her image,
and feels he is failing her in death as he had in life.

Toby