The Indigo Girl

Ben teaches Eliza how to recognize when the indigo plants are ready to harvest. Inadvertently, she touches his hand and finds herself both intrigued and mortified by her fascination with him. She runs back to the house.

Eliza’s mother berates her about the amount of time she spends with Ben. Though Eliza insists that she and Ben are merely friends, her mother is not convinced. Ann believes that it is only a matter of time before Eliza’s father calls them back to Antigua. She also believes that Eliza’s indigo plans are doomed to fail and admonishes her daughter for teaching the enslaved children to read. Eliza diverts Ann’s attention by explaining that she is not technically breaking the law and asserting that Charles supports her decision. Cromwell interrupts them to tell Eliza that the indigo is nearly ready to harvest. Later, Eliza begins to teach Quash to read in her father’s study in the mornings. Shel earns that Quash’s mother was from the Quash plantation before coming to Wappoo and had not wanted to leave because she loved Quash’s father, a white man from the plantation. Eliza is troubled by this notion; she cannot understand how Quash’s mother could love a man who presumably forced himself upon her.