Phoebe is hoping to stay with Hepzibah for a week or two, but hopes she can stay longer if they get along well. Her father, a Pyncheon and Hepzibah’s cousin, has died, and her mother has remarried, resulting in Phoebe having nowhere to live. Hepzibah is resistant to Phoebe staying long-term, not because she doesn’t like Phoebe but because she does not think the gloomy house is a good place for Phoebe to be.

Phoebe, however, has “the gift of practical arrangement” (71) and turns her dreary bedroom into a cheerful space. She does the same throughout the house: She cuts flowers from the overgrown garden and brings them inside. She also has experience with selling and volunteers to take over the duties of the little store the very next day. She is excellent with the customers, and she brings in much more money than Hepzibah had the previous day, all while charming the townspeople. Phoebe recommends that Hepzibah restock several items and also order many items that she previously had not.

Hepzibah briefly discusses Mr. Holgrave, the daguerreotypist, with Phoebe. Hepzibah describes him as consorting with “strange” people—“reformers”—and if it were still in fashion, would suspect him of studying “the Black Art” (84).