The Indigo Girl

One March morning, Togo tells Eliza that the indigo seeds have finally sprouted. Elated, Eliza decides to ask her father for an indigo consultant. She writes to Starrat to have Sarah brought to Wappoo. In April, the indigo sprouts are killed by a sudden frost. Eliza leaves with her mother for Charles Town to meet with Mr. Manigault, the deed holder of the Wappoo plantation. They stay with the Pinckneys, and while there, Mrs. Pinckney informs Eliza that her niece, Miss Bartlett, will be visiting. Plans are made to introduce Miss Bartlett into society, and as Eliza leaves to retire, she finds Charles in his library.

As she enters the library, Eliza observes Charles and finds him handsome. She is as comfortable in his company as she would be with a family member. She recounts her recent troubles with the indigo sprouts, and he nicknames her “[his] little visionary.” After some hesitation, she asks that he accompany her when she visits the plantation in Waccamaw, as she does not feel comfortable with Starrat. He accepts and makes a comment about how wasteful it will be if she never finds a husband. Eliza meets the Pinckneys’ niece, Miss Bartlett, and they become fast friends. As other female neighbors arrive, the discussion turns to marriage, with observations made about how much women depend on their husbands to be able to live, especially those without the means to hire a lawyer to draft estates. At the Pinckneys’ organized dinner, Eliza meets a merchant named John Laurens, along with his son, Henry. During the dinner conversation, Ann attempts to drum up interest in Eliza’s possible marriage, and Henry inquires whether they could visit Wappoo. When the ladies are alone, they discuss Henry. While Eliza thinks that Henry might intend to ask for her hand in marriage, Mary Chardon thinks that John might be one with marriage in mind.

In late spring, Charles comes to visit Eliza at Wappoo to deliver a letter from Mrs. Bodicott; their shared merchant, Beale, meant to send the letter to her. She shows Charles her new indigo plants and tells him of her intent to bring Sarah to Wappoo. Later, they travel together to Waccamaw, and a small boy by the name of Lil’ Gulla sees them and hurries to Starrat’s cottage to announce their arrival. As Starrat emerges from his cottage, he cuffs the child while a woman scurries out to the enslaved workers’ dwellings. As Eliza goes over the state of the plantation, Starrat balks at taking directions from Eliza and looms over her when she tries to hold her ground. Charles intervenes, and Eliza smooths the interaction over by reminding Starrat that these orders come from her father. When she sees the whipping post still standing, Eliza chooses to avoid the confrontation by telling Starrat that if she hears it has been used, she will chop it down herself. She then asks to speak to Sarah.

Starrat initially resists Eliza’s request, describing Sarah as unreliable and arrogant because her people considered her to be a “priestess.” As Sarah approaches, Eliza realizes that not only was she the woman leaving Starrat’s cottage, but the father of Sarah’s two children is also none other than Starrat himself. Eliza immediately demands that Sarah be transferred to Wappoo, but upon hearing this, Sarah glares at Eliza. Confused, Eliza nevertheless remains resolute in her decision. As she instructs Sarah to pack her children and her things, Starrat comments that soon, Eliza will lose all authority over the plantations because her father has mortgaged the Waccamaw plantation. Eliza’s father had never informed her of this decision. Shocked and angered, Eliza is drawn to a shaded area by Charles as she realizes that Mr. Manigault, the deed holder of the Wappoo plantation, also purposefully kept her in the dark about this transaction when she visited him. The next morning, Eliza wakes up in a fit of anxiety over her choice to serve as the steward of her father’s plantations. She curses her womanhood for the anxiety and powerlessness it causes her and then writes to her father, reiterating her faith in indigo and asking him once again to find a consultant. In his response, he asks for her forgiveness for keeping her in the dark. He also tells her of a consultant from Montserrat that he is sending her way and says that Mr. Laurens has asked for permission to marry her.

Ecstatic at the consultant’s imminent arrival, Eliza keeps a constant eye on her indigo crops. Sarah has not taken kindly to being relocated and does not answer any of Eliza’s questions about indigo making. Essie gives Eliza a talisman to ward off any evil that comes her way. With the heat of the summer intensifying, Eliza approaches Sarah again, intending to ask for her help, but Sarah spits on her floor. However, Eliza stands her ground and promises that if Sarah helps her, she will not sell Sarah’s children, as Starrat has threatened to do. Sarah still does not offer any knowledge about the indigo.

Eliza turns to Mr. Deveaux for advice on when to harvest the indigo plants, but he has little information to offer. Soon, however, the crops are overrun with pests. Despairing, Eliza collapses to the ground as Sarah watches on. Later that evening, Sarah comes to see her and tells her that she will show Eliza how to make the indigo dye. The next morning, Eliza, Togo, Quash, and others harvest the leaves. As they collect their bundles of indigo leaves, the Laurens arrive with two other people in tow. John Laurens misinterprets the situation and believes that Eliza has been attacked by her father’s enslaved workers. However, before he can shoot the enslaved workers, Eliza steps in and berates John for making decisions on her father’s lands. John is dumbstruck but eventually presents the two other men, Nicholas Cromwell (the consultant her father had sent for) and Cromwell’s apprentice, Ben—Eliza’s childhood friend. Eliza is surprised and elated to see her friend again, but when he shakes his head, she pretends not to know him. She gets everyone settled in her house but requests that Cromwell and Ben inspect the indigo harvest before they retire.