Two years have passed; Tom has learned from the Bible to be content with what he has, and he has become closer to Eva. While the family and servants are at the St. Clare summer house on Lake Pontchartrain, Eva tells Tom she will die soon, and he realizes she is growing pale and thin. Ophelia, too, has noticed Eva's illness, but St. Clare refuses to see or admit it. Marie, however, is oblivious to her daughter's condition.
St. Clare's brother, with his 12-year-old son Henrique, visits at the summer house. Eva and Henrique are going riding. Henrique beats his young groom (another 12-year-old, a slave named Dodo) with his riding whip for a minor offense. Eva calls her cousin wicked and cruel, which surprises him: He has a quick temper, and beating is what one does to slaves. Watching this exchange between their children, St. Clare and his brother get into a discussion about slavery. When the children return, St. Clare is alarmed to see that Eva is feverish and short of breath. Eva tries to make Henrique promise to love Dodo and be kind to him, and, although Henrique finds the idea of loving a slave a strange one, he says he will try to do so for Eva's sake.
