The First Witch of Boston

Thomas is angry with Margaret and has not spoken to her for three weeks. She feels she has done nothing wrong and refuses to apologize.

Thomas avoids Margaret and throws himself into his work. He is chagrined one day to be interrupted by the Widow Hallett. She is still unmarried and still flirtatious. Thomas knows that he cannot throw his life away for a moment of fleeting pleasure. She orders a table to be made and asks him to come to her house to take measurements in the bedroom.

The day Thomas is set to go to the Widow Hallett’s, he and Margaret argue, and he leaves angry. The widow’s servant serves him ale once he makes it to her house, and it tastes strange to him. He feels hot and lightheaded after drinking the tankard and wonders if it was fortified with something strange. The widow sends her servant out and begins to flirt with him. She gives him her hand and, still feeling strange, he remarks on how fine her fingers are. In his haze he thinks of Margaret and how long it has been since they were intimate. He and the Widow Hallett begin kissing and, while he is still unsure where he is or who she is, they have sex.