The House Behind the Cedars

After George returns from Patesville, Blanche Leary notices a change in him as he begins spending more time with her. He discovers that he likes her more than he had thought. One morning, George’s mother asks him to drive Blanche on an errand. A road blockage forces them onto a detour.

Just as George is about to propose to Blanche, they come upon a schoolhouse for black children. Plato, one of George’s former slaves, is a student. Blanche spots his schoolteacher and asks if she is white. He replies that she looks white but isn’t, and George becomes withdrawn again.

Several days after George and Blanche’s drive, Mrs. Tryon pays an anonymous visit to Rena at the schoolhouse. Mrs. Tryon asks Rena if she really is colored, and Rena tells her that she is. Mrs. Tryon is impressed by Rena’s bearing and tells her to call on their house, the big one which Rena noticed on the trip over, if she needs anything. When Rena tells Mrs. Tryon that she is staying with Jeff Wain, Mrs. Tryon says that Wain abused his wife and she ran away. Rena’s spirits are lifted by the visit until she asks Plato the woman’s name, and he identifies her as George’s mother.

By the time Rena discovers that George lives nearby, Jeff Wain has been pursuing her for weeks, often stopping by the school on the barest pretext. Rena has found her work easy but dispiriting; there is little she can teach in only two months to children with no previous schooling. Nevertheless, she commits herself while trying to minimize contact with Wain.

One day, Wain times a visit so that he can walk her home after school. Rena calls one of the children to walk with them, but Wain soon dispatches the child to retrieve his knife. Almost immediately he attempts to embrace and kiss her. She tears herself away and flees until she reaches the house of Elder Johnson. Rena sends a note that she will be staying with Elder Johnson for a while. Not long after this incident, Mrs. Tryon visits Rena, and Rena worries that Tryon thinks she is following him.

Tryon’s immediate reaction to learning of Rena’s presence is annoyance, thinking that she is toying with him in some way. He is filled with resentment that he should have been tricked into having feelings for a woman pretending to be white. He takes a long route around the schoolhouse for the next few days until he finds Plato along the road and gives him a lift. He asks Plato about Rena’s living arrangements and habits. George offers Plato fifty cents to carry a letter to Rena for him and bring him a response.

In his letter, George asks to meet Rena one more time to discuss what has happened so that they may part as friends. Two days later, he receives her response informing him that she had no idea he lived in the area before arriving and that she has no desire to see him.