The Truth According to Us

Layla writes to her brother, Lance, telling him that she is resolved to stay in Macedonia to see the project through. She reflects on historical writing and the role of the historian and recounts her visit with Parker Davies and his wife. The councilman treated her with disdain and provided a long and almost hagiographical account of the general’s life. Layla’s interest was briefly aroused when Mrs. Davies began to gossip about the Romeyn family’s change of fortune, but her husband quickly shut her down.

The chapter concludes with Layla’s written account of General Hamilton, which is far from flattering. She describes his greed, his massacre of the Indigenous population, and his alleged mental illness.

While following a local boy for Geraldine’s Army, Willa is intercepted by Mrs. Fox. Remembering that Mrs. Fox had called Jottie a “saint” for comforting Mr. Hamilton, Willa accepts her offer of lemonade and uses the opportunity to ask questions about Jottie and Vause. According to Mrs. Fox, Vause was popular and praised as a teenager but changed during his wartime service. When he returned home, he failed to get a job, deciding instead to steal $6,000 from Willa’s grandfather and burn the factory to cover his tracks.