Martha Ballard waits anxiously in a rented attic room at the Silver Street Tavern in Vassalboro, holding Ephraim’s note and worrying because he has not arrived. She skips breakfast, checks on Brutus in the stable, and goes alone to the Meeting House, where the Court of General Sessions is gathering. The hearing draws a large crowd because one of the accused men is Judge Joseph North. Martha sees Rebecca Foster seated with Isaac Foster and notices Lidia North looking frail but present in support of her husband.

After several minor cases delay the proceedings, the court finally calls the case against Joseph North and Joshua Burgess. Barnabas Lambard informs Judge Obadiah Wood that Burgess is dead and that his cause of death is disputed, because Hallowell’s records contain both a drowning verdict and a conflicting opinion of murder by hanging. In the process, Barnabas repeats that Reverend Isaac Foster had previously been accused of killing Burgess. Isaac formally denies that accusation, then asks that the fornication charges against Rebecca be dismissed. Wood rebukes North for permitting those charges in a case where North himself is the defendant and orders them dropped for conflict of interest.

When Wood turns to Rebecca’s complaint, Rebecca rejects the milder wording on the docket and states openly that North and Burgess broke into her home and raped her, leaving her pregnant. North denies being present and offers an alibi: he says he dined at home with Major Henry Warren and then spent the evening with Lidia, who supports his story. Wood hesitates because the court lacks proof. Rebecca then announces that she has a witness in the room.

Martha stands and offers to testify, but North objects that, under coverture, she cannot speak without her husband or father present. Martha argues that her work as a midwife gives her standing, and before the dispute can halt her testimony, Ephraim arrives at the back of the courtroom and comes forward to stand beside her. Martha tells the court that she examined Rebecca on August nineteenth, found injuries consistent with brutal rape, and heard Rebecca’s accusation at that time. To prove the account was recorded long before the hearing, Martha produces her diary and shows Wood the entry. Wood dismisses the parties so he can review the evidence.

Outside, Martha ignores Lidia’s attempt to speak with her and reunites with Ephraim, who explains he barely made it through the bog in time. At lunch Barnabas apologizes for worsening the Fosters’ trouble by reporting what he found about Burgess, and Martha admits she deliberately withheld Burgess’s death because she wanted him to keep investigating. When the court reconvenes, Wood says Rebecca’s testimony and Martha’s diary are compelling, but he refuses to act decisively at this level. Instead, he refers the matter to the Court of Common Pleas in Hallowell on January twenty-ninth. Back in their room, Martha rages that justice has been delayed; Ephraim argues Wood may be maneuvering to preserve the case. Martha cries for Rebecca and for women’s vulnerability under male power, then records the day’s events in her journal before ending the evening with a brief, comforting laugh shared with Ephraim.