Never Caught: Chapter 7 Summary & Analysis

For Ona and her fellow slaves at the High Street residence, the days are marked by their enslavers’ moods. The future is unpredictable and always entirely beyond their control. In February 1796, Martha Washington’s unpredictable nature deepens even further when she and the president receive news that Martha’s granddaughter, Elizabeth Parke Custis (or Eliza to her friends) is being seriously courted by a much-older suitor. Thomas Law is a British businessman who has lived in America less than two years. Law, who lived in India for a long time, already has three illegitimate multiracial children. His heart is set on Eliza, who knows that her grandparents’ blessing can make or break the tentative union.

As George and Martha have no children of their own, Martha’s grandchildren are their world—especially in the case of the first lady, who only has one surviving child of her own. As Eliza’s news arrives, the Executive Mansion becomes full of tension and anxiety. Washington soon receives a letter from Thomas Law himself asking for the president’s blessing. Washington grants his blessing somewhat reluctantly. As Martha and the president begin preparing for the nuptials, they try to effect happiness and excitement—yet Law inspires gossip amongst their friends, acquaintances, and political rivals. Martha begins discreetly making plans for Eliza’s future—plans which will disrupt Ona’s life.

By the time Eliza’s wedding arrives on March 21st, 1796, it is clear to both the staff at the Executive Mansion and to the public that Washington is planning on retiring from public life and returning to Mount Vernon. Ona knows this means she, too, will return to Virginia. She must decide whether it is time to seize the opportunity to escape, even though doing so would mean leaving her family at Mount Vernon, including her sisters Philadelphia and Betty, behind—perhaps forever.

Ona is further shocked when Martha Washington announces that she is planning on bequeathing Ona to Eliza as a wedding gift. Ona now understands that she is, in the eyes of her owners, utterly replaceable. There is nothing Ona can do to change the first lady’s mind—she must resign herself to serving the “stormy” Eliza for the rest of her days. The Washingtons’ relative stability, Ona knows, will soon be replaced by her new mistress’s unpredictable rage. Moreover, Ona knows that her new master, Thomas Law, has had three illegitimate children by an Indian woman—and this suggests that he sleeps with nonwhite women and doesn’t care who knows it. She does not want to be the next target of his interests. Ona sees now more than ever that she is expendable, replaceable, and barely even human in the eyes of her owners.