The House of the Seven Gables: Chapter 8 Summary & Analysis

Phoebe finds Ned Higgins in the shop. Ned tells Phoebe that Clifford is Hepzibah’s brother but doesn’t explain where Clifford has been. As Ned leaves, a portly, well-dressed, cheerful-looking man enters. He greets Phoebe in flattering tones, bowing and smiling. When he realizes that Phoebe is a relative, he introduces himself as Judge Pyncheon. When he leans forward to offer a kiss of greeting, Phoebe instinctively draws back, blushing, which leaves Judge Pyncheon awkwardly kissing the air. When Phoebe looks up again, the Judge’s mild expression has become hard and unyielding.

Phoebe realizes that Judge Pyncheon is the subject of the miniature daguerreotype which Holgrave had shown her yesterday. She wonders if the hard expression is really the Judge’s natural temperament—one that was passed down to him by Colonel Pyncheon. If so, it seems to be proof that the defects of one generation are passed down to the rest.

When Phoebe looks again, however, Judge Pyncheon has resumed his sunny, benevolent mood. Phoebe stays reserved, unable to shake the feeling that Colonel Pyncheon has entered the shop after a quick stop at the barber’s and a change into updated fashions.

Judge Pyncheon’s reputation is as good as his venerable ancestor’s, but public testimony isn’t always as reliable as private. For example, traditions have circulated that both the Colonel and the Judge, for all their outward generosity, are guilty of greed. Both are rumored to have been heartbreakingly harsh toward their wives.

Phoebe hasn’t heard these rumors and isn’t very familiar with the Pyncheon family history. But she does know the story of Matthew Maule’s curse and the story that blood could sometimes be heard gurgling in Pyncheon throats—so when she hears an odd noise in the Judge’s throat, she startles. Judge Pyncheon supposes that her fear is because of the arrival of Clifford. Phoebe replies that Clifford is the gentlest man imaginable.

When Phoebe tries to stop Judge Pyncheon from entering the house unannounced, he sets her aside, reminding her that she is the stranger here. He smiles warmly at Hepzibah, who, hearing him approach, blocks the doorway. He tells Hepzibah that he has come to see Clifford and offer him anything he might need—they can even come to live on his country estate so that he and Hepzibah might tend to Clifford together. A weak, frightened cry from the other room interrupts them—Clifford begs Hepzibah not to let the Judge enter. At the sound, the Judge’s expression turns more darkly forbidding than ever. But he quickly corrects himself, resuming his warmth and promising to come back another time.

After the Judge leaves, Hepzibah rests her head on Phoebe’s shoulder, calling the Judge “the horror of [her] life.” She sends Phoebe to calm and comfort Clifford. Phoebe does so, wondering whether judges and other such eminent men really can be other than what they seem. The thought is disturbing to her, and she sets it aside, figuring that Hepzibah’s bitterness is due to a family feud.