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Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Summary

Lorena's history. Orphaned at seventeen after her parents fled Mobile and died on the way west, she was taken up by the drunkard Mosby Marlin, who promised marriage, kept her in a squalid house near Gladewater, and began selling her to his friends to cover gambling debts. She left with John Tinkersley, a handsome, cold man who took her to San Antonio, set her up as a sporting woman, beat her, stole her savings, and abandoned her in Lonesome Dove — but not before she pistol-whipped him and he bit her lip, leaving the small scar that men find so compelling. Her one aim is to reach San Francisco, where it is cool. She has become a famously silent woman. Augustus McCrae is her most regular customer and the only one she half likes: he pays generously, talks constantly, and one day offers her ten dollars simply to tell him her life story. She declines, and they go downstairs to play cards.

Analysis

Forward motion stops for backstory, giving Lorena the interiority the men deny her. San Francisco is established as her governing want — the motor of her whole plot — and the bite-scar as her emblem. Augustus, alone among the men, pays to hear her talk, seeding the rescue to come.

Plates

Lorena at her upstairs window in the July heat, looking out at brown land, grey chaparral, the river and Mexico beyond.
00 Lorena at her upstairs window in the July heat, looking out at brown land, grey chaparral, the river and Mexico beyond.
Gus, boots off and blabbing about how blue the water is in San Francisco bay, while Lorena lies beside him wishing it would cool off.
01 Gus, boots off and blabbing about how blue the water is in San Francisco bay, while Lorena lies beside him wishing it would cool off.
Baton Rouge — Lorena at seventeen, both parents dead and herself stranded, when Mosby Marlin finds her with his expensive buggy and his fine pair of horses.
02 Baton Rouge — Lorena at seventeen, both parents dead and herself stranded, when Mosby Marlin finds her with his expensive buggy and his fine pair of horses.
The big drafty house near Gladewater at night — no glass in the windows, smoke pots burning against the mosquitoes, and the Marlin women staring.
03 The big drafty house near Gladewater at night — no glass in the windows, smoke pots burning against the mosquitoes, and the Marlin women staring.
The morning after Mosby settles a gambling debt with two of his friends — Lorena standing over him with his own quirt, having cut his face open.
04 The morning after Mosby settles a gambling debt with two of his friends — Lorena standing over him with his own quirt, having cut his face open.
Two days in the cellar, and no food brought down.
05 Two days in the cellar, and no food brought down.
Lorena leaves with John Tinkersley, and the best Mosby can salvage is selling him a horse for her, plus the runaway sister's sidesaddle.
06 Lorena leaves with John Tinkersley, and the best Mosby can salvage is selling him a horse for her, plus the runaway sister's sidesaddle.
San Antonio — two hotel rooms, pretty clothes bought with the price of her horse, and Tinkersley spending money to have his fingernails cut.
07 San Antonio — two hotel rooms, pretty clothes bought with the price of her horse, and Tinkersley spending money to have his fingernails cut.
On the road to Matamoros, the real fight — Lorena with Tinkersley's own pistol pushed into his stomach, pulling a trigger that will not fire because the gun has to be cocked first.
08 On the road to Matamoros, the real fight — Lorena with Tinkersley's own pistol pushed into his stomach, pulling a trigger that will not fire because the gun has to be cocked first.
Lorena buttons her dress and hands the ten-dollar gold piece back — it ain't worth ten dollars — and Gus puts it in his pocket and suggests they go down and play cards.
09 Lorena buttons her dress and hands the ten-dollar gold piece back — it ain't worth ten dollars — and Gus puts it in his pocket and suggests they go down and play cards.