Summary — Jon Forsyte and the Wilmot picnic (circa 1 February 1924)

Setting and characters: Jon Forsyte, an Englishman convalescing in Camden, South Carolina, accepts an invitation from Francis Wilmot to a picnic at nearby Native American mounds. Attendees include the Hurrisons, the Blair girls and the English novelist Gurdon Minho. Francis’s sister Anne Wilmot—slim, brown-eyed, reserved—becomes the focal figure.

Inciting incident and development: En route, a conversation about a recent lynching exposes local racial attitudes and contrasts Jon’s English-educated insistence on legal process with Southern vigilantism. At the picnic Anne and Jon are mutually attracted but initially taciturn. Choosing to visit a farther mound together, they become lost in pine woods as dusk falls. They tether their horses in a hollow by an excavated mound, share cigarettes and chocolate, and sit back-to-back for warmth. The intimate, prolonged vigil evolves from protective restraint to emotional proximity; when the moon rises their mutual attraction becomes explicit.

Resolution: They find their way back; Francis’s initial suspicion is mollified. Jon accepts Anne’s invitation to visit the Wilmot plantation. During his stay he grows attached—learning music, riding and sharing domestic routines. On the final evening, after a quiet, charged ukulele duet, Jon embraces and kisses Anne, resolving the romantic tension.

Themes and tone: The episode juxtaposes regional social mores and racial discourse with a restrained, gradually consummated romance. The narrative emphasizes silence, physical proximity and the transition from decorum to intimate disclosure.