The Coffee Trader

After his success at the exchange, Miguel moves out of Daniel’s house into his own home, but not before confronting Daniel about the money he owes from the whale oil. Daniel is angry at Miguel for his apparent ungratefulness and his ruthless destruction of Parido: “I had always thought you lax and undisciplined, too free with drink and women, but I had never before thought you a villain” (357). Miguel disagrees with Daniel’s assessment of him but says he won’t take the matter before the Ma’amad: “I leave it to your own sense of right and wrong to act as you see fit” (357).

On the specified day, Geertruid meets Miguel at the exchange, where he is selling off his 90 barrels of coffee. Geertruid is confused, as the success of their plan required him to buy. Miguel informs her that although Geertruid’s agents in Iberia were instructed to buy, Miguel secretly dismissed all the other agents, thus resulting in a loss for Geertruid and a gain for himself. He tells her that he suspects the 3,000 guilders she gave him came from Parido. Geertruid says this will ruin her financially and asks why he would do this. Miguel answers, “Because you deceived me and betrayed me” (359).

Daniel finds the book that Miguel gave Hannah and confronts her about it. Hannah says it was a gift from Miguel. Daniel asks if Miguel has given her anything else, and Hannah answers, with her hands on her belly, “He gave me this child” (361). Though Hannah expects Daniel to be furious with her and beat her, he is instead “broken and defeated” (362). He tells her that he will ask the Ma’amad for a divorce and will leave Amsterdam. Though Hannah is uncertain if Miguel will take her in, Daniel is sure he will, saying, “He has honor enough” (362).

Hannah goes to Miguel’s house and tells him what she’s done. Miguel asks if she will obey him if he takes her as a wife. Hannah says she will obey a little, and Miguel answers, “Good. A little is all I require” (364).

Miguel sees Parido in the Flyboat. Parido tells him that he had no dealings with Geertruid: “As near as I can tell, she was a perfectly honest slut who wanted nothing more than to aid you. And you destroyed her” (369).

Miguel finds Geertruid drunk at a tavern and demands to know if she was working for Parido. Geertruid had never even heard the name Parido until Miguel mentioned him, and she admits she borrowed the 3,000 guilders from Alferonda. Now he is looking for her, and so she is escaping the city tonight. Geertruid tells Miguel that she is “a thief, but no villain” (370) and reveals that she and Hendrick are actually Charming Pieter and his Goodwife Mary.

Miguel regrets cheating her, but Geertruid says it is her fault. She apologizes for frightening Hannah, and then she leaves. Miguel drinks a lot of wine before going in search of Alferonda.

In his “Factual and Revealing Memoirs,” Alferonda describes how Miguel shows up at his house, very drunk, and is let in by his manservant Roland. Alferonda explains that neither Parido nor Geertruid had plotted against Miguel the way he imagined. Parido entered the coffee trade prior to Miguel and was simply trying to hold onto his investment, and Geertruid thought that Miguel would be a good business partner. Miguel protests that Parido and Geertruid did not have to be ruined the way the way they were, but Alferonda disagrees. Regarding Parido, he says, “He’ll never again be elected to the Ma’amad, and his days of power are over […] I’ve done our people a great service, Miguel, by knocking him down” (377-78). As far as Geertruid is concerned, Alferonda believes that, as a thief and a trickster, “she will always do well for herself” (378).

Furious with Alferonda, Miguel tells him, “I’ll never forgive you” (379) before leaving. Once he is gone, Alferonda tells Roland that Annetje can come out of hiding.

Miguel has trouble sleeping, knowing he destroyed Geertruid and Parido without cause. Suddenly there is a pounding at the door. It is Hendrick, with cuts on his face and blood on his shirt. Hendrick asks for the 50 guilders Miguel said he would pay him for beating Joachim. Miguel protests that he never asked Hendrick to do it, but Hendrick replies, “The deed is done, and I need the money” (381). Giving him the money, Miguel asks why he did it. Hendrick explains that Geertruid made him promise not to hurt Miguel after he learned what Miguel had done to her, so he focused his anger on Joachim instead. Miguel searches for Joachim to bring him gifts but is told that Joachim and his wife have left town.

A few weeks later, Miguel and Hannah get married. Hannah gives birth to a son, Samuel, whom Miguel loves like his true child. However, Hannah later gives birth to a second son, and Miguel realizes that he prefers this child to the first, just as his father preferred Daniel. He believes there is nothing to be done about this, as “some things, he had come to conclude, were merely in a person’s nature” (384).