Seating Arrangements

Winn Van Meter is a 59-year-old patriarch. He′s heading from Connecticut to his family′s island retreat of Waskeke. Normally this would be a haven of calm and solitude. But for the next three days, this sanctuary will be overrun by relatives and friends as Winn prepares for his daughter Daphne′s wedding to Greyson Duff.

The Duffs have produced four sons. Winn is father to two girls. The memory of Winn′s father Tipton is an ever-present reminder of his apparent failures in life. His failure to produce a son: a son that would attend Harvard with a proud Winn leading him to his paisley clad room, regaling him with stories of his own sorority antics; the Ophidian club and the pursuit of girls.

Winn has never really understood his daughters; his daughter Daphne is heavily pregnant, achieving her dream of settling down with a fine match. By contrast, his daughter Livia is nursing a broken heart. Teddy Fenn left her following an aborted pregnancy, and has now joined the family tradition of enlisting in the Army. Unable to reconcile herself with this loss and having disgraced herself at the Ophidian Club, Winn can′t help but resent Livia. The Fenns are old money, widely respected and part of the infamous Pequod Club, whose doors are still shut to Winn. Tipton van Meter entered the Harvard world as "new money" and it′s a tag which Winn is still trying to shake off.

Winn′s wife Biddy has arranged the wedding with military precision. Winn loves her but is questioning whether this is enough; he′s looking for excitement and the validation that would come with being a mem ber of the Pequod. Excitement comes in the form of Daphne′s bridesmaid Agatha; slim, tanned and confident, a semi-clad Agatha frolics around Waskeke taunting Winn at every turn. What should be a happy weekend instead prompts Winn to ask questions about his life: did he marry the right woman? Did he make the most of his youth? And most importantly, why is he still being refused entry to the Pequod Club?