This
chapter is very short but quite significant to the novel as a whole. While one of the
stone pits near Silass house is being drained (for the first time in decades), the
skeleton of Dunstan Cass is discovered, along with the two sacks of gold he had stolen
sixteen years ago. It seems Dunstan didnt make it more than a few steps away from
Silass cottage before he slipped into the water pit in the darkness. This find inspires Godfrey to reveal his secret to Nancy
once and for all. "Nancy," said Godfrey, slowly, "when I married you, I hid
something from you something I ought to have told you. That woman Marner found dead
in the snow Eppies mother that wretched woman was my wife: Eppie
is my child."
This powerful statement overwhelms Nancy,
yet she doesnt seem at all bitter about it. She only regrets the fact that Godfrey
kept this from her so long. Otherwise, she admits, she would have been more than willing
to adopt Eppie as their own.
Yet the Cass couple still has hope. This
night they plan to visit Silas and tell him the news about Eppies father. This, they
hope, will convince him to give the eighteen-year-old Eppie to them as their child. |