Silas Marner, Chapter 4 summary

What happens

1. Passing Silas Marner’s cottage, Dunstan imagines making Godfrey borrow the weaver’s savings, but continues toward the hunt to sell Wildfire.
2. Bryce agrees to pay a hundred and twenty for Wildfire, provided the horse reaches the Batherley stables unharmed.
3. Dunstan continues hunting, and Wildfire dies after striking a hedge stake during a jump.
4. Unable to afford another horse, Dunstan walks home through mist and darkness, then approaches Marner’s lighted cottage.
5. Finding the cottage empty and unlocked, Dunstan imagines that Marner might have fallen into the quarry.
6. Dunstan uncovers two heavy leather bags beneath the floor, restores their hiding place, and leaves with them.

In this chapter

What to notice

The narrator exposes how Dunstan lets desire replace evidence. His unsupported guess about Marner’s death helps him justify taking the money.

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