The French Lieutenant's Woman

Chapter 1:

The chapter is prefaced by a stanza of a two-part poem by Hardy titled, "The

Riddle," which describes a woman devoting her full attention "west/ Over the sea".

The first four paragraphs of the chapter describe Lyme Bay in 1867, focusing
particularly on the stone quay - "the Cobb." The beauty of this simple "fragment of
folk art" awes the author: we learn it is historically important as well as
aesthetically pleasing. The narrator remarks that the Cobb has remained much
unchanged from the time that the novel is set to the present day. The description of
the town of Lyme Regis that follows is less impressive; the narrator notes that it
"has been declining" since its "heyday in the Middle Ages."
We are introduced to two young people walking along the quay, both fashionably
dressed and evidently high in status. The only other person to which the narration
pays attention is a mysterious figure standing on the far end of the Cobb, dressed
simply and entirely in black.

Chapter 2:

The couple, Ernestina and Charles, engages in light and somewhat formal
flirtation; we learn that they are thinking of getting married, but that Ernestina's
father objects to Charles' belief in Darwin's theories, and that Charles has upset
him by maintaining that humans have evolved from apes. Charles is a scientist,
primarily interested in fossils, and he examines some specimens on the Cobb. We
also learn that while Charles is titled - that is, he is aristocratic - Ernestina's social
position relies on money, as her father is a businessman.

Charles notices that the figure in black is a woman, although he initially mistook
her for a man. Ernestina realizes that the woman is the locally notorious "Tragedy,"
also called "the French Lieutenant's Woman" because of her rumored affair with a
lieutenant who seduced and then left her, and whom she looks for every day from
the Cobb. Despite Ernestina's misgivings, Charles is intrigued and wants to
approach "Tragedy," and he makes a remark about fearing for her safety in the
increasingly stormy weather. The woman says nothing, but she looks at Charles
and he is absolutely struck by the immeasurable sorrow in her expression. Charles
and Ernestina walk away; he comments that he wished he hadn't heard the "sordid
facts" of Tragedy's story.
Chapter 3:

Chapter 3 opens with Charles in front of the mirror, reflecting on a "sentiment of

obscure defeat" that seems to have many sources: he is worried about the
superficiality of his relationship with Ernestina, among other things. The narrator
comments that if Charles could see into the future, as he himself can, he would be
shocked more than anything by how obsessed modern-day humans are with saving
time, as if they are trying to mimic "a perfect lightning flash". Charles himself feels
as though he has plenty of time ahead of him which he can fill at his leisure; he is,
after all "only thirty-two years old".We are reminded that Charles is also unaware
of many of the huge revolutionary ideas that are being born in 1867; the narrator
tells us that Marx is, at the precise time that the novel is set, working on his famous
communist pamphlets that will shake the modern world.

The rest of the chapter is dedicated to outlining Charles' personal and family
history. His grandfather was a baronet, and some of his money has come down to
Charles, his father's sole heir (and now an orphan). Charles is also eventually
expecting a large fortune from his uncle, with whom he has a pleasant but slightly
changeable relationship, due to his uncle's distrust of Charles' "sinister fondness"
for books, and the nephew's scandalous exploits in Cambridge, London, and Paris
during his early 20s. During this wild period, Charles swung between sin and
repentance; he was eventually purged of his hope to join the clergy, and settled
down in London as a well-off bachelor and a "healthy agnostic". He developed an
interest in paleontology and was wooed by many girls, all of whom he led on and
none of whom he felt any desire to settle down with, to the disappointment of his
uncle.

Chapter 4:

We are here introduced to Mrs. Poulteney, the woman who took in Tragedy, or the
French Lieutenant's Woman, a year before Charles and Ernestina first saw her on
the Cobb (Chapter 1). Mrs. Poulteney owns a large house in the town of Lyme
Regis and has many servants, all of whom she keeps close watch over, lest they
should bring either of her two greatest enemies, Dirt and Immorality, into the
house. Renowned for her almost-sadistic way of working her staff too hard, Mrs.
Poulteney also enjoys an improbable reputation for charity among the
townspeople, because she took in the French Lieutenant's Woman (without
knowing very much, admittedly, about her reputation), and because she gives quite
a bit of money to the local church.
Despite her charitable donations to the vicar of Lyme, Mrs. Poulteney has always
compared herself to her peers in terms of levels of charity, and has always worried
about whether she does enough good works to avoid Hell and get herself into
heaven. A conversation with the vicar leads her to the idea of taking on a woman in
difficult circumstances as a companion, and thereby to assuage her conscience. The
vicar suggests Sarah Woodruff as a candidate for the position - this, we must
assume, is the real name of Tragedy.

Chapter 5:

While the previous chapters were dedicated to Charles and Mrs. Poulteney,
Chapter 5 turns its attention to Ernestina, Charles' fashionable fiancée - this scene
takes place at the same time as Charles' mirror-contemplation in Chapter 3.
Ernestina watches him leave the house, admiring his appearance and resenting him
for tipping his hat to an attractive maid. Ernestina is beautiful, the narrator tells us,
with a delicate complexion and a slightly flirtatious demeanor that distinguishes
her slightly from the "prim little moppets" among her female peers. She is staying
with her Aunt Tranter on her overprotective parents' request - they believe she is
consumptive, and think the sea air will cure her - but she is used to London society
life, and resents being in Lyme at all.
In front of the mirror, Ernestina undresses partway, and loosens her hair - she
imagines herself as a "wicked" woman like an actress or a dancer, and this thought
is accompanied by a sexual thought that is so disturbing that she pulls on a
dressing-gown and tries to think about other things. Sex terrifies Ernestina: she
knows very little about it other than that it is a violent act of "pain and brutality"
which "haunt[s] her mind". She is caught between wanting a husband and children,
and desperately not wanting to deliver the painful "payment" for these things; her
reaction is to suppress all thoughts about sex and sexuality with the mantra 'I must
not'.

Ernestina opens her diary, crosses off one day on the list of days and weeks until
her wedding, and smells a sprig of jasmine flowers that she has kept pressed
between the pages. She tries to conjure up the associated memory - an incredibly
happy one, on which "she had thought she would die of joy" - but the sound of her
aunt's footsteps on the stairs cause her to hastily put the diary away.

Chapter 6:

Mrs. Poulteney and the vicar continue their conversation about Sarah as a possible
candidate for her charity - the vicar tells Mrs. Poulteney Sarah's age (about 30) and
some of her background. She is the daughter of a farmer who has received a
surprisingly good education, and was a governess for some time; in fact, it was
while at her last post that she met the infamous French lieutenant, who stayed with
her employer after his barque ran ashore and wooed her, promising to marry her.
Sarah gave in notice, the vicar says, and went to follow the Frenchman to
Weymouth, where her "strong Christian principles" prevented any of his sexual
advances from being met with success (33). Now she is prone to attacks of
madness and melancholy, and can be seen haunting the Cobb.
Mrs. Poulteney is scandalized by this story, however gently the vicar has tried to
dispense the news, but the vision of one of her "saintly" peers who runs a home for
'fallen women' compels her to go through with the plan. Sarah pleases her during
their first meeting because she looks totally devastated by her circumstances; she
writes down a dictated letter perfectly as proof of her intellectual competence, and
reads well from the Bible. Mrs. Poulteney, feeling generous, decides to take her on;
we learn that Sarah has accepted this position, despite having turned down many
before, because the house has a good view of the bay, and because she has only a
few pence left to her name.

Chapter 7:

We return to Charles in this chapter - a Charles in much better humor than the
introspective worrier of Chapter 3. He wakes up on the right side of the bed, so to
speak, and revels in the "warm spring air" and sunlight that is pouring into his
room. Such lovely weather is unusual in Lyme Regis, and it makes Charles marvel
at how "supremely well" everything around him is; he calls the country "charming"
and teases his manservant Sam good-naturedly. Sam is not in good humor - a girl
across the street has insulted him - and Charles' poking fun at him does nothing to
lighten his mood.

Charles sends Sam to get his breakfast, and contemplates himself in the mirror for
the second time in the novel so far. His reflection is pleasing; he pulls faces of
sternness and euphoria and admires his "very regular" features. It is during this
inspection that he feels a "tiny wave of the previous day's ennui" wash over him:
he looks "faintly foolish," he thinks, and more innocent and aimless than self-
possessed and impressive. He begins to shave.

The rest of the chapter is devoted to describing his relationship with his
manservant, Sam Farrow. The two are relatively close; their relationship shows a
"human bond" and a "kind of affection" that is often absent from master-servant
relations. Sam is a Cockney and a member of the lower class, but he aspires to rise
in society, and cultivates an interest in horses and fashion in the hopes that these
markers of class will raise his status. Charles treats him kindly, more or less, but
considers Sam as his "Sancho Panza," his companion whose main purpose is to
provide services and low humor, and to listen to all of Charles' witticisms and
schoolboy puns - and Sam resents this dynamic somewhat.

Chapter 8:

Charles presents himself at Ernestina's house, but she has a headache and is not to
be disturbed, so he decides to spend his "free hours" scouting the cliffs for
discoveries of paleontological interest. The narrator spends the next three
paragraphs outlining the geological conditions that make Lyme Regis such a good
place to look for fossils, describing the history of fossil-collecting there
(Mary Anning, probably the most famous fossil-finder of all time, made her
discoveries in this area, and the Charles pays a visit the shop she set up).
Charles is currently obsessed with petrified sea urchins, or 'tests', primarily for the
reason that they are difficult to discover and he has a lot of "time to fill". He sets
off for the coast, dressed in an absurd amount of gear. Charles selects a piece of
ammonite that is "pretty enough" for Ernestina to like, and resolves to give it to
her. The time passes quickly; he notices that it is suddenly two o'clock, and he has
not yet reached the cliff where he had intended to start - he walks quickly up the
path and promptly sits down to observe the scenery around him.

Chapter 9:

This chapter flashes back to the time before Sarah began working for Mrs.
Poulteney. Unsure of whether she wants to join the household, given Mrs.
Poulteney's reputation for being overly strict with her staff, Sarah asks her friend
and former employer Mrs. Talbot for advice. Mrs. Talbot is worried that Sarah will
end up homeless and penniless, and she encourages Sarah to apply for the position.
There is a description of Sarah, highlighting her unusually acute sense of other
people's personalities, and we learn that Sarah did not stay at a female cousin's
house while at Weymouth, as the vicar led Mrs. Poulteney to believe in Chapter 4
(this suggests that she stayed with the French lieutenant, and that she most likely is
no longer a virgin). Sarah's personal history is briefly outlined: despite being the
daughter of a struggling farmer, she has received a fairly decent education, and is
now left, on account of this education, stranded between the lower and the middle
classes as an unmarried governess. Her father died in Dorchester Asylum after
driving himself mad, trying to make his failing farm turn a profit.

The narrative skips forward, to a morning a few weeks after Sarah received her
position from Mrs. Poulteney. The house is changed for the better by Sarah's
presence: Mrs. Poulteney is less severe and intolerant, and no one has been fired
since Sarah showed genuine sympathy in front of Mrs. Poulteney to a maid, Millie,
who was being threatened with dismissal. Sarah has also been delivering the
servants' daily prayer, and her beautiful voice inspires her colleagues to be
"genuinely attentive and sometimes positively religious". Her religious recitations
from the Bible with Mrs. Poulteney, upstairs in the mistress' living quarters, are
similarly powerful, and she occasionally moves both herself and Mrs. Poulteney to
tears. Another important duty that she fulfills at the house is that of delivering
moralizing pamphlets from Mrs. Poulteney to the inhabitants of Lyme, thereby
doing good on Mrs. Poulteney's behalf, and doing a kind of "public penance" for
herself.
Sarah's presence in Mrs. Poulteney's house does cause some difficulties and
annoyances. Sarah is allowed little free time to lave the house, until one day she
breaks down crying and is diagnosed as melancholic by the local doctor. He
suggests that she be allowed "more fresh air and freedom"; Mrs. Poulteney
reluctantly agrees. There is the difficulty of visitors, some of whom are upset by
Sarah's unremittingly sorrowful face; luckily, Sarah is perceptive enough to know
when to stay and when to remove herself from the conversation. The worst thing
that Sarah does, however, is continue to show signs of longing for the French
lieutenant who ruined her reputation. She refuses to tell Mrs. Poulteney the details
of her affair with him, but Mrs. Poulteney's housekeeper, Mrs. Fairley, brings back
the news that Sarah can always be seen on her free afternoons on the Cobb,
looking out to sea. Mrs. Poulteney confronts Sarah about this behavior, and they
come to a compromise: Sarah must not be caught looking out from the Cobb, but
she can walk by the sea on occasion.

Sarah obeys Mrs. Poulteney's wishes, and she rarely stands on the Cobb anymore
(Chapter 1 describes one of her infrequent visits). There is no news for Mrs.
Fairley to report back to Mrs. Poulteney - except, eventually, that Sarah has been
walking on Ware Commons, a detail that shocks Mrs. Poulteney, although the
reader does not know why.

Chapter 10:

Ware Commons is the eastern half of the coastal feature called the 'Undercliff' - a
densely vegetated and almost tropical slope that is uninhabited, and whose steep
crevices and "sudden falls" make it dangerous to walk around. It is the same place
that Charles was searching for fossils in Chapter 8, and we pick up his narrative
with almost the same sentence as we left off on. He attempts to survey the
landscape dispassionately, from a scientist's perspective, but the wild beauty of the
place "force[s] him into anti-science" and appreciation of the nature, which makes
him sad, because he cannot stay there forever.
Charles abandons his train of thought and continues his fossil hunt - and then he
looks over the edge of the plateau and sees "a figure". He first mistakes the
woman's body for a corpse, then realizes she is merely sleeping, and then
recognizes her as the French Lieutenant's woman. Charles walks down to her,
trying to see her from a closer viewpoint; she wakes up and looks at him in "shock
and bewilderment" before he apologizes for disturbing her. Charles leaves without
a reply to his apology, waits briefly to see if she will catch up with him, and then
continues on his way.

Chapter 11:

Ernestina sulkily consults her diary and broods on the lack of activity in her life in
Lyme Regis. She suspects Charles of flirting with Mary on his way to drop off
flowers, and this leads her to brood about his past loves, of which she knows very
little (we learn from the narrator that this is because Charles has “never really been
in love”). Ernestina rings the bell for Mary, to whom we are properly introduced:
she is a delightful, well-liked, and pretty maid who enjoys flirting with men and
who envies Ernestina her fashionable dresses and handsome fiancé. Mary tells
Ernestina that it was Charles’ servant Sam who brought the flowers, and Ernestina
commands a defiant Mary to be more discreet when interacting with men.
Ernestina returns to bed to write her diary, and the narrator treats us to the story of
how she and Charles first met and how managed to get him to propose to her. It is
not an extraordinary story: they meet at a soirée at a mutual friend’s house, and
enjoyed each other’s “dryness” and “intellectual superiority”. Ernestina takes care
to flirt with other men and never mention marriage around Charles, and eventually
a remark about his being a “sour old bachelor” ignites Charles sexual frustration
and the fear that life is passing him by, and he decides that he is in love with her.
Two days later, he proposes, and he and Ernestina share a “chastely asexual” kiss.

Chapter 12:

Charles walks down from Ware Commons to sate his hunger with a bowl of milk
from a local farm called 'The Dairy'. He sees Sarah coming out of the woods, and
inquires whether the farmer knows her - the man calls her The French Lieutenant's
Whore and expresses his disgust for her immorality. Charles, angered by this
vulgar nickname, sets out after Sarah to try to catch up with her. Her face, when he
reaches her, has its typical "extraordinary effect" on Charles, and he is taken aback
as he tries to apologize for various misdemeanors toward her. Sarah firmly rejects
his proposal to walk with her, saying with a "kind of despair" that she "prefer[s] to
walk alone".

Charles stops at Mrs. Tranter's house to visit his fiancée, to whom he recounts the
events of his day (but does not mention his encounters with Sarah).

Before we rejoin the narrative of Sarah, when she arrives back at Mrs. Poulteney's
house, the narrator pauses to explain why Mrs. Poulteney was so shocked by the
news of Sarah's walks on Ware Commons at the end of Chapter 9. The place is
known in Lyme as being the nearest place you can go to avoid being "spied on,"
and so poachers and lovers alike make use of the land for their frowned-upon
activities. When Sarah returns from her walk, Mrs. Poulteney is waiting for her.
She accuses her of being "wicked" for having gone walking on Ware Commons,
but Sarah denies this, saying that there is nothing wrong with wanting to walk
somewhere where she can be alone. Nonetheless, Mrs. Poulteney forbids her from
walking there any more, and Sarah agrees to obey this command.
We jump to Sarah's room later that night, where she is preparing to throw herself
out of the window and commit suicide. However, the narrator reminds us that she
is still alive two weeks later, and reassures us that she does not jump.

Chapter 13:

This chapter has almost no plot. It is entirely focused on the narratorial voice,
which reminds us that the narrator has created all the characters, and is deciding
what they do - although his plans are not "fixed," because he is letting the world of
the novel grow organically, to some extent. He compares the novelist to a god, and
brings into question the dichotomy of 'real' and 'fiction'. Finally, he reminds us that
Sarah did not jump, and tells us that she continues to visit Ware Commons, in spite
of being forbidden to do so by Mrs. Poulteney.

Chapter 14:

Charles, Ernestina, and Aunt Tranter pay a visit to Mrs. Poulteney at Marlborough
house. The narrator mocks the custom of these visits, which interest nobody and
only serve to increase the social standing of the party who receives the most
"important" visitors. Sarah tries to excuse herself from the parlor, but Mrs.
Poulteney insists that she stays. Charles watches her throughout the visit, but she
remains silent and blank-faced, ignored by Mrs. Poulteney and by Ernestina.
The women discuss Mary, who used to work for Mrs. Poulteney. She has been
seen talking with a strange man, Mrs. Poulteney says - Charles objects, saying that
it was just his servant, but Mrs. Poulteney and Ernestina insist that Mary and Sam
need to behave more appropriately when interacting with each other. Charles is
annoyed at Ernestina's "bigotry" and resolves to talk to Sam.

Chapter 15:

Ernestina feels terrible about her actions during the visit at Marlborough house,
and she throws herself into Charles' arms, sobbing and asking for forgiveness. The
two young lovers kiss briefly, and make up. Ernestina gives one of her old dresses
to Mary out of guilt; Mary is thrilled with the gift.

In order to provoke Sam into confessing his love for Mary - which he has furiously
denied so far - Charles tells Sam that he wants him to return to Kensington,
because the manservant is no longer needed in Lyme Regis. Sam says that he
would rather stay, and admits that his feelings toward Mary have changed. Charles
warns him that Mary is a sensitive girl, not to be trifled with, and Sam promises
not to break her heart.

Chapter 16:

Five uneventful days pass for Charles and Ernestina, filled with games like archery
and serious discussions about their living situation after their marriage. Ernestina
reads sentimental historical poems out loud to Charles, who falls asleep from
boredom.

Charles goes to the beach to look for his favorite fossils ("tests"), and after forty
minutes of searching, he sees Sarah Woodruff coming down the path toward him.
He is happy to see her, but she is embarrassed, and moves forward to pass him so
quickly that she falls over. Sarah seems to want Charles to leave her alone, but he
is determined to stay. He begins to tell her that he knows about her reputation but
thinks she is innocent, but is interrupted by two poachers who arrive (Sarah runs
off before they can see her with him).
When their conversation resumes, Charles offers Sarah some help finding a job in
London, saying that he thinks she needs to get away from the "bigots" of Lyme.
Sarah refuses, on the grounds that such kindness is "cruel" to her, a comment that
exasperates Charles. He asks her about the French lieutenant, and she says bitterly
that she knows her former lover will never come back, because she has received a
letter telling her that he is married now.

Chapter 17:

Charles, Ernestina, and Aunt Tranter attend a musical concert. Ernestina is in high
spirits, commenting on the rest of the audience's clothes and manners. When the
concert begins, Charles becomes introspective. He has not told Ernestina about his
meeting with Sarah, and Ernestina is beginning to seem a little "characterless" and
"monotonous" to him. Charles admits to himself that Sarah attracts him, possibly
because she symbolizes a different potential future than the "conventional" future
that awaits him with Ernestina.
The romance between Ernestina and Charles' servants has been blossoming for the
past week. Sam, the confident and cynical Cockney who knows everything about
city life, has fallen for Mary. The two discuss Sam’s ambition to own a clothing-
store, despite lack of money and education. He promises to show Mary around
London once Ernestina and Charles are married. On the night of the concert, they
sit in the kitchen, holding hands.

Chapter 18:

Ernestina has a migraine, and so Charles has a free afternoon. He decides to go

fossil hunting, and specifically changes his route so that he will not run into Sarah
Woodruff. Nevertheless, she appears on the same stretch of land - she admits to
having followed him - and hands over two excellent 'tests'. Her beauty strikes him
in the afternoon light, and he explains the features of the fossils to her. Sticking to
his plan, Charles tries to disengage from the conversation and leave, but Sarah
wants to talk: she thanks him again for his offer of help in Chapter 16, and
describes how alone and in pain she feels among so many supposedly Christian
people who aren't compassionate enough to understand what she has suffered.
Charles tries to keep the conversation on a more acceptable subject, but Sarah
sinks to her knees and declares that she wants to tell him "what happened eighteen
months ago". She has been considering suicide, and is desperate for some help. She
believes that he can understand her.

Charles, scandalized, says that he "must go". Sarah tells him the days when she
will be walking in the Undercliff, and begs him for "an hour of [his] time" so that
she can tell him her story; he reluctantly agrees. As he leaves the scene - as fast as
he can - he understands that he is "about to engage in the forbidden".

Chapter 19:

Charles and Ernestina throw a surprise party for Aunt Tranter at the White Lion,
with Dr. Grogan acting as a fourth member of the party. Although he normally
enjoys such parties, Charles is a little broody, reflecting on both the "stifling
propriety" of his generation, and Ernestina's shallowness.
The doctor and Charles share a drink of toddy at the doctor's house; they discuss
Latin, science, and politics. Charles brings up Sarah Woodruff, and the doctor
explains that he has diagnosed her with melancholia and that to get better, she
needs to leave Lyme Regis - but that he has offered her a governess job with a
colleague of his, and she flatly refused. The doctor says that such extreme cases of
melancholia are rare, and that Sarah wants to be a "sacrificial victim".
Sarah is asleep in her room, and she is sharing her bed with Mille, the servant-girl
whom she saved from Mrs. Poulteney's wrath in Chapter 9. They have been
sleeping together - perhaps with sexual feelings for each other, but without
anything sexual happening between them - for a while now.
Charles and the doctor continue discussing science, and both admit to be being
passionate Darwinists as they keep drinking and talking through the night.

Chapter 20:

Sarah and Charles meet again while out walking, and she hands him another test
before taking him to "a secluded place" that she knows. She tells him about her
meeting with Varguennes, the Frenchman who was washed ashore and with whom
she is accused of having an affair. Sarah explains how she had hated being
governess in a happy family with no prospects of marrying and having her own
home, and how Varguennes convinced her to come to Weymouth to see him and
then come back to France with him. When she arrived in Weymouth, she met him
at a disreputable inn, and realized straight away that he had not been seriously in
love with her, and wouldn't have missed her if she hadn't come. She tells Charles
that she "gave [her]self to him" and had sex with him.

She goes on to talk about how she made the choice consciously, precisely because
she wanted to "marr[y] shame" and become the object of vile suspicions, "truly not
like other women," but Charles can't understand her meaning. He imagines the
scene of her "giving herself" to the French lieutenant, and imagines himself in the
Frenchman's place. Charles sits back down, his heart beating fast.

Chapter 21:

Charles and Sarah continue their discussion. He strongly advises her to leave Lyme
Regis, because she can never fit in there. She seems to be persuaded to go, and
Charles says that he will pay for her travel. They hear a laugh, and follow its sound
- below them are Mary and Sam, walking together and kissing, obviously in love.
Sarah smiles for the first time in the novel, and Charles feels a strong urge to reach
out and touch her. He resists this impulse, and tells her that they must never meet
alone again. The two part ways.
Chapter 22:

Charles congratulates himself for having "escaped unscathed" from his encounter
with Sarah, and he resolves to now "remove himself...for good" from her influence.
When he arrives back at his hotel, he has a telegram from his uncle, urgently
requesting his presence. Charles thinks his uncle is about to offer to bequeath him
one of the family houses. Ernestina, who doesn't much like Uncle Robert,
reluctantly agrees to accept the offer.

Chapter 23:

Charles arrives back at the house where he grew up, and is greeted by the laundry
maid who was a substitute mother for him during his childhood. He is pleased to
be back, and feels as if he has been "call[ed] to the throne" of his inheritance.
There are some things that aren't quite right, however: there are new curtains for
the first time in years, Charles' uncle isn't there to greet him, and a stuffed animal
trophy that has come to symbolize Uncle Robert's love for Charles is nowhere to
be seen.

We learn what happened to Sarah the day before when she said goodbye to
Charles: she walked boldly out of the woods, instead of trying to hide herself, and
was seen by Mrs. Fairley.

Chapter 24:

Back in Lyme now, Charles discusses his trip with a furious Ernestina. Uncle
Robert has decided to marry again, to a widow young enough to produce an heir -
in which case Charles would no longer inherit Robert's property. Charles begs
Ernestina to accept the news with "good...grace," but she is very upset. Charles
learns from Ernestina and Aunt Tranter that Sarah has been dismissed from Mrs.
Poulteney's service, and that she hasn't been seen since.

Chapter 25:

A note has arrived at Charles' hotel - Sarah begs to see him "one last time". The
next day, she sends another note, this one in French, with one last appeal. Charles
is upset that she is risking his reputation in this way; he asks his manservant Sam
to keep the note secret from Mrs. Tranter. He decides though, in a fit of wild
emotion, that he has to "talk to someone" and "lay bare his soul," so he leaves the
hotel without telling Sam where he is going.
Chapter 26:

Charles' manservant Sam is in love with Mary and desperate for cash to open the
clothing store which is his dream. The news that Charles will not inherit Winsyatt
comes as a blow to Sam, who had been planning to enjoy his position as butler
there if he hadn't managed to make his shop-dream come true. Sam begins to
vaguely think about blackmail - he recognizes the significance of Charles' desire to
keep the notes from Sarah secret.
We flash back to the conversation between Charles and his uncle, which proceeds
civilly. Uncle Robert's new fiancée is "disagreeably young" and reminds Charles of
Sarah - he knows that Ernestina will not be able to match this woman's strong
spirit. When he leaves, Charles is upset by the thought that he will have to be
financially dependent on Ernestina, now that he will not be inheriting the estate.

Chapter 27:

The person Charles chooses to go to is Doctor Grogan, with whom he spent such a
pleasant evening of male camaraderie in Chapter 19. He tells Doctor Grogan that
he has a "private and very personal matter to discuss," and Grogan assumes
instantly from his long experience dealing with young affianced men that it must
be about sex. Charles tells him "almost all the truth" about his meetings with Sarah
so far, and Dr. Grogan sends a note to call back the search party that he has sent
out looking for Sarah - or Sarah's corpse. According to Dr. Grogan's hypothesis,
Sarah is trying to inspire as much pity in Charles as possible, because she finds
him attractive and intelligent, and thinks he is interested in her mostly because he
is sorry for her. This appalls Charles; he doesn't want to believe that Sarah could be
calculating enough to hurt herself with the intention of bringing him closer to her,
especially since he has a fiancée. But Dr. Grogan says he has known many
"prostitutes" who gloat over their married and engaged conquests.
Grogan encourages Charles to search his soul and understand his true desires and
motives; Charles admits that he is not "made for marriage" but has realized this
"too late". He doesn't think Ernestina will ever understand him, and he senses
"something" in Sarah that makes him attracted to her, despite her being too
"compromised" and "mentally diseased" to love. Dr. Grogan tells him to leave the
matter in his hands: he will go to Sarah and tell her Charles has left Lyme, and then
commit her to a private asylum if her melancholia does not improve. Charles will
pay the bill.
Chapter 28:

Dr. Grogan has given Charles a book to read about the phenomenon of 'hysteria'
and how a young girl's hysteria caused a Frenchman to be wrongfully convicted of
attempted rape. Initially, Charles is shocked by the text and identifies Sarah's
behavior as perverted and self-serving hysteria, but he soon realizes that he and Dr.
Grogan have both judged her wrongly. Charles feels ashamed, and decides to go
out into the night to find Sarah.

Chapter 29:

It is early morning in Lyme as Charles walks out to the Undercliff. He expects to

see Sarah at every turn, but she is nowhere to be found, until he reaches a small
barn. Sarah's black bonnet is hanging on a nail - Charles looks over the partition,
terrified of what he might find...

Chapter 30:

We flashback here to when Mrs. Poulteney dismissed Sarah from her service. The
mean old woman is furious, and Sarah calls her out on her "hypocrisy" and refuses
to take her wages, suggesting that Mrs. Poulteney buy an instrument of torture to
better abuse those who work for her. Mrs. Poulteney swoons and clutches at her
chest, and Sarah leaves to go cry in her bedroom.

Chapter 31:

Charles looks over the partition in the barn, and sees Sarah asleep. He calls her
name softly, gets no response, but when he leaves the barn Sarah calls him back,
and he goes to her. They talk briefly about Sarah's disappearance, and Sarah grabs
Charles' hand to kiss it passionately. Sarah confesses that she disobeyed Mrs.
Poulteney intentionally, knowing that she would be dismissed, and she begs for his
forgiveness. Charles thinks she is extremely beautiful. He pulls her toward him in a
tight embrace, kisses her, and then pushes her away violently and rushes away.

Chapter 32:

It is the previous night, and Ernestina is watching Charles' window across the
street, thinking that he is staying up late because he is upset with her reaction to his
disinheritance. She is contrite, and writes an emotional entry in her diary. The
following morning, Sam has to break the news to Mary that Charles wants to leave
Lyme Regis immediately, and Mary is distraught.