Return of the Native Book 5 Chapter 7

In which the restless Eustacia, enshrouded in a night both tempestuous and gloomy, prepares for a secretive departure from her grandfather’s home, grappling inwardly with thwarted desires and the harsh realities of her circumstance, while an uneasy watcher observes her in the shadows. Meanwhile, in a humble cottage, a superstitious mother endeavours by uncanny rites to counteract what she perceives as a dark influence emanating from the moorland’s enigmatic inhabitant.