The Mill on the Floss Book the 2nd Chapter VII - The Golden Gates Are Passed

In which Tom and Maggie, now grown and marked by the changes wrought by time and school, receive tidings of their family’s grievous misfortune that shatters their youthful hopes and illusions. They depart together from the sheltered haven of childhood into a world overshadowed by loss and sorrow, where the once unclouded sunshine of their days is forever obscured.