Various ominous happenings begin to take place at Bartram-Haugh; it becomes increasingly difficult for Maud and Millicent to find any route out of the estate; meanwhile, Dudley's courtship culminates in a marriage proposition to Maud; when she confronts Silas about it, he attempts to coax her into accepting. She is relieved when it emerges that Dudley is already married, and when, after being disowned by his father, he and his wife leave to set sail from Liverpool to New York. It is afterwards decided that Millicent should attend a boarding school in France, and Silas sends her away with the promise that Maud is to join her after three months.