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Silas Marner Chapter 21
Silas decides to return to Lantern Yard. He wants to talk to Mr. Paston, the minister, about the robbery and the drawing of the lots. Eppie is glad to accompany him, for she would have to tell Aaron about her trip to Silas's old country. For once, she would have to explain something to him. Dolly Winthrop agrees heartily with Silas's plan, for she believes that if he can be cleared from the wrongful accusation, he might live easier knowing his name in Lantern Yard is innocent.
Silas and Eppie arrive at Lantern Yard. Silas is surprised by the many changes thirty years have brought to Lantern Yard. He manages to find the old jail on Prison Street, which brings back painful memories, but the jail is the only place that remains of the Lantern Yard Silas knew. The dirty, grimy condition of the place and the sallow faces of the people horrify Eppie. Silas is equally horrified when he discovers that in place of the chapel lies a factory. Silas asks people if they know what happened to the chapel and the minister, but no one knows.
Silas sadly tells Dolly that the town he once knew no longer exists. He fears that his past will always haunt him and will always be dark, now that nothing of the real Lantern Yard exists. Dolly agrees with him, but she is quick to add that even though the "rights" do not tell the truth, it does not mean that there is no goodness or justice.
Silas says, "Since the time the child was sent to me and I've come to love her as myself, I've had light enough to trusten by; and now she says she'll never leave me, I think I shall trusten till I die" Chapter 21, pg. 215.
