Chapter 20 Summary

The chapter begins with Elizabeth-Jane feeling mystified at Michael's behavior; since his passionate announcement, the he is her father he has become cold and critical of her behavior. Examples of this come when he criticizes her for speaking in the "low" dialect of the area and for having an unorthodox handwriting style. He also feels that she is too nice to the servants, and becomes outraged when he learns that she had worked at the Three Mariners pub as a house cleaner and had served Farfrae. While Michael is worried about his reputation in the town, Elizabeth-Jane fears that he is acting this way because she is unlearned and so she decides to start reading and improving herself.

Elizabeth-Jane goes to visit her mother's grave, which she finds comforting. On one visit, she meets a stranger who is very kind to her. The...