Book 2: Chapters 15-19 Summary

In chapter fifteen, Stephen, devastated by the death of her father, decides to remain at Morton rather than go to Oxford. Puddle wants to help Stephen, to explain why her father so desperately wanted her to go to Oxford, but she cannot speak the truth out of fear of Lady Anna's reaction. Stephen refuses to concentrate on her studies. The only comfort Stephen can find is in the horses. However, an attempt to hunt without her father fails miserably and Stephen cannot do it again. Instead, Stephen sells off her father's hunting horses, keeping on her mother's carriage horses, her own two horses, and two of her father's beloved horses.

In chapter sixteen, Williams, the head groom, retires to his cottage on Morton property. A year passes, finding Stephen twenty-one, a rich and independent woman. One day, Stephen goes...