It was already seven o'clock in the evening, and there was a freezing wind. Molly did not know she was very near Raveloe. Her legs were tired and the gin was beginning to make her feel sleepy. She thought she would rest for a while, and, still holding her child, she lay down on the snow. She did not notice that the ground was cold.

For some time now she had planned to come to Raveloe on New Year's Eve. She knew that her husband would be at the centre of a happy, smiling group of friends, and she had chosen this moment to appear in front of all his family and guests at the Red House dance. "I don't care if Godfrey is ashamed of mes!" she thought bitterly. "I want people to know we're married!" sometimes she hated her husband, because he was still handsome, and had money, while she was no longer pretty, and very poor. She blamed him for her miserable life, but in her heart she knew she should blame her drinking. It had become a habit with her to spend most of the money Godfrey gave her on gin. She had a bottle in her pocket now, which she had lifted to her lips several times during her journey.

But while Godfrey Cass was managing to forget his problems by the lovely Nancy's side, his wife was walking with slow, uncertain steps along the snow covered road to Rayeloe. She was carrying her sleeping child in her arms.

In a few moments the child woke up, crying, "Mummy!" But the mother did not seem to hear. Suddenly, as the child fell gently out of its mother's arms on to the soft snow, it noticed a bright, dancing light on the white ground. Interested, the child stood up to see where the brightness came from, and followed the light to an open door, the door of Silas Marner's cottage. The little one toddled right in through the door and sat down by the bright fire. After a few minutes the child felt pleasantly warm, and fell asleep.

But where was Silas while this was happening? In the evenings he sometimes used to open his door and look out. He had some idea that his money would come back, or that some-one would come with information about the thief Tonight was New Year's Eve, and the villagers had told him to stay awake until midnight, because it would bring him good luck if he saw the beginning of the new year. So tonight he was more restless than usual. He opened his door several times during the evening, and stared out, but he saw and heard nothing in the silent, freezing night. The last time, as he was standing at the door, he had one of his fits, and stood there completely unconscious, holding the door open.

Just then the child woke up, and began to cry. Silas held it in his arms, and spoke softly to quieten it. He remembered that he had made some porridge earlier, and gave a little to the child to eat. She stopped crying, and lifted her blue eyes with a smile to Silas's face as she ate. But then she pulled at her wet shoes, trying to take them off, and Silas suddenly realized she had come to the cottage through the snow. So he picked her up and went to the door. As he opened it and went out into the dark, the child cried"Mummy!"and reached forward, almost jumping out of his arms. A few steps away, Silas found a young woman's body, half-covered with snow.

When he became conscious again, he closed the door and turned back to the fire. But when his shortsighted eyes looked at the floor in front of the fire, he seemed to see gold there! Gold -- his own gold -- taken and then brought back to him in the same strange way! His heart beat excitedly, and for a few moments he was unable to move. At last he reached out his hand to touch the gold, but instead of hard, metal coins his fingers felt soft, warm curls.

With great surprise Silas fell on his knees to look at this wonderful thing. It was a sleeping child. Was he dreaming? Could it be his little sister, who had died when he was a child himself? If it wasn't a dream, how had the child entered the cottage? But thinking of his sister made him remember the past, and his life at the Light Street chapel. He wondered if this child was some kind of message from his past, sent perhaps by the God he had once trusted.

"I've come for the doctor," replied Silas hurriedly. "There's a woman -- dead, I think -- near my cottage."

At the Red House, everybody was enjoying the party. Some people were still eating, while others were dancing or playing cards. Godfrey was looking forward to his next dance with Nancy. He was watching her dreamily across the room, when suddenly he saw something that made his lips go white and his whole body tremble. It was his own child, carried in Silas Marner's arms. The weaver had come straight into the hall, where the dancing was going on.

Several people turned to look at the strange figure in the doorway. The Squire could not understand why Sllas had come in uninvited. He stood up and asked angrily, "Marner, what are you doing here?"

"Whose child is it?" one of them asked.

Godfrey had one great fear at that moment, that the woman was not dead. If she were his wife, and she were dead, he would be free to marry Nancy!

While the Squire was calling for Dr Kimble, the ladies came closer to look at the pretty child.

"No -- I can't let it go," said Silas unexpectedly. "It's come to me -- I don't know where from -- I want to keep it!"

"You'd better leave the poor child here with us then, Master Marner," offered Mrs Kimble kindly.

"Well!" said Mrs Kimble, surprised. "A single man like you! Take care of a child! Well!" But the little one was holding on to Silas, and smiling up at him confidently.

"I don't know," replied Godfrey wildly. "Some poor woman's -- she's been found in the snow, I think."

When he and Dolly arrived at the quarry, the doctor had moved the woman into Silas's cottage, and Godfrey had to wait outside. He walked up and down in the snow, for what seemed like hours. He knew he should tell the truth about the woman and the child, but he could not make himself do what he knew was right. "Is she dead?" the voice inside his head asked. "If she is, I can marry Nancy. And then I'll be good, and have no more secrets. And I'll make sure the child is taken care of, of course.

"I'll go!" cried Godfrey. He wanted to get away, before any one noticed his white face and shaking hands, and he needed time to think. He ran out into the night.

Dr Kimble hurried into the hall. "Where is this poor woman? Near the old quarry? Someone had better fetch Dolly Winthrop. I'll need her to help me."

"I'll just have a look at her," said Godfrey quickly. "I think I saw a woman on the road yesterday with a child. Perhaps it was her." And he ran into the cottage.

When Dr Kimble came out of the cottage, Godfrey tried to speak calmly. "I thought I'd wait to see…" he began.

"Oh, there was no need for you to come. Why didn't you send one of the men to fetch Dolly? The woman's dead, I'm afraid. She's very thin, and looks very poor. But she's got a wedding ring on. She'll be buried tomorrow."

There on the bed was his unloved wife. He only looked at her for a moment, but for the rest of his life he never forgot her sad, tired face.

The weaver had come back with the doctor, and was sitting by the fire, with the child on his knees. The little one was awake, but her wide open blue eyes looked up into Godfrey's face without recognizing him at all. The father was glad of this, but also a little sad, especially when he saw the small hand pull lovingly at the weaver's grey hair.

"So, who's going to take care of the child?" Godfrey asked, pretending not to show much interest.

"Poor little thing!" said Godfrey. "Let me give you something for her clothes." He put his hand in his pocket and gave Silas some coins.

That week the dead woman was buried in Raveloe, and the child stayed at the weaver's cottage. The villagers were very surprised that Silas had decided to keep her, but they liked him for wanting to help an orphan. The women, especially, were very ready to give him useful advice on taking care of children.

"I am," replied Silas firmly. "The mother's dead, and I suppose the child hasn't got a father. She's alone in the world, and so am I. My money's gone, I don't know where, and she's come, I don't know where from. I don't understand it at all, but I'm going to keep her."

As he walked back to the Red House, he felt very relieved. Nobody would recognize his dead wife, and soon his secret would be buried with her. Now he could talk of love to Nancy. He could promise to be a good husband to her. Only Dunstan knew about the secret marriage, and perhaps Dunstan would never come home. "What a good thing I didn't confess everything to the Squire!" he thought. "Now I can make Nancy and myself happy And the child? Well, it won't matter to her whether I'm her father or not."

"Don't worry," said Dolly gently, giving him the child. "Look, she loves you the best. See, she's smiling at you!"

Dolly Winthrop came every day to help Silas. "It's no trouble," she said. "I get up early, so I've got plenty of time. And I can bring you some of Aaron's old baby clothes, so you won't need to spend a lot of money on the child. I can wash her, and give her food, and --"

"Ye -- es," said Silas, hesitating. He was looking a little jealously at the baby in Dolly's arms. "That's very kind of you. But -- but I want to do everything for her myself! I want her to be fond of me! She's my child!"

And so Silas learnt how to take care of the little girl. He called her Eppie, which had been his little sister's name. His life was quite different now. When he was working and living only for his gold, he had not been interested in the world outside his cottage, or the people he sometimes met. But now that he had another reason for living, he had to look outward. He spent hours in the fields with Eppie, happily rediscovering the plants he used to know so well. Together they visited his neighbours, who were always delighted to see him and his adopted child. His days and evenings were full, taking care of a trusting, loving child.

Godfrey Cass watched the little girl growing up with great interest During Eppie's childhood he often gave money to Silas to spend on her, but was careful that nobody should suspect him of being her father. His life was also changing. There was a new firmness about him which everyone noticed He was looking forward to marrying Nancy very soon. "Nancy and I will have children!" he thought happily. "But I won't forget that other child!"