The next Sunday, Adam gets himself invited to the Hall Farm; he has resolved to give Hetty the letter. The two walk in the garden, and Adam begins by saying that his intention is to protect Hetty from a man who doesn't intend to marry her. She is frightened and protests that Arthur does love her. Adam repeats his statement and offers her the letter as proof. Hetty takes it but still does not believe. They go back into the house, and the rest of the evening is spent in conversation; Hetty has no opportunity to open the letter.
On his way home, Adam encounters Seth, who shows him a letter from Dinah. It is full of piety and tells of Dinah's work with the poor in Snowfield and her desire to visit the Poysers again. Adam praises her goodness and warmth.
When bedtime comes, Hetty at last has a chance to be alone. She reads Arthur's letter. In it, he says, very graciously, that he is sorry for causing her pain but that he cannot marry her; their respective social positions are so different that they could never be happy together. Hetty's reaction is extreme; she is completely crushed. She cries herself to sleep and wakes to despair. Her principal impulse is to get away from her surroundings, and she decides to ask her uncle, Mr. Poyser, for permission to look for a position as a lady's maid.
When she broaches the subject that evening, Mr. Poyser discourages her, saying that she'd do better to stay at the farm. He says she should get a respectable husband and live a comfortable life. Hetty is upset at first, but when she goes up to bed, she thinks over her uncle's words. He had been referring to Adam, she knows, and she now begins to think that marrying him would have its advantages; she could at least get away from home.
