Book VI begins after a lapse of eighteen months. The scene opens in the Poyser kitchen: Mrs. Poyser is attempting to convince Dinah, who has been living at the Hall Farm for some time, not to go back to Snowfield. Dinah replies that she must resist the temptations of ease and luxury and minister to the poor; she appears resolved to go.
Adam arrives and asks Dinah to come home with him and see his ailing mother; she blushes at his approach and agrees to go immediately. When Mrs. Poyser tells Adam that Dinah is leaving, he replies that she must do what she thinks is right, and Dinah mysteriously bursts into tears and hurries from the room.
Adam and Mr. Poyser discuss business; Adam is becoming quite prosperous. Then Dinah reappears and she and Adam set out for the Bede's house.
As they walk, Adam refers to Dinah as his sister, and she seems uneasy. He also mentions hearing from Arthur, who is still away at the wars.
Lisbeth is glad to see Dinah, and the evening passes in talk and work. The author comments at length on the effect on Adam of his long sorrow; it has made him more gentle, loving, and sympathetic. He feels a special affection for Dinah but identifies it as brotherly love; romance, he feels, is now out of the question for him.
Dinah sleeps at the cottage, and early the next morning she and Adam have a talk. He tells her he wishes she could stay at Hayslope and she, obviously agitated, says she must go to avoid temptation.
