He settles in Raveloe, where he feels hidden even from God. His work is at first his only solace, but soon he begins to receive gold for his cloth; the gold gives him a kind of companionship. He works harder and harder to earn more of it and stores it in a bag beneath his floor. His contacts with humanity wither. Once he gives help to a woman who is ill by treating her with herbs as his mother taught him, but this action gives him a reputation as a maker of charms. People come for miles to ask his help, and he cannot give any. As a result, he is believed to cause other misfortunes and be in league with the devil. After that, Silas is more alone than ever.
The greatest man of Raveloe is Squire Cass. His wife is dead, and his sons are left to their own devices. Some trouble results from this: the eldest son, Godfrey, has made a hasty marriage with a woman of poor reputation, and the second son, Dunstan, is blackmailing Godfrey to keep their father from knowing. Godfrey has given Dunstan some rent money from one of his father's tenants; now the Squire wants the money, so Godfrey gives Dunstan his horse to sell to raise the cash.
On the way to the hunt where he hopes to sell the horse, Dunstan passes the weaver's cottage. This sight gives him the idea of borrowing the money from Marner, but he rather likes the idea of vexing his brother, so he continues to the hunt and makes the sale. However, instead of turning over the horse at once, he rides in the chase and kills the animal on a stake.
