Silas Marner by George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) tells the
story of how a man in self-exile, having been
betrayed by his friend and suffered injustice from his own congregation, finds
happiness through a child whom he adopts and raises as his own daughter. An epileptic, Silas Marner used to live in Lantern Yard where he was active in his church. He and William Dane were bosom friends. He was engaged to Sarah: they were planning to get married as soon as their savings were enough. While he was watching over the sick deacon, Silas fell into a trance. When he woke up, the deacon was dead, and Silas was accused by William of killing him, showing as proof Silas' knife. To determine the guilty party, the congregation resorted to the drawing of lots, and to his disbelief, the lot falls to Silas. The town, however, believes the malicious accusation. His engagement with Sarah is broken off, and after a month his fiancée is married off to his accuser. Losing his faith in God and man, Silas leaves Lantern Yard and takes abode in a hut in the village of Raveloe, where, for the next fifteen years, he buries himself in work at his loom. His only delight lies in handling and counting the gold guineas that are the hard-earned fruits of his labor. Meanwhile, in another part of the town at the Red House live Squire Cass, richest man in Raveloe, and his sons Rodney and Dunstan. Rodney has a good reputation in the town and is being considered a good lifetime partner for Nancy Lammeter, a virtuous woman, but his brother Dunstan, who has fallen prey to vice, knows of Rodney’s secret: he is married to Molly Farren, a woman addicted to opium. Dunstan is in the habit of blackmailing his brother and demands money so he would not reveal his secret. Afraid of losing his inheritance, Godfrey gives him his horse, Wildfire, to sell. Dunstan does so but proceeds to the hunt before the sale is consummated. The exhausted animal is transfixed in a hedge stake. Afraid of his brother, Dunstan wanders off into the storm until he arrives at the hut of Marner, who by chance had left for a while. Desperate, Dunstan searches the hut for Silas' treasure. He finds it and makes off with it in the dark. Marner soon finds out his money is gone, to his great despair. He becomes more aloof than ever. On New Year’s Eve, during a great party at the Red House, Molly travels with her child to Raveloe, intent on revenge upon Rodney who had deserted her, but she dies of exposure in the snow. The baby crawls into Warner’s hut, drawn by the light from the fireplace, and falls asleep on the floor. Marner, who has fallen in a trance, awakes to find the baby’s golden curls, and mistakes it for his lost guineas. He raises the girl as his own daughter and names her Hepzibah, or Eppie. The girl brings happiness back into the life of Silas Marner. Godfrey, who has married Nancy and inherited the Cass fortune recognizes his daughter but could not bring himself to tell Nancy his secret. He was resolved to bury the truth forever until the body of Dunstan was found: he had fallen into the stone pits that night after he had stolen Marner’s guineas. Shaken by the discovery, Godfrey reveals everything to Nancy, who shows understanding and a desire to adopt Eppie. The couple go to Marner’s place, but Eppie stands by her father. With the money returned, Eppie and Silas travel to Lantern Yard, but the old town is gone, and they could not find anybody whom Marner recognized – he could never know whether he had been found innocent of the crime.