The Ware Commons is a small wilderness area outside of Lyme that is filled with trees and bluffs. No one lives in these woods. The forest is thick enough and large enough that some people have been lost inside it. There is little flat land, so walkers must be strong enough to hike its steep hills. Few people wander into this forest because the land offers such a challenge. Sudden, hidden crevices make traversing the land very dangerous.

Charles has wandered into the Ware Commons after searching for fossils on the beach. He climbs up a steep slope and finds a path. After following it for a while, he stops and looks about him. Down below him, lying in the grass, he sees a woman asleep in a meadow. His first instinct is to turn away, but his curiosity brings him closer. The position of the woman’s body, stretched out on her back with her arms splayed out to either side, arouses a physical passion in him. When he walks to the side to see her face, he is surprised to recognize her as Sarah, the woman he saw standing on the Cobb. He wonders why she chose such a wild place to take a nap. He knows no other woman who would have dared. He moves closer to see her better, and she opens her eyes.

For those first few minutes, they can only stare at one another. Charles wants to step back, but there was no way he can hide himself from her. Instead, he holds his ground and apologizes, explaining that he came upon her by accident. He then turns and walks away. Although Charles leaves the woman’s side, he cannot take his mind off her.

Charles feels thirsty from his hike, so he stops at a creamery and buys some milk. As he is drinking, he sees Sarah walk by. When he finishes, he walks quickly behind her and finally catches up to her. Again he apologizes for having startled her in the woods. He tells her that he was concerned she might have become ill. Sarah stares at him, and her eyes seem to hold him in their power. When he asks if he might walk along with her, Sarah tells him that she prefers to walk alone. She also asks that he not tell anyone he has seen her there. She is certain Mrs. Poulteney would disapprove because lovers often go to the woods to meet each other secretly.

Charles watches Sarah walk away, then he goes his own way, straight for Mrs. Tranter’s house, where Ernestina is staying for the summer. Mrs. Tranter and Ernestina want to know all the details of Charles explorations that day. He shows them some of the specimens he has collected. Ernestina notices a strange look on Charles’s face and teases him that he must have encountered a wood nymph and been entranced by her. Charles blushes. He considers telling the women that he saw Sarah in the woods but changes his mind. He is afraid Ernestina and Mrs. Tranter might read more of his emotions than he is willing to share with them.