Five days have passed since Maggie and Stephan left on their boating excursion. No one has heard from either of them. Bob Jakin, though, saw Maggie and Stephan at the port when they got off the ship. Now all speculation of Maggie and Stephan’s possible drowning has ceased, and Tom is extremely angry. At first Tom had thought that maybe Maggie and Stephan might have eloped. Later, though, Tom put this thought out of his mind. He knows his sister too well. Tom suspects that the worst will happen: she will return completely disgraced.

Tom is out in the yard when he looks up and sees Maggie walking toward the mill gate. When he recognizes her, he is filled with disgust and indignation. Maggie greets him by saying that she has come back home for refuge. She wants to tell him everything. Tom replies that she has no home with him. She has disgraced the family and her father’s name. She has been a curse to her closest friends. She has been deceitful, and he washes his hands of her forever. He considers that she no longer belongs to him.

Maggie tells Tom that she is not as guilty as he thinks. She has come back as soon as she could. Tom does not believe her. He accuses her of carrying on a secret affair with Stephan. Their Aunt Moss has said that Stephan came to call on Maggie. People in town have seen them together. Tom accuses Maggie of having used Philip as a screen to hide her real feelings for Stephan, thus betraying Lucy, who has been nothing but the nicest of friends. Lucy is sick with the thought of what Stephan and Maggie have done. Lucy does not even want to see her Aunt Tulliver, who reminds Lucy too much of Maggie.

Maggie is so crushed by Tom’s disgust for her that she begins to feel she is truly guilty of everything of which he has accused her. She begs forgiveness and wants his help in keeping her from doing wrong again. Tom says nothing is strong enough to keep Maggie from getting into trouble. He tells his sister that he loathes her character and her conduct. He will help her if she is in want, but he never wants to see her again.

Upon seeing her daughter and hearing her son’s words, Mrs. Tulliver rushes to Maggie and says she will go with her. Neither Maggie nor her mother knows where they will go, as they walk down the lane toward town. Maggie thinks of Bob Jakin’s house and the rooms he used to rent to Tom. When they approach Bob, he immediately takes the daughter and mother to the empty rooms. He is happy to see Maggie.

After a couple of days of staying there, Mrs. Tulliver leaves to check on Tom. During this time, Maggie talks with Bob. Bob cannot understand why Stephan has left Maggie or why he might have allowed her to leave him. Bob does not know how to broach the topic of what has happened without appearing too intrusive. He asks Maggie if she is holding a grudge against anyone. Maggie says she could never hold a grudge even if someone has done her wrong because she has done so many wrongs herself. This does not completely clear Bob’s mind; he wants to punish Stephan for causing Maggie so much trouble. For now, though, he leaves the thought alone.