to Nancy's point of view, who is extremely reluctant to consider such an option and manages to persuade her husband not to proceed with this plan. Her point of view is as follows:

To adopt a child, because children of your own had been denied you, was to try and choose your lot in spite of Providence: the adopted child, she was convinced, would never turn out well, and would be a curse to those who had wilfully and rebelliously sought what it was clear that, for some high reason, they were better without.

This is her opinion that she sticks to, in spite of her husband's pleadings and arguments otherwise. So, Godfrey Cass, hoping to perhaps make amends for his past actions and salve his guilt, now wants to adopt Eppie and give her what should have always been hers.

I’m not sure to which hope you are referring, but I think the one of the most significant (and subtle) moments of hope is just after Dunstan has stolen Silas’ money. He is grief-stricken, but it is the beginning of his detachment from that money; a detachment from inanimate things. Over the course of the holidays, although he is still despondent, he begins to show glimmers of hope and the villagers have also begun to show him more sympathy and Dolly begins to visit him occasionally. Because Silas is freed of his attachment to the money and because he receives attention, actual human interaction from the community, he begins to open up – even in small ways like leaving his door and shutters open. He does this mostly in the hopes that his money will return. But it is hope nonetheless and in general and literally, he begins to ‘open up’ to the outside world. It is because of this general hope that he leaves his door open which allows Eppie into his life. His hope leads him to open up to the outside world and to literally open his door.

In a dynamic move that surprises everyone at Raveloe, Silas Marner gives more importance to the discovery of Eppie than to the loss of the money. To Silas, the gold went " to I don't know where", while the gold-haired baby came "from I don't know where". Hence, he makes the connection that one was sent by Providence, or divine authority, to replace the other.

Hence, Silas recognizes that, during the time he spent working nearly 16- hour days just for the sake of earning more gold, he still did not have anything to center his life around. What to do with so much collected gold? The first thing is that someone as greedy as that becomes used to the idea of "a lot of gold" and ends up not even wanting to spend it. Then, what is the point?

Hence, when Silas decides to adopt and keep the child, he displays paternal skills and a sort of altruistic love that nobody ever saw coming. Moreover, he is entirely pleased with the "swap" of gold that led to having the baby with him. This goes to show the extent to which Silas, town's pariah and enigmatic figure, is actually a good Christian.

Therefore, the hope that Silas has is that of investing his time and energy on Eppie, and re-center his life around her. Moreover, he really and truly wants to "learn on his own", and this much he tells those who are trying to help him.

... “I'll be glad if you'll tell me things. But,” he added uneasily, leaning forward to look at Baby [...]“but I want to do things for it myself, else it may get fond o' somebody else, and not fond o' me. I've been used to fending for myself in the house—I can learn, I can learn.”