The Verdict
- Since we're in Stoniton, might as well see the sights. And one of those sights is the courthouse, a "grand old hall" full of stained glass and old armor and miserable George Eliot characters (43.1). Everyone is here, Adam, Irwine, all our Stoniton tourists, waiting for Hetty's verdict.
- Adam has taken a place beside Hetty, or beside what's left of Hetty. Together, they watch as witnesses are called to the stand. The first is a widow who keeps "a small shop licensed to sell tobacco, snuff, and tea in Church Lane, Stoniton" (43.5). This woman decided to give Hetty a room for the night "to keep her out of further harm" (43.5). Poor woman, the harm's already done.
- The woman was very kind to Hetty and her newborn baby. She even supplied baby clothes. But Hetty repaid her kindness by sneaking out during the night and, um, not coming back.
- Adam, meanwhile, is trying to find a way to explain away Hetty's crime: "Babies were so liable to death—and there might be the strongest suspicions without any proof of guilt" (43.8). He almost succeeds in reassuring himself…
- And then, witness number two blows those reassurances to smithereens. The court now calls a laborer named John Olding. He had the dubious honor of finding Hetty's dead baby hidden near "a lot of timber-choppings" (43.9). He also brought the child to the authorities, organized a search party for Hetty, and found Hetty "a-sitting against the bush where I found the child" (43.11).
- Normally, a guy like John Olding would be a local hero. But all he gets is "a faint groan of despair" from Adam (43.12). In fact, there's now this uncomfortable "jig is up" vibe going through the whole courtroom.
- So when the verdict comes back as a resounding guilty, it's more or less "the verdict every one expected" (43.17). Hetty listens, pretty quietly, as her sentence is read. Then they get to the part about hanging her to death…
- And Hetty shrieks and faints. Adam reaches out, but doesn't catch her in time. And boy, do we need a vacation from this Stoniton place. A real vacation. We'll be returning to Hayslope in the next chapter, but somehow, that doesn't seem like an improvement.