The Hidden Dread
- It's winter in Hayslope—"a busy time for Adam" this year (35.1). No, Adam isn't a mall Santa or a history professor with a big, big pile of papers to grade over the break. He's engaged. He's adding rooms to his house, anticipating his wedding, and mooning over Hetty like there's no tomorrow.
- Hetty, meanwhile, seems a bit shell-shocked. Yet she assures Adam that "she was quite contented and wished nothing different" (35.2). Even if you've only skimmed Adam Bede until now, you'll see that Hetty is lying through her teeth.
- One February morning, Hetty sets off "to buy some of the wedding things which were wanting" (35.3). Supposedly, she's going to a town called Treddleston. Instead, she leaves the road and finds a "dark shrouded pool" (35.6). What wedding things could be down there?
- But Hetty has been obsessed with this pool—obsessed, particularly, with the thought of killing herself in it. She has a terrible secret, and she can't bring herself to tell Arthur, or Adam, or anyone. No. Death is the only way out.
- True, Hetty has had "a letter from Dinah lately, full of kind words about the coming marriage" (35.10). But does this make any difference? Hetty's only plan, at this point is to find Arthur and… well, that's about it.
- No, it isn't much of a plan. Yet it is enough to get Hetty down from her ledge. She goes home to the Poysers and tells them that she wants to visit Dinah in Stoniton. Instead, she's going to find Arthur in Windsor. Strange switcheroo, that…
- Adam sees her off on her journey to "Dinah" in "Stoniton." And as she's leaving, Hetty breaks down into tears. But her tears aren't for Adam; they're for "the misery of her own lot" (35.16). But what is her lot?