Once and Now
- Margaret and Mr. Bell get on a train and set out for their home village of Helstone. Before leaving, Margaret takes some time to cry at the thought of seeing her old home again, especially since this was the last place that she and her parents were together and happy.
- During their trip, Mr. Bell stays quiet because he has some idea of all the intense feelings that are going through Margaret's head.
- When they get to Helstone, some of the villagers recognize Margaret and are happy to see her. They all say they've missed her terribly. They ask how things are with her father, since they already know that her mother has passed away. They're very sorry when they find out that Mr. Hale is dead, too.
- She and Mr. Bell stop to chat with an old friend of Margaret's family. When Margaret asks how one of the villager's friends is doing, the villager responds that they aren't friends anymore because the other person stole her cat and burned it in a pagan ritual. Seriously, that's what happened. This is one of the weirdest parts of this entire book.
- Finally, Margaret and Mr. Bell visit the old school house, where a group of children that Margaret used to teach are all attending class. The teacher gets the students to recite a few lessons for Margaret. Once the class is over, Margaret goes around and talks to a few of her old students.
- Margaret also goes to meet the new couple that has moved into her family's old house. The new pastor is named Mr. Hepworth. His wife, Mrs. Hepworth, gives Margaret a tour of the house to show off all the improvements she and her husband have made to it. It's a little insensitive, but oh well.
- Margaret leaves the house feeling sad. Seeing Helstone so drastically changed since she left makes her feel old and alone. Mr. Bell can certainly relate.
- Margaret brings up Frederick to Mr. Bell and says that he (Freddy) was indeed in Milton when their mother died. She is surprised that her father never told Mr. Bell about it.
- The time has come for Margaret to confess. She tells Mr. Bell everything about how she and Frederick went to the train station and got confronted by Leonards. She also tells about how she lied to the police and how Mr. Thornton covered for her, although he also assumed that the man with her at the train station was her sweetheart.
- When she's done, Mr. Bell insists that she has done nothing wrong. He even says that he'd do everything the same if he were in the same position.
- Finally, Margaret asks Mr. Bell to explain everything to Mr. Thornton the next time he sees the guy. Mr. Bell agrees like the nice dude he is. We can see here that Margaret still cares deeply about what Mr. Thornton thinks of her.
- Margaret and Mr. Bell spend the night at Margaret's old home—now the Hepworth house.
- The next morning, they get an invitation to dinner but Margaret declines, saying she wants to get back to London.
- Before they leave, Margaret runs around the back of the house and takes a few flowers so that she can take the feeling of Helstone with her.
- Leaving Helstone feels terrible. But a few days later, she looks back and is glad that she went.