- When Elizabeth-Jane gets up, the first thing she sees when she looks out the window is the young man, Donald Farfrae, leaving the inn.
- She's sad to see him go.
- Henchard joins Farfrae in the street and offers to walk with him to the edge of town.
- Meanwhile, Susan (to whom the narrator is now referring as Mrs. Henchard, since after all, she was never really married to Newson), has decided to send Elizabeth-Jane to see Mr. Henchard with a note.
- The note just says that they're in town and to send a note back with Elizabeth-Jane if he wants to see them.
- Susan is nervous about it, but Elizabeth-Jane is more optimistic.
- When she arrives at Henchard's house, the housekeeper tells her he's in his office around back (his house is next to his business).
- She heads over to the office and discovers Mr. Farfrae there.
- She is surprised, and Farfrae appears not to recognize her from the inn.
- Farfrae goes to fetch Henchard for her.
- The narrator explains that Henchard persuaded Farfrae to stay on as his manager on their walk that morning.
- Farfrae had come straight to the office to sign some papers and to get started working.
- Henchard needs the manager for the grain half of his business, since he's better with hay.
- He also needs a manager to handle the business side of things, since he isn't that great at bookkeeping.