The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

At another party held by the Markhams, Jane Wilson snubs Mrs. Graham by refusing to sit near her. Eliza asks Gilbert what he knows about Mrs. Graham’s husband and hints that there is something between her and Mr. Lawrence. Unsettled by the resemblance between young Arthur and Lawrence, Gilbert withdraws to the garden. Mrs. Graham joins him; they agree that they both dislike small talk and abhor slander. When others walk by, Gilbert guesses by Lawrence’s reaction to seeing them together that Lawrence has feelings for Mrs. Graham. Lawrence warns Gilbert that if he has any designs on Mrs. Graham, they will not succeed, at which Gilbert becomes angry and jealous.

Gilbert refuses to believe the rumors about Mrs. Graham, but his mother suggests there must be something in her conduct to provide the basis for suspicion. On a visit to Wildfell, Mrs. Graham picks a moss rose from the garden and asks Gilbert to give it to Rose. He asks if he might have one for himself, thinking if she gives him one, she must care for him and that “[his] hour of victory was come” (110). She tells him that if he cannot remain merely her friend, they must become strangers.