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Stephen is deeply affected by her father’s death and realizes that she is alone as she has never been before. In addition to inheriting Morton Hall once her mother dies, Stephen finds out that her father has left her a private income, to start when she is 21. Anna loses all pretense of happiness after her husband dies, although she continues to try to be “gentle” to Stephen. Stephen gives up the dream of going to Oxford and throws all her passion into Morton Hall’s upkeep. Puddle tries to convince Stephen otherwise, promising herself that she won’t give up on her. Stephen refuses to study, write, or ride horseback as the year following Sir Philip’s death drags on. Finally, Williams begs her to go hunting, insisting that her father would want it. Stephen agrees, though apathetically.
Upon arriving at the hunt, Stephen feels everyone is talking about her. Once the hunt gets under way, Stephen feels like she is being chased and drives Raferty to run ever faster and harder until she spots the wounded fox. She dismounts and tries to help the fox, but the fox runs away. She hears the dogs kill the fox, and it bothers her. She realizes that after her father’s death she can no longer kill anything for sport. She tells Raferty they are done hunting together and rides home thinking of her father.
Stephen disbands the stables, driving Williams to a life of unhappiness and senility. She keeps Raferty, Collins, and two other horses and sells the rest. She feels awful watching them leave.
At 21, Stephen gets her inheritance and becomes “a rich, independent woman” who finally feels happy again (114). Driving into town one day, she notices the butcher’s Airedale attacking a terrier. She sees both the butcher and the terrier’s owner trying to stop the attack, but to no avail. She gets out of the car and runs over, grabbing and distracting the Airedale from his prey. She then helps the terrier’s owner, Angela Crossby, get her wounds dressed and the dog to the vet. Angela is a striking blonde whom Stephen knows to be an American former actress married to a recently retired Birmingham magnate. Stephen knows most people in town don’t like the Crossbys, but she doesn’t see anything objectionable about Angela, so she offers her and her dog, Tony, a ride home. Angela agrees and, on the way, reveals she has been wanting to meet Stephen since Mrs. Antrim said Stephen “fenced like a man” (117). Stephen wants to look at Angela; when she finally does, she almost causes an accident. Ralph Crossby, Angela’s well-dressed husband with a “peevish” mouth, is waiting outside for her when they pull up. He complains about Angela’s absence, ignoring Stephen until Angela introduces her. He acknowledges her but is “distinctly ungracious.” Stephen then leaves as Angela tells her to telephone sometime (119).
Back at Morton Hall, Puddle asks where Stephen has been. When Stephen explains that she was with Angela, Puddle tells her to “be careful,” as according to “rumors,” Angela is “impossible.” Stephen gets upset at this and tells Puddle to cease her “beastly gossip.” Stephen calls to check on Angela and Tony. The butler says Angela is in pain and in bed but that she would like Stephen to come to tea on Sunday. Feeling courageous, Stephen says yes.
Every day leading up to their tea, Stephen calls to check on Angela. She buys news clothes for the occasion—three new suits, brown shoes, and six neckties—and dreams of Angela day and night. Stephen spends a considerable amount of time getting ready for tea. She tries to get Anna to go with her, but Anna refuses on the grounds that she never goes out. Anna does agree to let Stephen invite Angela to Morton, however. At the tea, Stephen is awkward, and it takes a while for Angela to get her to feel at ease. After a while, Stephen feels more comfortable and finds out that Angela is lonely and often bothered by her angry husband. Stephen leaves at seven but makes plans to meet Angela again soon.
Stephen drives her car to the lake by her house and tries to reflect on the evening. At home, she enters her father’s study and sits in his chair, remembering him but mostly remembering Angela.
Angela can’t stop thinking of Stephen. She writes a brief letter asking her to “lunch the day after tomorrow” (127).
A few weeks go by, and Angela makes her first visit to Morton. Anna and Miss Puddleton are rude to her, but Stephen makes the most of Angela’s visit, showing her every inch of Morton as if it were “sacred.” In the garden, Stephen confesses her feelings for Angela and then kisses her “as a lover” (130).
Time goes on and the two women continue their romance. However, while Stephen is committed, Angela is just having fun. Stephen doesn’t like that she must lie to Angela’s husband, but she does so all the time to appease Angela. When she thinks of her father, the shame is overwhelming.
Stephen eventually caves from the guilt and demands they tell Angela’s husband about their relationship. Angela says she has no plans to tell him anything; there isn’t anything to tell. She tells Stephen not to interfere with her “home.” Stephen, in turn, points out that Stephen has plenty of money and that she would do “anything” for Angela, even give up Morton so the two could run away together. Angela challenges Stephen’s claim by asking if Stephen could offer her marriage. Stephen admits she can’t, then disappears.
Ralph constantly complains about Stephen, calling her a “freak” and saying she should have been killed “at birth.” He accuses Angela of neglecting him. One night, he initiates sex, and she finds herself thinking about Stephen instead of about him.
Stephen paces around at night trying to understand her sexual urges and her identity. She thinks her father died not knowing how she felt. She finds herself feeling jealous of Williams because his love for his wife is respected rather than rejected.
Puddle follows Stephen constantly, trying to get her to confide about her problems. She knows Stephen is being used for the sake of Angela’s “excitement” (138). She feels if she brings up Stephen’s sexuality herself Anna will fire her, so she hopes to coax it out of Stephen during their long walks. Stephen’s problems with Angela remind Puddle of her own painful past. She also wonders how Anna can be so oblivious to Stephen’s feelings.
After a few weeks without speaking to her, Stephen seeks out Angela in her garden. Upon seeing Stephen, Angela says she was hoping Stephen would come back. Stephen cries on Angela’s knees. Angela says the world is “horrible” but “we’re together” so “nothing else really matters,” reigniting all Stephen’s feelings (141). Ralph comes home to find Stephen and Angela lunching in his garden. He cuts his roses, and Stephen admires them in an attempt to soothe the tension. Stephen’s pandering to Ralph makes Angela happy, and Stephen decides she must accept Ralph or lose Angela.
Stephen seems to seek a replacement for her father in every possible venue—through Morton, through Angela, and through herself. Morton is so tied to Stephen’s conception of her father that she immediately thrusts all her energy into caring for it, as it’s the only way she sees to still express care for her father. Furthermore, Morton takes on an ever more human quality, with Stephen often in outright dialogue with the home. She also tries to replace her father with Angela. When Stephen offers to sacrifice Morton for Angela, she essentially means she is willing to allow Angela to become more important to her than her father. When Angela visits Morton, Stephen brings her into Sir Philip’s study, thus allowing Angela’s presence to invade this sacred space and replace his presence in the room. In the same way Angela has literally replaced Sir Philip in the study, she has also replaced Sir Philip in Stephen’s head, as evidenced by the night Stephen tries to conjure up images of her father but only sees images of Angela. Stephen also tries to replace her father with herself. She begins taking on many of his features: She paces the way he paced, and wears suits and ties the way he wore suits and ties. She drives his car, runs his house, and spends his money. Through all of these attempts, however, Stephen’s father’s grip remains firm. Even as Stephen loses her father’s face in Angela’s, she just as quickly conjures his when she starts to feel her dishonesty build.