A Woman Killed With Kindness

Charles and Susan lament their poverty, turning to raising animals to make money. However, they are happy to have their family home and each other. Shafton arrives with a sheriff and offers to buy Charles’s house. Charles refuses, saying the house has been in the Mountford family for 300 years. Shafton then demands the money he lent to Charles at the jail, saying he will forgive Charles’s debt if Charles sells the house but will put Charles in prison if he cannot pay. Charles tells Susan to contact their other family members, but he agrees to be arrested, leaving with Shafton and the sheriff.

Francis and Malby arrive and find Susan outside Charles’s house. Francis plans to lure Susan into an affair with promises of wealth, thus further shaming the family, though Malby says Francis already got his revenge. However, when Francis sees Susan, he is struck by her beauty and says he no longer desires vengeance. Meanwhile, Susan flees when she sees Francis, who insists to Malby that he will marry Susan.

Jenkin organizes the servants after Frankford, Anne, Cranwell, and Wendoll eat dinner. Nick stays behind to wait for Frankford and then calls him aside. Frankford gives Nick money, and Nick praises Frankford, noting how long they have known each other and saying he loves Frankford more than Frankford’s own wife does.