The Proposal in the Orchard

Jane's outburst: "Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless?... I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh;--it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God's feet, equal,--as we are!"

The chestnut tree is split by lightning in the night--an omen of the rupture to come.