Lena meets Mr. Armstid on the road, who gives her a ride in his wagon. On hearing her story, Armstid quickly realizes that she and Lucas Burch are not married, which means that her pregnancy is a major moral wrongdoing. Although Armstid worries what his wife, Martha, will say about him giving a ride to an unwed, teenage mother, he nonetheless resolves to put Lena up for the night. Martha was not happy having Lena at home but was kind enough give her food and shelter and even scolds Lena for her naïve belief that Lucas is in the neighbouring town of Jefferson and that he will accept her. She is also angry with Armstid for encouraging Lena in this pursuit. Lena’s naiveté is expressed in her continued defence of Lucas’s actions as she tries to convince herself that the apparent scoundrel has honourable intentions. Martha, despite her disapproval, smashes her small porcelain bank and gives all the contents to her husband to give to Lena, on condition that the girl is sent away in the morning.
All these incidents points to the simplicity of village folks. The
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One Saturday while Bunch is at the mill, Lena Grove comes into the loading shed looking for a Lucas Burch. As Lena shares her story, Bunch falls in love with her. He tells her about the fire going on in town at Miss Burden's place, and about the two odd men named Joe who live in her cabin. Bunch tells her that she must have heard the name wrong since there's no one there named "Burch," only himself, Byron Bunch. Once Byron confirms that Joe Brown has a white scar on his face, Lena knows that this Joe Brown is the father of her baby, so she settles into the town to try and find him. But Byron falls in love with Lena and wants to protect her and see her through the pregnancy. This gives an insight into the simple life and nature of mill workers. He tried to catch Lucas (Joe Brown) one day but he