A weaver who is betrayed at Lantern Yard (site of a dissenting sect) by his treacherous friend William Dane, moves away to Raveloe (where the community is Church of England), becomes taken for a miser, as he accumulates a small fortune, only to have it stolen by Dunstan Cass. After these misfortunes, he gradually finds his happiness and virtue by the arrival of young Eppie (biological daughter of Godfrey Cass) whom he raises as his adopted child. Eppie turns out to be a beautiful girl and it is decided later that she will marry Aaron Winthrop.