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Feeling pent up, you eventually begin speaking about the day you've had. Your father's death, the several encounters with the reeve, and then the matter with Gordon and Mabel. Your uncle is as good a listener as he is a prattler, and after all is said and done, you feel better for having vented.
Your Gran suggests taking a ferrule to the "hussy" (meaning Mabel) on Gordon's behalf. She equally criticizes Gordon for being a lily-liver and being pulled around by the ear by a fishwife's daughter. As for the reeve, she expresses her distaste for his father (who apparently tried to court her once upon a time), but feels you should have pandered to him a little more, given his position in the village. She even suggests you make concerted effort to deflower his daughter, since you have a history.
Your uncle is more conservative in his advice. He thinks that while you owe it to your friend to watch out for his interests, there is a point where friendly interference can become meddling. And he seems to side with Mabel on the matter of the fruit. Several times he tries to convince you that maybe "she had a point there, Johnny, eh?". Of course, a penniless drunk and a wealthy tavernkeeper like Gordon's father are unlikely to fond of one another, so that must bias him, but he seems genuinely sympathetic to Mabel's "plight". More than that, he seems to hint at some ulterior motive of yours, mentioning, more than once, that she's a "fetching lass, though Johnny, eh?" Which you found rather offensive.
As for the reeve, he says nothing until you are about to retire for the night. Then he grabs your arm, looks down at his feet, and says, in a low voice that whatever happens, though he's "not sure I mightn't disappoint you, Johnny, but I'll try", he's also "grateful to you though, Johnny, damned grateful". Then, embarrassed a little by his own emotion, he flees to his chambers, the little turret which he himself had designed and put together when he was young for his own room and shuts the door.
In the morning:
>You sleep in, taking advantage of your mourning period to lounge for the day
>You head to the pier, for good work is only done by one's own hand
>You head to the market to spend your remaining silver
>Write-in
