Wynstan, the lascivious but intelligent brains of the family, tells Wigelm that he must allow the residents to take lumber from the forest and forbearance on the rent in order to rebuild their lives. Edgar's mother complains to the lords about the situation, and Wynstan sees a chance to remove her as seditious influence in Combe. He offers the family a secretly bad farm in Dreng's Ferry, a small community with a nunnery and church a few days upriver from Combe, and the family accepts.