Chapters III and IV Summary

Susan arrives at the new home of Mr. Foe who answers the door only after she identifies herself. She says that she found him after a chance meeting with Mrs. Thrush. The meeting immediately becomes an argument as Mr. Foe tells Susan that the story is of her lost daughter and that the time on the island is but one part of that story. Susan objects, saying that the story is the island. Mr. Foe goes on to say that the story is that Susan loses a daughter, either to an abduction or an elopement, searches for the daughter and is shipwrecked, returns to civilization without taking up the search, then is sought out and found by the missing daughter.

Susan and Mr. Foe debate several issues soon after her arrival, including whether he should allow a...