Prince Albert is coming to Casterbridge and tensions rise between Michael and the town council. He gets drunk and disrupts the proceedings. Michael later confronts Donald and forces the two to fight, potentially to the death. Only then he comes to senses. Jopp managed to get some of Lucetta's letters to Michael and reads them out to the townspeople. They decide to humiliate Lucetta and Henchard with a charivari. She collapses and dies, losing the child she was carrying. Out of the blue, Newson turns up looking for Elizabeth-Jane. He wasn't drowned as expected but was rescued. Michael tells him Elizabeth-Jane was dead.
—jem