Maud and Milly are barred from Windmill Wood

Maud and Milly are barred from Windmill Wood when Pegtop’s daughter refuses to open a gate in the high paling across their path. The encounter turns a country ramble into a small but revealing confrontation: the girls are kept from part of the grounds, and the gatekeeper’s explanation connects the restriction to her father’s position as Silas Ruthyn’s miller.

Setting and Obstruction

On their first day’s ramble in what is called Bartram Chase, Maud and Milly follow a dell as it opens into a broad, wooded valley. A high, close paling crosses the valley at this point. Although it appears decayed, it remains strong, and its rudely built wooden gate is secured by a padlock. Pegtop’s daughter stands beside it, with the key in her pocket.

Milly demands that the girl unlock the gate. The refusal disrupts their walk and surprises Milly, who says she could get over the paling but will not. The girl’s unhurried response makes clear that Milly’s authority will not decide the matter: she has been told to keep the gate shut.

The Order and Its Explanation

Maud intervenes before the argument escalates. Rather than treating the refusal as the girl’s personal decision, she suggests that someone may have ordered her not to open the gate and asks whether that is the case. The girl confirms Maud’s guess, naming her father as the person who gave the instruction.

Milly objects that a servant is shutting them out of their own grounds. The girl rejects that description of her position and adds that her father is Silas Ruthyn’s miller. Her answer links the immediate obstruction to the estate’s household hierarchy: the gatekeeper acts under her father’s direction, while identifying his employment with Silas as the relevant distinction in the dispute.

Detour and Narrative Significance

The girl springs onto the hasp and climbs easily over the gate. Milly nudges Maud to try the same, but Maud does not follow; she later says she manages to get Milly away without an exchange of missiles. Milly remains angry and calls the girl a brute, yet proposes another way forward: a route by the river when the water is low.

As they withdraw, they see the girl making her way toward an old thatched cottage, swinging the key from one finger. The detail leaves the lock behind as a visible sign of the denied passage. The stream is low enough for Maud and Milly to go around the end of the paling, and their ramble resumes pleasantly. The encounter therefore ends in a practical workaround, not access through the gate. Its contrast between the walk’s picturesque setting and the firm boundary cutting across it gives the outing a brief note of exclusion without turning the episode into a lasting separation.