In which Jude wrestles with the humbling realities of manual labour while yearning for the scholarly exaltations represented by the venerable colleges of Christminster, finding both encouragement and disquiet in the contrasts between the preservation of their stones and his own uncertain position. Amidst the breadth of this learned city, he encounters the delicate presence of his cousin Sue, whose existence stirs in him a cautious mixture of familial affection and elusive aspiration, shadowed by the strictures of circumstance and propriety.