Valancy has to plan the funeral because of course Roaring Abel is useless. Barney Snaith doesn't attend, but before the funeral he helps Valancy with preparations and brings white roses for Cissy's coffin. The man whom the entire town despises actually displays more kindness and compassion than any of the so-called respectable pillars of the community. Speaking of whom, the whole town shows up for the funeral, just as if they hadn't shunned and shamed Cissy for the last few years. Death lends her a respectability which she no longer possessed in life... people start remembering what a quiet, modest girl she had been before her disgrace. The Stirlings are all there, looking pious and solemn. After a family meeting, it was decided that they would attend, lending an air of respectability to Valancy's actions by pretending that she had the family's approval. They hope to convince the rest of the community that Valancy was actually performing a laudable act of charity, not engaging in scandalous behaviour. To their surprise, they find their errant relation conducting herself in a very competent and respectable manner as she manages the logistics of the funeral. They begin to hope that they might just be able to pull off their retcon of the events of the past months, saving the Stirling family name from being dragged through the mud. Also, a local widower in attendance takes notice of Valancy's abilities and starts considering her as a possible stepmother to his brood. As unlikely as it seems, both Valancy's reputation and matrimonial chances have gotten a boost from Cissy's funeral.
After the funeral, Valancy's mother asks her when she's coming home, because obviously she can't stay on with Roaring Abel. Valancy, who's preparing dinner for some of Abel's relatives, says absently no, of course she won't be staying but will need a few days to get the house in order. Neither her mother nor the others notice that, while Valancy says she won't be staying at Roaring Abel's, she doesn't say that she will be returning home. Naively sure that the prodigal will return, the Stirlings leave the funeral satisfied and Uncle Benjamin says that, when Valancy does return, no one must reprimand her or mention her actions at all. This by itself shows how much the family has changed in the way they regard Valancy. Previously she was held in derision, every misdeed she'd made in her life- however minor- constantly brought up and talked/joked about. Now, having actually done something scandalous, the family can't even bring it up because they're afraid of what she might say or do. And well they might be, as we shall soon see.