What do you think is the definining moment for the main character/person in your book? Why?

I two moments to consider for Molly's defining moment. The first was at a picnic while she was attending Gatewood Academy. Before that point, she had been sullen and antisocial. Molly sat and ate her picnic under a tree, not with the other girls in her class. Her teacher and soon-to-be friend Agnes sat with her and talked for a minute about Agate Hill and how Molly was homesick and missed her cousin, Spencer. Agnes brought Molly back to the rest of the girls, and they tried very hard to include her. Molly joins in making dandelion crowns with them. There were two girls attending Gatewood Academy with Molly that knew her from their childhood. They began calling out "Orphan! Orphan! We know you're an orphan!" as if it were a bad name. One girl, Eliza Valiant, defended Molly, saying that it isn't Christian to make fun of people, and that they were supposed to be kind to orphans. At that moment, thanks to Eliza Valiant, all of the girls rushed to Molly's side and she immediately became immensely popular. We never again see the quiet, introverted girl she was upon her arrival at Gatewood academy, we only see the happy, helpful, cheerful, and loving Molly she is for the rest of the book.

The other instance that I think might have been Molly's defining moment is her marriage to Jacky Jarvis, performed with the bride and groom on a horse on the judge's lawn. She was engaged to another man, but while he was away for three weeks before the wedding, Molly fell in love with Jacky, a poor man. They decided to get married, and he came to her in the middle of the night and they got on a horse and rode to the judge's house. This moment epitomizes Molly's personality, her desire to never be a lady, and to "live so hard and love so much."