Summary
Betty Higden has been travelling gradually from town to town, selling her knitting, but living in extreme poverty. She often experiences despair, but is terrified by the prospect of being taken to a workhouse, and this keeps her steadily moving on. She uses the small amount of money she has to pay off a man in charge of taking itinerants to the workhouse, and becomes sicker and sicker as she struggles on. She collapses, and is found by Lizzie Hexam, who comforts Betty as she dies and promises to send news to the address indicated on the letter she has pinned to her dress.
Betty is given a simple funeral, attended by John Rokesmith, Bella, and Sloppy. Lizzie has been working at a mill owned by a Jewish family after Riah used his connections to get her to a place of refuge. Bella and John discuss how they had each been urged by the Boffins to take advantage of the coincidence of Lizzie having been the one to find Betty in order to see what her life is like. They note that they both admire Lizzie and John explains that he wants to find out why she was so careful to specify that her location be kept a secret. He is worried that the false accusation against her father might still be having a negative influence on her life. John asks Bella to speak privately with Lizzie to see what information she can gather. Bella agrees, and raises the subject of how unhappy it makes her when Boffin treats John badly. John admits that the mistreatment makes him unhappy, but assures Bella that he has his own reasons for remaining a part of the Boffin household.
Later that day, Bella and Lizzie speak together privately in Lizzie’s lodgings. Bella explains her own connection to the Harmon murder, and asks whether the accusation against her father is the reason Lizzie has chosen to live in such secrecy. Lizzie denies it, and eventually admits that she fled after her terrifying encounter with Headstone, and is still perpetually worried she will hear he has committed some violent act against the man she loves. She describes Wrayburn as someone who is far above her in social rank, and whom she does not believe could have feelings for her. Bella suggests that Lizzie should try and get over her feelings for Wrayburn, but is surprised and moved by Lizzie’s insistence that she wants to always love faithfully, even if that love can never be returned. The two young women part after vowing their friendship to one another, and Bella later tells John that Lizzie’s secrecy is unrelated to the accusation against her father.
Wrayburn has taken to visiting Jenny Wren, hoping to obtain information about Lizzie’s whereabouts, but Jenny refuses to tell him anything. After Jenny dismisses him, he goes to see Lightwood. Lightwood explains that he was visited that day by a Jewish man who indicated that Wrayburn owed him money; Wrayburn thinks this man was likely Mr. Riah, whom he suspects helped Lizzie to orchestrate her disappearance. He is determined to find Lizzie, although he has no plans for what he will do next. As the two lawyers speak, Jenny Wren’s drunken father surprises them with a visit, claiming that he can provide Wrayburn with information about Lizzie’s whereabouts. Wrayburn agrees to provide him with alcohol in exchange for information, even though Lightwood disapproves of this plan. After Jenny’s father leaves, Wrayburn goes on to explain that when he walks around at night, he is regularly followed by Bradley Headstone, Charley, or both. As a result, Wrayburn teases and torments him while being followed. He takes Lightwood with him for a walk to demonstrate and Lightwood is alarmed by the state of intense agitation that he observes in Headstone. Wrayburn however does not take the situation seriously at all.
Enraged by how Wrayburn taunts him, Headstone starts to wonder if he might be hiding Lizzie somewhere. He manages to make his way to Wrayburn’s lodgings to check, and as he is turning to leave, he runs into Riderhood who has come to deliver a letter. Curious about why Riderhood would be visiting Wrayburn and Lightwood late at night, Headstone strikes up a conversation. Riderhood is now working as a lock keeper, and is hoping to get money to compensate him for the accident in which he nearly drowned. Headstone is able to gather that Riderhood dislikes Wrayburn, so he gives him some money and asks about the whereabouts of Lizzie Hexam. Riderhood does not have this information, but agrees that he will share it with Headstone if he learns anything in the future.
Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Lammle are growing desperate due to a lack of money. Mrs. Lammle wonders whether it might be possible to somehow obtain money by exploiting the Boffins, but Mr. Lammle points out that the secretary keeps a close eye on his employer. Mrs. Lammle starts to scheme for a way to get rid of John, and suggests the possibility of telling Boffin that John proposed to Bella, encouraging him to think that John was being ambitious and grasping. It might then be possible for Mr. Lammle to replace John as secretary. They decide to move ahead with the plan as quickly as possible, with Mrs. Lammle planning to call on Mr. Boffin to disclose her secret.
Fledgeby arrives at the Lammle house, and Mrs. Lammle tries to persuade him to intercede with Riah on their behalf; the Lammles wrongly believe that Riah is the one who is extorting them since they do not know about Fledgeby’s connection with the money-lending and pawn shop. Mrs. Lammle hints that she and her husband expect an imminent change of fortune, and Fledgeby is encouraged to intervene with Riah. He does in fact immediately hurry to the shop after leaving the Lammle house, where he pushes Riah to go to collect his debts as soon as possible.
Fledgeby is alone at the shop when Jenny arrives, looking for Riah. Fledgeby is surprised to find that Jenny is aware that he is the master of the shop, and denies it, claiming Riah lied. A few minutes later, Twemlow also comes to the shop, and Fledgeby recognizes him from the Lammle dinner party. Twemlow is uncomfortable because of his role in having foiled Fledgeby’s plot to seduce Georgiana. Fledgeby keeps up his fiction, confiding in him that he has come to the shop to intercede on behalf of the Lammles. Believing Fledgeby to be kind and helpful, Twemlow explains how he innocently ended up in debt as a result of helping a friend and has been gradually trying to pay it off, but is now being pressured to produce a lump sum for the balance. Fledgeby manipulates him by claiming that he will try to persuade Riah to be lenient with him.
Riah returns, and Fledgeby pretends to be aghast that he has called in the Lammle debts. He then pretends to intercede on Twemlow’s behalf, but since Riah can tell his master does not actually want him to relent, he insists on the balance being paid. Twemlow leaves in sadness, knowing he will need to ask his wealthy relatives for help, and risk damaging that relationship. After he leaves, Jenny collects the scraps Riah has collected for her, and tells him that she suspects he will someday betray Lizzie, since she can tell he does not have the courage to stand up to Fledgeby.
Mr. Venus has been regularly attending the evenings when Silas Wegg reads to Boffin, and Wegg tolerates the arrangement because it allows him to keep an eye on Venus. One night, Venus slips Boffin a note requesting a private meeting; after requesting Boffin’s secrecy, Venus explains how he and Wegg plotted against him. He explains that Wegg is prepared to blackmail Boffin, but that he will not take part in the plan. Despite having taken this action, Venus refuses Boffin’s proposal to give him half of the blackmail so as to reduce Boffin’s total loss. He also refuses to sell Boffin the document of the will. Before they can continue the conversation, Wegg arrives at the shop, and Boffin hides. Wegg complains about Boffin having sent Sloppy to oversee the dismantling of the dust heaps. Wegg says that he is getting more and more frustrated with Boffin, and plans to threaten him. After Wegg leaves, Boffin emerges, dismayed at what he has heard. Venus wants to return the will to Wegg and extract himself from the plot as soon as possible. However, Boffin persuades him to hang on to the will and maintain the charade for now. No sooner has Boffin left this conversation with Venus than he meets with Mrs. Lammle, who is anxious to confide in him.
The next morning, Boffin is in a terrible mood and is particularly rude and insulting towards John. He lashes out at John for having the nerve to propose to Bella, and accuses him of only having proposed in an attempt to get at Boffin’s fortune. John defends himself by insisting that he truly loves Bella and takes his dismissal with great dignity. Bella finally bursts out lamenting her own selfishness and angrily rebuking Boffin for having become corrupted and selfish. A short time after John leaves, Bella decides she can no longer stay in the Boffin household and leaves to return to her family. She goes to her father’s office but before she can tell him what has taken place, John joins them there. He has followed Bella after seeing her leave the Boffin house, and the two of them now declare their love for one another. Bella and her father agree not to immediately tell her mother and sister about her engagement, and when they arrive at home, Bella simply says that she has fallen out with the Boffins.
The Veneerings and their friends are shocked to find that the Lammles have had to resort to selling their furniture and household goods. The Veneerings throw a party in order to gossip about this strange turn of events and the afternoon before it takes place, Mrs. Lammle comes to call on Twemlow. She asks that he not ever disclose the plot she revealed to him. He agrees, and then asks why, after she betrayed Fledgeby, he would intercede on her behalf with Riah. As he explains what he saw at the shop, she interjects to explain that Fledgeby is merely using Riah as a mask, and that he is the one who actually holds the debts. Twemlow rejects this idea, but Mrs. Lammle insists that she is right, and that she will someday prove it. She hints that their fortunes might turn around, but that otherwise she and her husband will need to go abroad. That night, at the Veneering dinner, Wrayburn receives a discreet visit from Jenny’s father, who provides him with a location in exchange for money.
Analysis
This section heightens the tension around several plot lines while achieving resolution to others. Betty dies in exactly the way she hoped: free, unencumbered, and without being a burden on anyone. However, by insisting on her independence she has also insisted on her isolation. The only reason she does not die utterly alone is that Lizzie happens upon her by chance. While Betty never knows that Lizzie is connected to John, Bella, and the Boffins, the coincidence offers Dickens the chance to draw some subplots together and to comment on interconnectedness. Even while Betty thought she was utterly alone, her life was always impacting, and being impacted by, a wide circle of individuals around her.
Betty's death creates the opportunity for Bella to meet Lizzie, which functions as a key milestone in Bella's ongoing moral development. While Bella can easily get preoccupied with her own problems, she is aware that Lizzie has led a difficult life, and yet remains humble and uncomplaining. The true turning point for Bella is the chance to observe the way Lizzie speaks about Wrayburn. Bella's initial assumption is that if Lizzie knows there is no hope of marrying this man, the best thing to do is give him up and look for another prospective husband. For Lizzie, however, her love and fidelity have nothing to do with trying to prosper or achieve security. Because she sees Wrayburn as her true love, she will remain faithful to him no matter what; she also puts what is good for him above her own interests. Bella is deeply moved by this vision of what love can look like, which is contrary to all of her own ideas. The fact that this conversation is so enlightening suggests that Bella's problem is that she has never had good role models: because her own parents were unhappy in their marriage, she doesn't know what true love and devotion can look like.
The change in Bella is evident in the much gentler way she interacts with John during this trip, but it achieves its climax after Mrs. Lammle betrays her, and Boffin cruelly mocks and dismisses his secretary. Bella finds the courage to stand up for John as a good and decent man, and she openly speaks out against Boffin. Bella is clearly torn between the fact that she used to love Boffin dearly and his strange new behavior, but in this scene she seems to accept that his fortune has corrupted him and turned him into a man she can no longer respect.
She also accepts her complicity in this degradation, and realizes the moral peril she is in: having seen how wealth corrupted Boffin, she is terrified that she is also losing touch with her values. When she asks to be made poor again, Bella reflects the idea that it is the many working- and middle-class characters who are in touch with integrity and moral truth, while wealth seems to be a source of corruption that destroys everything it touches.
Once she comes to this realization, Bella shows courage and fortitude by acting on it. She leaves the Boffin house, knowing she has no prospects and will have to return to her unhappy family life. She is rewarded or her bravery almost immediately, with John seeking her out and the two of them declaring their love for one another. They may be in a precarious financial position, but they choose to work together to build an honest life as true partners. Dickens holds out this engagement as a contrast to the many false and corrupt marriages in the novel: John and Bella have come to truly know and love each other, and can build a life together based on their shared values.
