Summary
Riah goes to visit Fledgeby, bringing with him the information about the accounts of the money-lending shop. Unexpectedly, Lammle also comes to visit, and Fledgeby conceals his true connection with the money-lending business. After mocking and dismissing Riah, the two men meet privately, and Lammle reveals that Podsnap has sent a note indicating that in the future his daughter will no longer be associating with the Lammles. He believes someone must have betrayed their plan to the Podsnaps. Fledgeby is resigned to abandoning the plan, but Lammle is frustrated that it could have worked if Fledgeby had moved faster. The two part on seemingly good terms, but Fledgeby is angry that Mr. and Mrs. Lammle seem to blame him for the failure of the plan. Before Riah leaves, Fledgeby questions him about Lizzie’s whereabouts. Riah explains that Lizzie was desperate and helpless, and he offered to arrange for her to go live somewhere outside of London where she could keep her location a secret. Riah also responds to Fledgeby’s prompting by admitting that the man Lizzie was attracted to but whose intentions she questioned was Wrayburn.
That same evening, Riah goes to see Jenny Wren, who admits her father has been particularly troublesome lately, and that she misses Lizzie. Together, they go to see Miss Potterson and show her, as requested by Lizzie, the recantation. After reading the document, Miss Potterson expresses her regret that she misjudged Gaffer Hexam and tells them that Lizzie will always be welcomed at the pub. They are interrupted by a commotion of a body being recently retrieved and when it is brought inside the pub, Miss Potterson recognizes it as Riderhood. Miss Potterson quickly sends messengers to get a doctor and notify Riderhood’s daughter. The doctor suggests there is some hope in reviving him, and a witness explains that he nearly drowned after colliding with a large steamer. A short time after Pleasant arrives, Riderhood regains consciousness. Although there seemed to be hope in the kindness Riderhood received, once it is clear he’s going to live, the general animosity towards him seems to return.
The Wilfers are celebrating their anniversary and Bella returns to her family home. The day does not get off to a good start, and after a short time the family is joined by George Sampson. After the party, as Mr. Wilfer walks his daughter home, Bella confides that the secretary proposed to her. She says she said no, and that she is still preoccupied with getting as much money as possible. She also notes that Mr. Boffin seems to be changing and that she is worried he is being negatively influenced by his wealth. Bella witnesses an unpleasant scene where Mr. Boffin, in the presence of Mrs. Boffin, is rude and disrespectful to the secretary. After he leaves, Mrs. Boffin tries to rebuke him, but Mr. Boffin insists that it is important to assert authority over one’s employees. In subsequent days, Boffin also begins to show an obsessive interest in Misers (wealthy men who spent almost no money and hoarded their vast fortunes instead). Meanwhile, Bella has struck up a friendship with Mrs. Lammle, although she mistrusts and dislikes Mr. Lammle. Mrs. Lammle tries to introduce Bella to wealthy and eligible men whom she could consider marrying, but Bella is dissatisfied with all of them. Bella confides that she has no romantic feelings, and is only interested in marrying for money; she also tells Mrs. Lammle that she rejected the secretary. Mrs. Lammle secretly believes Bella to be vain and selfish, and reflects that she would not feel any guilt about tricking or manipulating her.
Despite Bella’s claims about her acquisitive nature, she is more and more dismayed about the greed Boffin seems to be showing, especially when he orders the secretary to move out of his rented rooms and move in to the mansion so that he can be available for all of his master’s whims. Boffin now mostly comes to see Wegg at the Bower for readings, rather than inviting him to his new mansion. When Boffin does not come to visit him, Wegg is regularly joined by Venus. Venus is becoming less enthusiastic about searching the dust mounds; one night, he and Wegg are interrupted by Boffin’s unexpected arrival. Boffin recognizes Venus’s name, and asks if old Mr. Harmon ever sold him anything, which Venus denies. Wegg reads to Boffin from a book about a miser who, after his death, left a decrepit house secretly filled with treasure. Wegg and Venus are excited by this reading, because they see it as confirming their hopes that there is money or valuable items hidden in the old Harmon house where they now reside.
After the reading, Boffin says he is going to take a walk around the property and wants to be alone. Wegg tells Venus that he must be followed because he thinks Boffin is going to seek out something of value. They creep out behind Boffin and see him digging into one of the mounds, retrieving what seems to be a glass bottle, and then filling in the hole. Wegg and Venus make it back to the house in time to greet Boffin innocently. Boffin casually explains that he has sold one of the dust mounds, but becomes defensive when Wegg questions him about what he was doing. After Boffin leaves, Wegg threatens to chase after him and take the bottle by force, since he is convinced it is connected to inheritance and wealth. Venus subdues him by force, after which Wegg calms down and apologizes.
Wegg then goes on to explain why he has been so agitated, and so interested in whatever Boffin retrieved from the dust heap. Some time earlier, he had come across a metal cash box buried in one of the dust heaps, with a label stating that it contained the will of John Harmon. The document inside seemed to be official, and it left one of the dust heaps to Boffin, with all the rest of the assets going to the crown. Wegg verified the dates, and confirmed that this newly discovered will post-dated the one that had been used to bestow the Harmon fortune on Boffin—this suggests that at some point old Mr. Harmon changed his mind and drafted a new will. Venus asks to see this document, but Wegg hesitates in case Boffin should return, so Venus suggests they go to his shop. Once there, Venus inspects the document. Wegg suggests they cut the paper in half and each keep a portion, but Venus proposes that Silas can keep the box and the label, but that he will keep the document himself. Silas also explains his plan: they will allow the mounds to be gradually cleared away, using this as an opportunity to monitor what is uncovered that might be of value, and then eventually use the will against Boffin, who will pay them off in order to keep his fortune. Considering this plan, Silas now considers anything of value in the dust heaps to belong to himself, which is why he became so enraged at Boffin sneaking off with the bottle. If they ever catch Boffin taking items from the dust mound in the future, Silas recommends they immediately reveal the will and blackmail him with it.
Wegg then asks Venus whether he has made any progress in his courtship, and is told that the woman is holding firm. Venus reveals that his beloved is Pleasant Riderhood, whom he met the night that John Harmon’s body was discovered; however, he has little else to say. Wegg leaves the shop disappointed and frustrated, having believed incorrectly that Venus knew something about the discovery of the Harmon body; he now wishes he had never made Venus a part of his plot at all. Wegg then lurks outside the Boffin mansion, fantasizing about the day when he will strip the inhabitants of their wealth and luxury.
Analysis
Fledgeby behaves in many duplicitous and scheming ways throughout the novel, but his bad treatment of Riah stands out as particularly despicable. Fledgeby is shrewd enough to know that he can exploit the many stereotypes and prejudices against Jewish people, and he uses this knowledge to his advantage. Moreover, he also enjoys the power by mocking Riah to his face and knowing the older man will not stand up for himself.
Even once his scheme with the Lammles against Georgiana has collapsed, Fledgeby keeps looking for other ways to enhance his power. His questions about Lizzie, for example, show that he knows this knowledge of her whereabouts might have value to someone at some point. The fact that Lizzie has fled to a secret location confirms just how devastating Headstone's proposal was for her, and how she does not fully trust Wrayburn either. Wrayburn is irresponsible and unclear in his intentions towards her; she is also terrified that if she keeps seeing Wrayburn, it might lead Headstone to act against him. Riah shows himself to be a kind of surrogate father figure here, in contrast with Gaffer Hexam and Jenny's alcoholic father. He is dependable an supportive, and willing to protect the young women, even while he remains in a vulnerable position with Fledgeby as his employer.
Bella's situation is becoming more and more precarious and unpleasant. She has achieved the social mobility characters like Charley Hexam long for, but it has alienated her from her family, and she is now caught between two worlds, not fully belonging to either. She is innocent enough to trust the wrong people, confiding in Mrs. Lammle when readers have already seen this woman's tendency to scheme and plot. What is perhaps most worrying is that while Mrs. Lammle is greedy and manipulative herself, she is disgusted by the way Bella talks and how she rationalizes why she turned down John's proposal. Mrs. Lammle was unable to carry out her plot against Georgiana because she was touched by the young woman's innocence and sweetness, but she sees Bella as a target she would not feel badly about hurting.
Despite these claims, Bella's reaction to Boffins's strange behavior shows that she is not as corrupt as she seems. She is disturbed by the way a kind and gentle man seems to be becoming warped and cruel as a result of possessing great wealth. To readers as well, Boffin seems to be changing his very nature and becoming an echo of old Mr. Harmon. Boffin and his wife had initially seen their new wealth as a tool to help others and create a more pleasant life for those they cared about. Now, Boffin is preoccupied with hoarding his wealth and not even enjoying it himself. His obsession with misers parodies Dicken's perception of the worst way that a fortune can be used: not as a source of making the world a better place, or even just taking pleasure, but hoarded up and admired for its own sake.
Boffin is both endangered from the inside, as a result of his increasing greed and corruption, and endangered from the outside as a result of Silas's plot against him. Silas is becoming increasingly paranoid and obsessed with surveilling his patron, which reverses the relationship that seems to exist between the two men. Boffin thinks he is the master and has control over Silas because he pays the man and provides him with lodging, while Silas actually feels total disdain and disgust towards the man he pretends to serve. While Silas might at first seem like he is grasping at straws with his plan to keep searching until he finds something, this section reveals that he actually does have a significant weapon to use against Boffin. The new will would strip Boffin of his wealth, and all the new status that comes with it. Silas's own values lead him to feel confident that Boffin would do almost anything to prevent this from happening, and that therefore he can blackmail his master into whatever terms he wants.
