David Copperfield: Chapter 31

Summary

Storytime for Grownups with Faith Moore

David Copperfield: Chapter 31 (April 23, 2026)

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Episode Overview

In this emotionally charged episode, Faith Moore reads and discusses Chapter 31 of Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield, building on the heartbreaking events of the previous chapter. The central theme is loss—both in death and in relationships—as the characters contend with grief, betrayal, and the consequences of choices. Faith interweaves Dickens’s narrative with warm, insightful commentary, invites listener engagement, and spotlights how classic literature stirs deep, contemporary emotion.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Listeners’ Anticipation & The Power of “Not Knowing”

• Faith and her co-host directly address listener frustration (00:43–02:51) about Dickens’s delayed revelation surrounding Steerforth’s betrayal.
• Quote [02:02, Co-host]: “Even getting mad at the book is a beautiful thing… feeling something for these characters… caring about it, that’s amazing.”
• They highlight the value of being emotionally invested in a long, slow-unfolding narrative.
• Dickens’s “diabolical” tension-building (16:14) is praised both for its artistry and effectiveness at keeping readers engaged and eager for answers.

2. Recap of Chapter 30: Foreshadowing and Foreboding

• Faith recaps the previous chapter (05:21), focusing on Mr. Barkis’s final hours and the unsettled mood surrounding Emily and Ham’s postponed wedding.
• Emily’s emotional state: She’s withdrawn, clings to her uncle, and recoils from Ham, raising suspicions that portend tragedy.
• Mr. Omer’s perspective [11:03, Faith]: “Emily hasn’t really been herself lately…She’s always had aspirations of… being a lady…”
• Tension mounts as listeners and characters alike suspect a link between Emily’s distress and Steerforth’s mysterious impending misdeed.

3. Letters from Listeners: Emotional Reactions

• Three moving listener responses are featured (06:25–07:45):
  • Jorge Perez is deeply moved by Mr. Barkis’s death, expressing real grief over a fictional character.
  • Olivia Kuyper admires David’s disregard for class divisions, focusing on love and loyalty.
  • Elizabeth voices impatience and intrigue about Steerforth’s absence and the narrative’s unresolved tension.

4. Analysis: Dickens’s Character Work and Emotional Mastery

• Faith delves into why Dickens’s writing elicits such strong reactions (17:14–21:21):
  • Even minor, eccentric characters like Mr. Barkis become memorable and beloved due to Dickens’s humanity.
  • Quote [18:52, Faith]: “Peggotty is one of David’s mothers… she’s the constant in David’s life, the only one who’s been there since he was born.”
• The tide motif in Barkis’s death, and his iconic final words, underscore the poetic richness of Dickens’s work.
  • Quote [20:00, Faith]: “His last words, Barkis is willing, are so wonderful… essentially his declaration of love for Peggotty.”

5. Chapter 31 Read-Aloud and Commentary (22:32–45:52)

• David’s Role as Executor: David proudly manages the practicalities of Mr. Barkis's will, feeling he’s “quite a proctor” (lawyer).
• Mrs. Peggotty’s Grief and Community’s Comfort: Relocating to familiar rituals after Barkis’s funeral, the characters are keenly observed in their small acts of solace and denial (29:36–32:22).
• Mr. Peggotty’s Candle:
  • Quote [32:41, Mr. Peggotty]: “When I’m here at the hour as she’s a comin’ home, I puts the light in the winder… There’s home, she says. And likewise, says Em’ly, my uncle’s there.”
  • Symbolizes hope, belonging, and family.

6. Catastrophe Unveiled: Emily’s Disappearance (35:23–40:44)

• Ham, pale and broken, delivers the devastating news that Emily has run away (36:08–37:03).
  • Quote [36:26, Ham]: “Her that I’d have died for… now she’s gone.”
• A heart-wrenching letter from Emily reveals her anguish and plea for forgiveness.
  • She asks to be remembered as though she died a child, and prays for her uncle’s comfort.
• The moment is profoundly affecting, with characters and listeners alike swept up in shared grief.

7. Steerforth Revealed as the Seducer (41:31–43:44)

• Under questioning, Ham and Mrs. Gummidge reveal the man Emily ran off with is Steerforth.
  • Quote [43:31, Ham]: “His name is Steerforth and he’s a damned villain.”
• The heartbreak is compounded for David, who is emotionally caught between two beloved friends.

8. Fallout and Commitment (43:59–45:52)

• Mr. Peggotty declares his intent to scour the world for Emily and bring her home, undeterred by her disgrace.
  • Quote [44:15, Mr. Peggotty]: “I’m a going to seek my niece through the world… in her shame and bring her back.”
• Mrs. Gummidge and Peggotty urge tenderness and forgiveness, finding comfort in their history of mutual care.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [02:18, Faith Moore]: “Joy doesn’t mean feeling happy all the time. It means being. Being fully here, fully present, experiencing all that there is to experience.”
• [16:14, Co-host]: “He’s winding the spring even tighter, which, honestly, is kind of amazing. Like, diabolical.”
• [20:00, Faith Moore]: “His last words, Barkis is willing, are so wonderful. Because that is what Barkis told Davy when he wanted Davy to pass on the message to Peggotty that he wanted to marry her.”
• [32:41, Mr. Peggotty]: “There’s home, she says. And likewise… my uncle’s there, for if I ain’t there, I never have no light showed.”
• [36:26, Ham]: “Her that I’d have died for and would die for. Now she’s gone.”
• [43:31, Ham]: “His name is Steerforth and he’s a damned villain.”
• [44:15, Mr. Peggotty]: “I’m a going to seek my niece through the world. I’m a going to find my poor niece in her shame and bring her back. No one stop me, I tell you, I’m a going to seek my niece.”

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Listener frustration & narrative suspense: 00:43–02:51
• Last chapter recap & emotional context: 05:21–08:33
• Analysis: Emily’s distress & foreshadowing: 09:00–15:02
• Letters from listeners & class discussion: 06:23–08:22, 20:53–21:33
• Mr. Barkis’s death & literary legacy: 16:40–20:53
• Read-aloud: Discovery of Emily’s disappearance: 35:23–40:44
• Reveal of Steerforth as betrayer: 41:31–43:44
• Mr. Peggotty’s quest for Emily: 43:59–45:52

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Tone & Language

Faith and her co-host maintain a conversational, compassionate tone, blending literary insight with warmth and affection for both the material and the podcast community. The episode is both scholarly and deeply empathetic, capturing the emotional weight of Dickens’s storytelling and the personal stakes for characters and listeners.

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Summary for Non-Listeners

This episode takes listeners through the major turning point in David Copperfield: the loss of Barkis, the unraveling of Emily and Ham’s engagement, and the shocking revelation that Steerforth—David’s beloved friend—has run away with Emily. With expert narration and thoughtful interpretation, Faith Moore guides listeners through grief, betrayal, and the unbreakable bonds of chosen family, showcasing both Dickens’s literary genius and the enduring relevance of classic stories.

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If you want to follow the drama, join the community, or simply appreciate the art of Dickens, this episode stands as a powerful, poignant installment—one that combines classic literature with modern emotional resonance.

Transcript

[Faith Moore]

Hello and welcome to Storytime for Grown Ups. I'm Faith Moore and this season we're reading David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. Each episode I'll read a few chapters from the book, pausing from time to time to give brief explanations so it's easier to follow along. It's like an audiobook with built in notes. So brew a pot of tea, find a cozy chair and settle in. It's story time.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

Hello. Welcome back. Yes, I know we did not find out what the thing with Steerforth was in the last chapter. I'm sorry I didn't write this book. I understand that that was really, really disappointing in that we're still here wanting to know. And all I can say is, well, we have to keep reading because eventually we've got to find out, right? I mean, he can't just not tell us ever. So we're going to get to it. I promise it's going to happen. We're going to find out. We're going to keep reading today and we'll talk about the chapter we just read. And I promise that there is a point to that chapter and it does actually relate and that we're not just completely changing the topic here, here. So we are still in this kind of narrative arc, this narrative flow, and he hasn't forgotten about us, I promise. So we're going to talk about it and then we'll read on and hopefully we will get the information that we want.

[Mrs. Gummidge]

But welcome.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

I'm so glad that you're here, that you haven't stormed off in a huff because he didn't tell us about Steerforth last time. Thank you for being here. Thank you for all your wonderful letters. I love getting them, even when the letters are like, what the heck? Why don't we know yet what's going on? I love hearing, hearing from you and

[Faith Moore]

I love how invested you are in

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

this book because that's a beautiful thing. Even getting mad at the book is a beautiful thing because feeling something for these characters and living in this world and caring about it, that's amazing. The human experience is made up of

[Faith Moore]

a range of emotions, not just good ones. Joy doesn't mean feeling happy all the time. It means being. Being fully here, fully present, experiencing all that there is to experience.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

And when we read a book like this, that allows us to do that

[Faith Moore]

and to care so deeply. That's a gift. We're being given a gift by Charles

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

Dickens that is sent to us from hundreds of years ago. And that's amazing. That's just amazing. It's Magical. It's a wonderful, magical thing. So even being annoyed is beautiful. It's a beautiful thing because it means we're invested.

[Faith Moore]

So thank you so much for coming with me on this journey and allowing

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

yourselves to feel invested in this world and in these characters. And I promise Dickens is not going to leave us hanging forever. He's not going to disappoint us. So we're going to get back into it and hopefully we're going to enjoy walking around some more in this world. I certainly am. And I love having you guys as my companions on this journey because often I'm just reading all by myself. And that's wonderful too. But I love getting to invite you along. So thank you. Thank you so much for accepting my invitation and being here. Okay.

[Faith Moore]

The only actual reminder that I have is that tea time is coming up one week from today. It's Thursday, April 30th at 8pm Eastern. That's over in our online community, which is called the Drawing Room, not because we draw there, but because we withdraw

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

there in our lovely Victorian house. We withdraw after the show to keep talking about these books and other books

[Faith Moore]

and life in general. And once a month we talk about

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

out loud instead of just typing into the various channels that are there. So we have a voice chat, kind

[Faith Moore]

of like a group phone call.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

We will talk about this book.

[Faith Moore]

You can tell me all of the

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

things that are annoying you about it or whatever it is, all the things you love about it too, please, and

[Faith Moore]

I will talk to you.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

You can ask me anything. So you can put your questions either in the chat and I'll answer them, or you can ask them right then and there. You also can just listen.

[Faith Moore]

You don't have to talk. You can just listen to the conversation. And I hope that you will join us. If you're not yet a member of the Drawing Room community at all, or

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

if you are not yet a member

[Faith Moore]

of the Landed Gentry membership tier, there's a link in the Show Notes to

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

the page that will allow you to sign up for all of those things. So please do scroll into the Show Notes and click on that link to

[Faith Moore]

learn more about the Drawing Room.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

And I really hope that you will join us on Thursday, April 30 at

[Faith Moore]

8pm Eastern for tea time.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

And I'm really looking forward to chatting

[Mr. Peggotty]

with many of my old friends and

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

I would love to meet some new friends.

[Faith Moore]

So I hope that you will join us.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

Okay, other than that, all the usual things. Please subscribe. Please tap the five stars. Tell a friend, tell everyone Leave a positive review.

[Faith Moore]

Scroll into the Show Notes, Check out the Merch Store, Buy some Storytime for Grown Ups Merch. Leave a financial donation if you can.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

Check out all the other links that are there and come along into this episode with me.

[Faith Moore]

So let's talk first about this kind

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

of frustrating chapter that we read last time. Let's begin by reminding ourselves what happened. Here is the recap.

[Faith Moore]

All right, so where we left off, David arrives in Yarmouth and takes a room at the inn because he thinks that they'll be using the room that he usually stays in at Peggy's house for Mr. Barkis's body. He passes by Mr. Omer's shop, the undertaker, and he sits and chats with him for a while and he learns that Mr. Barkis is still alive and that Emily and Mr. Peggy are there with Peggy. Mr. Omer says that Emily seems not to be in good spirits and she's clinging more than ever to Mr. Peggy. She and Ham would have been married by now, but the situation with Barkis has put that on hold. But Ham has bought them a house and furnished it and it's all ready for them. But that doesn't seem to have helped Emily to feel better about leaving Mr. Peggotty. David then goes to Peggy's house and finds Ham, Mr. Peggy and Emily there. Emily's very upset and crying and doesn't want to leave Mr. Peggotty's side even to go with Ham. So Ham leaves for the night and Mr. Peggy and Emily stay. Peggy comes down and she's very happy to see David and she takes him into the room where Mr. Barkus is dying. He's lying unconscious on top of the box where he keeps his money, but eventually he wakes up a bit, says that Peggy is the best of women,

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

and then he dies.

[Faith Moore]

Okay, I'm going to read three comments today. The first one comes from Jorge Perez. He says the end of chapter 30 ended me. I was struck with such sadness that I literally cried tears. They continue As I write this comment, I know Mr. Barkis is a fictional person created so many years ago, but he became real to me and to end with such a loving tone from the tides going in and tides going out, it just became a more so somber moment. His final words were so perfect that I dare not repeat them as I know I would not be able to hold back the tears. Thank you so very much for your love you put into every story.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

Well, thank you for sharing that because it's beautiful.

[Faith Moore]

I love that you had that reaction. And you know what it's not me. It's Dickens. He did it.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

He did that for you. And I'm so, so glad that he did that you're able to experience the book this way.

[Faith Moore]

So the next one is from Olivia Kuyper. She says, I just love that David never really has realized where he belongs in the social caste system, the time and continues to go to support and love those who have shown him true friendship and love in his life. Thank you for choosing this novel. I've always wanted to read it.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

I think this will be my favorite Dickens novel now. I'm very happy to hear that.

[Faith Moore]

Thank you for sharing.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

Okay, and this last one comes from Elizabeth. She says, wait, what? Steerforth wasn't even in this chapter.

[Faith Moore]

I thought we were going to find

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

out what happened that made David stop

[Faith Moore]

being friends with Steerforth, but suddenly we're

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

on to something else. Will we ever find out what is going on? Okay, so. Right. Like I was saying before, this is not exactly the chapter that we had been expecting. I mean, after the truly ominous chapter 29, which was absolutely riddled with foreshadowing about Steerforth doing something terrible that would wreck his friendship with Davey and potentially his relationship with his mother as well, after that, we don't find out what it is. And I got several letters, and people were talking about it a bit in the drawing room as well, but I got several letters from people saying, well,

[Faith Moore]

why couldn't you have kept reading?

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

Why didn't Dickens tell us what's going on?

[Faith Moore]

This is unbearable.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

So I chose Elizabeth's letter to represent that. But she is not alone. So I think my answer to that

[Faith Moore]

is, first of all, that I get it right.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

I said this before, but I feel your pain. We're dying to know what it is that Steerforth does that's so terrible.

[Faith Moore]

It's starting to feel like it had

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

better live up to the hype.

[Mr. Peggotty]

Right?

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

I mean, after all this, it's gotta be pretty bad.

[Faith Moore]

So. I understand.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

I get it. Really, I do. It's like, enough already. Tell us what it is.

[Faith Moore]

But. But also, if you take a look at chapter 30, the chapter that we

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

read last time, if you take a look at it, you'll see that it

[Faith Moore]

is potentially the other side of the coin.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

That was chapter 29.

[Faith Moore]

I mean, chapter 29 was all about

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

foreshadowing that Steerforth is going to do something terrible or has already done something terrible or whatever it may be.

[Faith Moore]

But Chapter 30, in addition to being

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

about Mr. Barkis's death, which I'll get

[Faith Moore]

to in a minute. But chapter 30 is. Gives us a pretty clear picture that something is not right at all with little Emily. Now, we don't know if the thing

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

that Steerforth does will actually have to

[Faith Moore]

do with Emily, but it is the

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

thing that we suspect, or at least that you guys suspect, based on the letters that I'm getting and your conversations

[Faith Moore]

in the drawing room.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

That's what it seems.

[Faith Moore]

The most common guess that I have gotten by far about what Steerforth is up to is that it will have to do with little Emily in some way.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

And I've gotten lots of specific predictions

[Faith Moore]

from you guys, great predictions, but.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

But I'm not going to reveal those here, because my point here is not to spoil anything that's actually going to happen or to put ideas into your head.

[Faith Moore]

But I think that Dickens is intentionally

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

drawing out this revelation, whatever it's going

[Faith Moore]

to be, and at least making us think that it's going to have something to do with Steerforth and with little Emily. And if you take a look at chapter 30, you will see that most of the chapter, even though if you

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

ask someone, like, what is this chapter about? They would probably say, oh, it's a chapter about Mr. Barkis dying.

[Faith Moore]

And that's true. But actually, most. Most of the chapter is about Emily and specifically about how something seems sort of off about her. We get this first from Mr. Omer, the undertaker.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

And I don't know about you, but I love Mr. Omer. And if this were like a college

[Faith Moore]

class, or if I were taking a

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

college class on David Copperfield right now, I would write an essay about what Mr. Omer represents, because he seems to show up at these moments of death and of change and of new beginnings, which is very apt since he is the undertaker.

[Faith Moore]

But also he himself is slowly dying, right? He has this horrible asthma which we assume will one day kill him.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

But he's so happy with his life

[Faith Moore]

and so contented, even though this is happening to him. This is a digression, I know, but

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

if I needed to write an academic essay, for some reason, I think this is what I would write about. But anyway, Mr. Omer, who is Emily's

[Faith Moore]

boss, remember she works at his shop. Mr. Omer feels that Emily hasn't really been herself lately. She's always held herself kind of apart

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

from the other girls, and she's always had aspirations of. Of kind of like being a lady or somehow making enough money to have

[Faith Moore]

nice clothes and to help her uncle

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

and all of this.

[Faith Moore]

But now there's an added layer to all of this. According to Mr. Omer, he says, but somehow she wants heart, if you understand. And then it says, said Mr. Omer after rubbing his chin again and smoking a little. What I mean in a general way, by the expression, a long pull and

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

a strong pull and a pull altogether, my hearty's hurrah.

[Faith Moore]

I should say to you that that was in a general way what I miss in Emily. Okay, so she's down in the dumps, essentially. She's depressed, that's what he's saying. But it turns out that it's even more than that. Because as Emily's wedding to Ham gets closer and closer, Mr. Omer says that Emily has been clinging more and more to her uncle, to Mr. Peggoty, which implies, of course, that instead of being excited for her wedding and looking forward to her new life, she's dreading it.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

I mean, based on what Mr. Omer

[Faith Moore]

is telling David, it's hard to draw any other conclusion.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

I think, he says, to see the

[Faith Moore]

clinging of that pretty little thing to her uncle, said Mr. Omer, to see the way she holds on to him tighter and tighter and closer and closer every day is to see a sight. Now, you know there's a struggle going on. When that's the case, why should it be made a longer one than is needful? Okay, so Mr. Omer feels that the

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

solution is for Emily to marry Ham

[Faith Moore]

as soon as possible.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

To kind of like rip the band aid off, essentially. And then she'll settle into her new

[Faith Moore]

life with him and be happier than when she's in this room of in between place. And that may be true. Ham is a good man.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

He loves her about as much as any man could love any woman.

[Faith Moore]

And Emily isn't ever going to be a lady.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

She's not going to come into a bunch of money or anything like that.

[Faith Moore]

So this really is the best thing for her. But according to Mr. Omer, she's miserable about it. And then David witnesses this for himself. He goes to Peggy's house, and Emily is there with Mr. Peggy and Ham and. And David can see right away that something is really wrong with Emily.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

Here's what he.

[Faith Moore]

There was a trembling upon her that I can see now. The coldness of her hand when I touched it, I can feel. Yet its only sign of animation was to shrink from mine. And then she glided from the chair and creeping to the other side of her uncle, bowed herself silently and trembling still upon his breast.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

And I mean, yes, her uncle by Marriage is dying. Mr. Barkis is dying. So the whole situation is very Sad. But this seems to be more than that.

[Faith Moore]

And David is certainly very struck by

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

it as seeming different than he's ever seen her and seeming like more than

[Faith Moore]

just grief for Mr. Barkis. And in fact, David makes a point of telling us that Emily seems to be sort of repulsed by Ham. Or if not repulsed by him, then

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

just sort of shrinking away from him,

[Faith Moore]

like she doesn't want to be near him. David says, even when he kissed her, and I never saw him approach her, but I felt that nature had given him the soul of a gentleman. She seemed to cling closer to her uncle and even to the avoidance of her chosen husband.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

So, I mean, that's weird.

[Faith Moore]

You're not supposed to be cringing away from your fiance when you chose to marry him.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

Like, sure, if this was some kind of arranged marriage with someone she didn't

[Faith Moore]

know, then that might make sense. But Ham asked her to marry him, and she said yes. I mean, first she said no, and Ham honored that. But then she said yes of her own free will, and no one forced her.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

So this is very strange behavior, I would say.

[Faith Moore]

And Mr. Peggotty and everyone else seems to feel that what's going on here is that Emily is just really sad that she'll have to leave Mr. Peggy's house and go and live with Ham when she's married. In other words, that it's not marrying Ham specifically that she's upset by. It's not getting to see Mr. Peggy all the time and live with him and be like his child.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

She's going to have to shift her allegiance essentially from father figure to husband,

[Faith Moore]

which certainly is a thing that women might feel on the eve of their

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

marriage, particularly in this time period when a woman didn't live on her own for a while. First she went straight from her family

[Faith Moore]

home to her husband's home.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

And some homesickness would be very natural. But this really seems like more than that, especially since Ham lives in the same tiny town as Mr. Peggy. It's not like they're moving far away. And Emily won't see Mr. Peggotty ever again. She's probably going to see him every day still.

[Faith Moore]

So it seems like there's probably something else going on, some other problem that Emily is having. But Mr. Peggotty is just chalking it all up to her love for him

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

and her sadness at leaving him. And here's what he you'll go along with me.

[Faith Moore]

Well, come along with me. Come. If her uncle was turned out of house and home and forced to lay

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

down at a Dyke master Davy, said Mr. Peggotty, with no less pride than before.

[Faith Moore]

It's my belief she'd go along with him now, but there'll be someone else soon. Someone else soon. Emily. Okay, Meaning ham. So if chapter 29 was all about

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

how Steerforth is about to do something terrible or has already done something terrible, but David's about to find out, or

[Faith Moore]

whatever, if that's what chapter 29 was about. Chapter 30, in a lot of ways, is about the fact that Emily is miserable for some unspecified reason, which, again, builds the tension even higher.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

So, yes, Dickens didn't immediately reveal the thing he set us up to be dying to know.

[Faith Moore]

Instead, he is winding the spring even

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

tighter, which, honestly, is kind of amazing. Like, diabolical.

[Faith Moore]

Yes, but also kind of amazing because we're still here, aren't we? We're still hanging off the end of

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

the cliff he set up for us,

[Faith Moore]

desperate to know what will happen. And we know because we trust Dickens.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

At least I do. But we know that eventually he'll let the spring go. He'll let it explode outwards with all the coiled up force that he's put behind it. And the revelation, whatever it is, will come out. And when it does, we can talk

[Faith Moore]

about whether or not it was worth the wait. But I do want to talk, just for a moment about Mr. Barkus, because I am with Jorge. This scene is incredibly moving, and I think it's such a testament to Dickens's writing that we can feel so deeply in this moment for a man who

[Mrs. Gummidge]

hardly says anything in the course of

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

the book, who is really, truly kind of strange, or at least eccentric with his box of old clothes that everyone knows is really money and all of this, who courted Peggy by bringing her, like, super weird presents and squishing her into the side of the cart as they went along, and stealing her bit of candle so he could be the one to hand it to her when

[Faith Moore]

she needed it, and who was ill and in bed for a lot of the rest of the time that we saw him. And yet, not only do we feel deeply at the seat of his death, but also we like him. We like him and we know that he's a good man, that he was a good husband to Peggy, that he took care of her and truly loved her. We know this even though he's only had a few scenes in the book,

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

and in many of those scenes, he was acting weird or not saying much.

[Faith Moore]

And that's a testament to Dickens's writing, because again and again, he gives us these characters who are quirky and strange and have all kinds of flaws and. But are good people, and we know it. And Barkis is one of those. And one of the ways that we know that is because Barkis loved Peggy,

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

and Peggy is worth loving.

[Faith Moore]

Anyone who loves Peggy is a good person.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

We know that because we know that

[Faith Moore]

Peggy is the best and truest sort of person that there is. And if Barkis knew that, then he

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

was smarter than anyone else in the world who looked past Peggy or actively disliked her or whatever.

[Faith Moore]

And part of what's so moving about Barkis death is that the thing he talks about at the very end after

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

lying there unconscious for all this time

[Faith Moore]

and then finally waking up the thing he wants to talk about is Peggy. Peggy tells him, this is a quote. Here's my dear boy, my dear boy, Master Davey, who brought us together.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

Barcas that you sent messages by, you

[Faith Moore]

know, won't you speak to Master Davey?

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

And then it says, for all Barcus's

[Faith Moore]

penny pinching, he really did love Peggy and they were happy together. CP Barkis, he cried faintly. No better woman anywhere. And we feel that too, in a way. There's no better woman anywhere than Peggy.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

I mean, there are other women who

[Faith Moore]

are up there with her like Miss

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

Betsy and Agnes, but there's no one better.

[Faith Moore]

Peggy is one of David's mothers. He has had three, right?

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

His own mother, Peggy and Miss Betsy.

[Faith Moore]

But Peggy is one of them and the one who has stuck by him his entire life and has always been there for him and always kept a

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

room ready for him.

[Faith Moore]

She's the constant in David's life. The only one, really, who's been there since he was born. No one else he knows has loved him that long. And to see that Mr. Barkis, strange,

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

eccentric, taciturn Mr. Barkis to see that

[Faith Moore]

he saw Peggy's worth as well that, I think, is what makes the scene so moving. And this notion of Mr. Peggy's that people go out with the tide that's really beautiful, I think. And it suddenly turns this very earthy,

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

very odd sort of man, Mr. Bark is.

[Faith Moore]

It turns. Turns him into something more, something eternal and part of something larger. And it lends a kind of gravitas and mystery and majesty to this scene which is simply essentially the scene of a sick man dying. But it's more than that because of the way that he recognized Peggy for the woman of worth that she is and because of the sort of mysterious

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

current he enters into by dying with

[Faith Moore]

the tide the way that Mr. Peggotty said that he would And I think

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

his last words, barkis is willing, are so wonderful. Because of course, that is what Barkis told Davy when he wanted Davy to

[Faith Moore]

pass on the message to Peggy that

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

he wanted to marry her.

[Faith Moore]

And because of that, they're essentially his declaration of love for Peggy. And he's telling her now at the

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

moment of his death that he would

[Faith Moore]

do it all over again. That he was right to want to marry her and that his life with

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

her was a happy one.

[Faith Moore]

But I think it's fair to also

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

say that Barkis is willing to.

[Faith Moore]

To die. That he's ready, that he's content with the life he lived and the love he loved. And he can go now. And that's moving too. So it really is a wonderful scene. And I agree with Olivia that one added piece that makes the scene so moving is the way in which David and by association than we David doesn't see class distinctions. We've talked about this before. David has a sense that it's who you are on the inside that counts, not what your social status is.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

I mean, he's aware of class and

[Faith Moore]

he wants desperately to be middle class, not lower class.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

And he wouldn't be marry someone probably

[Faith Moore]

who was lower class. But none of that stops him from truly entering into friendship and love without any holds barred with the people who are good and kind and loving to him. And so Peggy can be like a mother to him and he can be friends with Mr. Peggy and Ham without any of the sort of barrier that would come between these people and for example, someone like Steerforth.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

And there's something really touching about that as well.

[Faith Moore]

That people are just people and you love them for yourselves if they are worthy of love. And the fact that Peggy feels that David is a comfort to her in her grief is a testament to the

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

fact both that she has always loved

[Faith Moore]

him like a mother but also that he has always given his love to her in return without reservation. David says, peggy took me in her arms and blessed and thanked me over and over again for being such a comfort to her.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

That was what she said in her distress.

[Faith Moore]

And David feels very gratified by this because she has been a comfort to him countless times. So it's a very moving scene. It speaks well of Barkis and Peggy

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

and of David himself.

[Faith Moore]

But also lurking around the edges of it is this idea that something is not quite right here. That something is up with Emily.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

And the question is, will we finally find out what it is and what's up with Steerforth as well? Is Dickens gonna now tell us, please. There is only one way to find out and that, of course, is to keep reading. And so that is what we will do.

[Faith Moore]

But of course, don't forget to write to me about. It's faithkmore.com and then you click on Contact. Or you can just scroll into the Show Notes.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

That same link is there. Please do get in touch with me. Please do let me know all of your thoughts and reactions and questions that

[Faith Moore]

you have about this chapter. All right, let's get started with Chapter 31 of David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. It's story time. Chapter 31, a greater loss. It was not difficult for me on Peggy's solicitation to resolve to stay where I was until after the remains of the poor carrier should have made their last journey to Blunderstone. She had long ago bought, out of her own savings a little piece of ground in our old churchyard near the grave of her sweet girl, as she always called my mother. And there they were to rest in keeping Peggy company and doing all I could for her. Little enough. At the utmost. I was as grateful, I rejoiced to think as even now I could wish myself to have been. But I am afraid I had a supreme satisfaction of a personal and professional nature in taking charge of Mr. Barkis's will and expounding its contents. Okay. So because he's training to be a lawyer he feels very proud to be taking care of the will and explaining to Peggy what's in it. I may claim the merit of having originated the suggestion that the will should be looked for in the box. After some search, it was found in the box at the bottom of a horse's nose bag wherein, besides hay, there was discovered an old gold watch with chain and seals which Mr. Barkis had worn on his wedding day and which had never been seen before or since. A silver tobacco stopper in the form of a leg an imitation lemon full of minute cups and saucers which I have some idea Mr. Barkis must have purchased to present to me. I was a child and afterwards found himself unable to part with 87 guineas and a half in guineas and half guineas. 210 pounds in perfectly clean bank notes certain receipts for bank of England stock an old horseshoe, a bad shilling a piece of camphor and an oyster shell. From the circumstance of the latter article having been much polished and displaying prismatic colours on the inside I concluded that Mr. Barkis had some general ideas about pearls which never resolved themselves into anything definite. For years and years Mr. Barkis had carried this box on all his journeys every day that it might the better escape notice. He had invented a fiction that it belonged to Mr. Blackboy and was to be left with Barcus till called for a fable he had elaborately written on the lid in characters now scarcely legible, he had hoarded all these years. I found to good purpose. His property in money amounted to nearly £3,000. Of this he bequeathed the interest of 1,000 to Mr. Peggotty for his life on his decease. The principal to be equally divided between Peggotty, little Em' Ly and me, or the survivor or survivors of us, share and share alike. All the rest he died possessed of, he bequeathed to Peggotty, whom he left residuary, legatee and sole executrix of that his last will and testament. I felt myself quite a proctor When I read this document aloud with all possible ceremony and set forth its provisions any number of times to those whom they concerned. I began to think there was more in the Commons than I had supposed. I examined the will with the deepest attention, pronounced it perfectly formal in all respects, made a pencil mark or so in the margin, and thought it rather extraordinary that I knew so much, much in this abstruse pursuit in making an account for Peggy of all the property into which she had come, in arranging all the affairs in an orderly manner, and in being her referee and adviser on every point, to our joint delight. I passed the week before the funeral. I did not see little Emily in the interval, but they told me she was to be quietly married in a fortnight. I did not attend the funeral in character, if I may venture to say so. I mean I was not dressed up in a black coat and a streamer to frighten the birds. But I walked over to Blunderstone early in the morning and was in the churchyard when it came, attended only by Peggotty and her brother. The mad gentleman looked on out of my little window. Remember, a mad gentleman has moved into his old house. Mr. Chillip's baby wagged its heavy head and rolled its goggle eyes at the clergyman over its nurse's shoulder. Mr. Omer breathed short in the background. No one else was there, and it was very quiet. We walked about the churchyard for an hour after all was over and pulled some young leaves from the tree above my mother's grave. A dread falls on me here. A cloud is lowering on the distant town towards which I retrace my solitary steps. I fear to approach it. I cannot bear to think of what did come upon that memorable night, of what must come again. If I go on, it is no worse because I write of it. It would be no better if I stopped my most unwilling hand. It is done. Nothing can undo it, nothing can make it otherwise than as it was. My old nurse was to go to London with me next day on the business of the will. Little Emily was passing that day at Mr. Omer's. We were all to meet in the old boat house that night. Ham would bring Emily at the usual hour. I would walk back at my leisure. The brother and sister would return as they had come and be expecting us when the day closed in at the fireside. I parted from them at the wicket gate where Visionary Strap had rested with Roderick Random's knapsack in the days of yore, meaning the place where he'd imagined all his adventures when he lived there and he was so lonely and instead of going straight back, walked a little distance on the road to Lowestoft. Then I turned and walked back towards Yarmouth. I stayed to dine at a decent alehouse a mile or two from the ferry I have mentioned before, and thus the day wore away and it was evening when I reached it. Rain was falling heavily by that time, and it was a wild night, but there was a moon behind the clouds and it was not dark. I was soon within sight of Mr. Peggotty's house and of the light within it shining through the window. A little floundering across the sand, which was heavy, brought me to the door and I went in. It looked very comfortable indeed. Mr. Peggotty had smoked his evening pipe and there were preparations for some supper by and by. The fire was bright, the ashes were thrown up. The locker was ready for little Emily in her old place. In her own old place sat Peggy once more, looking but for her dress as if she had never left it. She had fallen back already on the society of the work box with St. Paul's upon the lid, the yard measure in the cottage, and the bit of wax candle. And there they all were, just as if they had never been disturbed. Mrs. Gummidge appeared to be fretting a little in her old corner and consequently looked quite natural too.

[Mr. Peggotty]

You're first o the lot, master Davy,

[Faith Moore]

said Mr. Peggotty with a happy face.

[Mr. Peggotty]

Don't keep in that coat, sir, if it's wet.

[Faith Moore]

Thank you, Mr. Peggotty, said I, giving him my outer coat to hang up. It's quite dry. So it is, said Mr. Peggotty, feeling my shoulders as a chip. Sit you down, sir.

[Mr. Peggotty]

It ain't no use sayin welcome to ye, but you're welcome, kind and hearty.

[Faith Moore]

Thank you, Mr. Peggotty, I am sure of that. Well, Peggotty, said I, giving her a kiss. And how are you, old woman?

[Mr. Peggotty]

Ha ha.

[Faith Moore]

Laughed Mr. Peggotty, sitting down beside us and rubbing his hands in his sense of relief from recent trouble and in the genuine heartiness of his nature. There's not a woman in the world,

[Mr. Peggotty]

sir, as I tell her, that need

[Faith Moore]

to feel more easy in her mind than her. She done her duty by the departed,

[Mr. Peggotty]

and the departed knowed it, and the departed done what was right by her as she done what was right by the departed andandand. It's all right, Mrs. Gummidge groaned. Cheer up, my pretty Mawther, said Mr.

[Faith Moore]

Peggotty, but he shook his head aside at us, evidently sensible of the tendency of the late occurrences to recall the memory of the old one.

[Mr. Peggotty]

Don't be down.

[Faith Moore]

Cheer up for your own self only

[Mr. Peggotty]

a bit, and see if a good deal more don't come natural.

[Faith Moore]

Not me, dan', l, returned Mrs. Gummidge.

[Mrs. Gummidge]

Nothink natural to me but to be lone and lorn.

[Mr. Peggotty]

No, no, said Mr. Peggotty, soothing her sorrows.

[Faith Moore]

Yes, yes, Dan', l, said Mrs. Gummidge.

[Mrs. Gummidge]

I ain't a person to live with them as has had money left. Things go to country with me, I had better be a riddance.

[Faith Moore]

She's saying that since Peggotty now has money she should go away cause she's unlucky.

[Mr. Peggotty]

Why, how should I ever spend it without ya?

[Faith Moore]

Said Mr. Peggotty, with an air of serious remonstrance.

[Mr. Peggotty]

What are you talking on? Don't I want ya more now than ever I did.

[Mrs. Gummidge]

I knowed I was never wanted before.

[Faith Moore]

Cried Mrs. Gummidge with a pitiable whimper.

[Mrs. Gummidge]

And now I'm told so. How could I expect to be wanted, beIN so lone and lorn and so contrary?

[Faith Moore]

Mr. Peggotty seemed very much shocked at himself for having made a speech capable of this unfeeling construction, but was prevented from replying by Peggotty's pulling his sleeve and shaking her head. After looking at Mrs. Gummidge for some moments in sore distress of mind, he glanced at the Dutch clock, Rose snuffed the candle and put it in the window. There, said Mr. Peggotty cheerily.

[Mr. Peggotty]

There we are, Mrs. Gummidge.

[Faith Moore]

Mrs. Gummidge slightly groaned.

[Mr. Peggotty]

Light it up. Accordin to custom. You're a wonderin what that's for, sir?

[Faith Moore]

Well, it's for our little Em'. Ly. You see, the path ain't over. Light or cheerful after dark. And when I'm here at the hour

[Mr. Peggotty]

as she's a comin home, I puts the light in the winder.

[Faith Moore]

That you see, said Mr. Peggotty, bending over me with great glee, meets two

[Mr. Peggotty]

objects, she says, says Em'.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

Ly.

[Mr. Peggotty]

There's home, she says. And likewise, says Em', ly, my uncle's there, for if I ain't there, I never have no light showed.

[Faith Moore]

You're a baby, said Peggotty, very fond of him for it, if she thought so. Well returned Mr. Peggotty, standing with his legs pretty wide apart and rubbing his hands up and down them in his comfortable satisfaction as he looked alternately at us and at the fire.

[Mr. Peggotty]

I don't know, but I am not,

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

ye see, to look at.

[Faith Moore]

Not exactly, observed Peggy. No, laughed Mr. Peggotty, not to look

[Mr. Peggotty]

at, but toto consider on, you know I don't care. Bless you. Now I tell you, when I go

[Faith Moore]

a lookin and lookin about that there

[Mr. Peggotty]

pretty house of our Em', ly's, I'm.

[Faith Moore]

I'm gormed, said Mr. Peggotty, with sudden emphasis.

[Mr. Peggotty]

There I can't say more if I don't feel as if the littlest things was her almost. I takes em up and I put em down and I touches of em as delicate as if they was our Em'. Ly. So it is with her little bonnets and that I couldn't see one of em ruffed and used a purpose not

[Faith Moore]

for the whole world.

[Mr. Peggotty]

There is a babby for you in the form of a great sea porcupine,

[Faith Moore]

said Mr. Peggotty, relieving his earnestness with

[Mr. Peggotty]

a roar of laughter.

[Faith Moore]

Peggotty and I both laughed, but not so loud. It's my opinion. Ye see, said Mr. Peggotty with a delighted face, after some further rubbing of his legs, as this is along of

[Mr. Peggotty]

my having played with her so much and made believe as we was Turks and French and sharks and every variety of foreigners. Bless you. Yes, and lions and whales and I don't know what all, when she weren't no higher than my knee, I've got into the way on it, you know. Why this your candle now, said Mr.

[Faith Moore]

Peggotty, gleefully, holding out his hand towards it.

[Mr. Peggotty]

I know wery well that arter she's married and gone. I shall put that candle there just the same as now. I know wery well that when I'm here o nights, and where else should I live? Bless your earts, whatever fortune I come

[Faith Moore]

into, and she ain't here or I ain't there I shall put the candle

[Mr. Peggotty]

in the winder and sit afore the fire pretending I'm expectin of her, like I'm a doin. Now there's a babby for you, said

[Faith Moore]

Mr. Peggotty with another roar in the

[Mr. Peggotty]

form of a sea porcupine. Why, at the present minute when I see the candle sparkle up, I says to myself, she's a looking at it. Em' ly's a comin. There's a babby for you in the

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

form of a sea porcupine.

[Mr. Peggotty]

Right for all that, said Mr. Peggotty,

[Faith Moore]

stopping in his roar and smiting his

[Mr. Peggotty]

hands together, for here she is.

[Faith Moore]

It was only Ham. The night should have turned more wet since I came in for he had a large sou' wester hat on slouched over his face.

[Co-host or Guest Speaker]

Where's um'?

[Faith Moore]

Ly? Said Mr. Peggotty. Ham made a motion with his head as if she were outside. Mr. Peggotty took the light from the window, trimmed it, put it on the table and was busy stirring the fire when Ham, who had not moved, said, Master Davy, will you come out a

[Mr. Peggotty]

minute and see what Em' ly and me has got to show you?

[Faith Moore]

We went out. As I passed him at the door, I saw to my astonishment and fright that he was deadly pale. He pushed me hastily into the open air and closed the door upon us. Only upon us two. Ham.

[Mrs. Gummidge]

What's the matter, Master Davy?

[Faith Moore]

Oh, for his broken heart, how dreadfully he wept. I was paralyzed by the sight of such grief. I don't know what I thought or what I dreaded. I could only look at him. Ham. Poor good fellow.

[Mrs. Gummidge]

For heaven's sake, tell me what's the matter. My love, Master Davy. The pride and hope of my heart. Her that I'd have died for and would die for. Now she's gone.

[Mr. Peggotty]

Gone.

[Mrs. Gummidge]

Emily's run away. Oh, Master Davy, think how she's run away when I pray my good and gracious God, to kill her. Her that is so dear above all things, sooner than let her come to ruin and disgrace.

[Faith Moore]

Okay, so he's saying that Emily has run off in some way that will cause her to be ruined. And he wishes she was dead rather than ruined. The face he turned up to the troubled sky, the quivering of his clasped hands, the agony of his figure remain associated with the lonely waste in my remembrance to this hour. It is always night there, and he is the only object in the scene. You're a scholar, he said hurriedly, and know what's right and best. What am I to say? Indoors.

[Mrs. Gummidge]

How am I ever to break it

[Mr. Peggotty]

to him, Master Davy?

[Faith Moore]

I saw the door move and instinctively tried to hold the latch on the outside to gain a moment's time. It was too late. Mr. Peggotty thrust forth his face and never could I forget the change that came upon it when he saw us. If I were to live 500 years. I remember a great wail and cry and the women hanging about him and we all standing in the room. I with a paper in my hand which Ham had given me. Mr. Peggotty with his vest torn open, his hair wild, his face and lips quite white and blood trickling down his bosom. It has sprung from his mouth, I think, looking fixedly at me.

[Mr. Peggotty]

Read it, sir, he said in a low, shivering voice, slow, please. I don't know as I can understand.

[Faith Moore]

In the midst of the silence of death, I read thus from a blotted letter. When you who love me so much better than I ever have deserved, even when my mind was innocent, see this. I shall be far away.

[Mr. Peggotty]

I shall be fur away, he repeated slowly.

[Faith Moore]

Stop, Emily.

[Mrs. Gummidge]

Far away. Well, when I leave my dear home. My dear home. Oh, my dear home in the morning

[Faith Moore]

the letter bore date on the previous night. It will be never to come back unless he brings me back a lady. This will be found at night, many hours after, instead of me.

[Mrs. Gummidge]

Oh, if you knew how my heart is torn if even you, that I have wronged so much that never can forgive me, could only know what I suffer.

[Faith Moore]

She's talking to Ham.

[Mrs. Gummidge]

Here I am too wicked to write about myself. Oh, take comfort in thinking that I am so bad. Oh, for mercy's sake, tell uncle that I never loved him half so dear as now. Oh, don't remember how affectionate and kind

[Faith Moore]

you have all been to me.

[Mrs. Gummidge]

Don't remember we were ever to be married. But try to think as if I died when I was little and was buried somewhere. Pray heaven that I am going away from. Have compassion on my uncle. Tell him that I never loved him half so dear. Be his comfort, love some good girl. That will be what I was once to uncle and be true to you and worthy of you and know no shame but me. God bless all I pray for all, often on my knees. If he don't bring me back a lady and I don't pray for my own self, I'll pray for all my parting love to uncle, my last tears and my last thanks for Uncle.

[Faith Moore]

That was all he stood long after I had ceased to read, still looking at me at length I ventured to take his hand, and to entreat him as well as I could to endeavour to get some command of himself. He replied, I thank ye, sir.

[Mr. Peggotty]

I thank ye.

[Faith Moore]

Without moving, Ham spoke to him. Mr. Peggotty was so far sensible of his affliction that he wrung his hand, but otherwise he remained in the same state, and no one dared to disturb him. Slowly, at last, he moved his eyes from my face as if he were waking from a vision, and cast them round the room. Then he said in a low voice, who's the man?

[Mr. Peggotty]

I want to know his name, meaning

[Faith Moore]

who has Emily run off with? Ham glanced at me, and suddenly I felt a shock that struck me back. There's a man suspected, said Mr. Peggotty.

[Mr. Peggotty]

Who is it?

[Faith Moore]

Master Davy implored Ham, go out a

[Mr. Peggotty]

bit and let me tell him what I must. You don't ought to hear it, sir.

[Faith Moore]

I felt the shock again. I sank down in a chair and tried to utter some reply, but my tongue was fettered and my sight was weak.

[Mr. Peggotty]

I want to know his name, I

[Faith Moore]

heard said once more.

[Mr. Peggotty]

For some time past, Ham faltered. There's been a servant about here at odd times.

[Faith Moore]

There's been a gentleman, too.

[Mr. Peggotty]

Both of them belong to one another.

[Faith Moore]

Mr. Peggotty stood fixed as before, but now, looking at him, the servant pursued.

[Mr. Peggotty]

Ham was seen along with our poor girl last night. He's been in hiding about here this week or over. He was thought to have gone, but he was hiding. Don't stay, Master Davy, don't.

[Faith Moore]

I felt Peggy's arm round my neck, but I could not have moved if the house had been about to fall upon me.

[Mr. Peggotty]

A strange shay and horses, meaning a

[Faith Moore]

strange carriage and horses, was outside town

[Mr. Peggotty]

this morning on the Norwich Road. Almost afore the day broke, Ham went on. The servant went to it and come from it, and went to it again. When he went to it again, em'

[Faith Moore]

ly was nigh him. The t' other was inside.

[Mr. Peggotty]

He's the man for the lord's love,

[Faith Moore]

said Mr. Peggotty, falling back and putting out his hand as if to keep off what he dreaded.

[Mr. Peggotty]

Don't tell me his names.

[Mrs. Gummidge]

Steerforth, Master Davy.

[Faith Moore]

Exclaimed Ham in a broken voice.

[Mrs. Gummidge]

It ain't no fault, O yourn, and

[Faith Moore]

I am far from laying of it to you.

[Mr. Peggotty]

But his name is Steerforth and he's a damned villain.

[Faith Moore]

Okay, so little Emily has run off with Steerforth. Mr. Peggotty uttered no cry and shed no tear, and moved no more until he seemed to wake again all at once and pulled down his rough coat from its peg in a corner.

[Mr. Peggotty]

Bear a hand with this. I'm struck of a heap and can't do it.

[Faith Moore]

He said impatiently.

[Mr. Peggotty]

Bear a hand and help me.

[Faith Moore]

Well, when somebody had done so.

[Mr. Peggotty]

Now gimme that there hat.

[Faith Moore]

Ham asked him whither he was going.

[Mr. Peggotty]

I'm a going to seek my niece. I'm a going to seek my em'.

[Mrs. Gummidge]

Ly.

[Mr. Peggotty]

I'm a going first to Steve in that there boat and sink it when I would have drownded him as I am a living soul, if I had had one thought of what was in him. Has he sat afore me, he said

[Faith Moore]

wildly, holding out his clenched right hand,

[Mr. Peggotty]

as he sat afore me face to face. Strike me down, De. But I'd have drownded him and thought it right. I'm a going to seek my niece.

[Faith Moore]

Okay, so he's saying that he sat with Steerforth and helped him with his boat, and now he wishes he'd killed him and sunk his boat. So he's going to start by actually sinking the boat.

[Mrs. Gummidge]

Where?

[Faith Moore]

Cried Ham, interposing himself before the door.

[Mr. Peggotty]

Anywhere. I'm a going to seek my niece through the world. I'm a going to find my poor niece in her shame and bring her back. No one stop me, I tell you, I'm a going to seek my niece.

[Mrs. Gummidge]

No, no.

[Faith Moore]

Cried Mrs. Gummidge, coming between them in a fit of crying.

[Mrs. Gummidge]

No, no, Dan', l, not as you are now. Seek her in a little while, my lone lorn, Dan', l, and that'll be

[Mr. Peggotty]

but right, but not as you are now.

[Mrs. Gummidge]

Sit ye down and give me your

[Mr. Peggotty]

forgiveness for having ever been a worrit to you, Dan'.

[Mrs. Gummidge]

L. What, have my contraries ever been to this? And let us speak a word about them times when she was first an orphan and when Ham was too, and when I was a poor widow woman

[Mr. Peggotty]

and you took me in.

[Faith Moore]

It'll soften your poor heart, Dan', l, laying her head upon his shoulder, and

[Mrs. Gummidge]

you'll bear your sorrow better, for you

[Mr. Peggotty]

know the promise, Dan', l. As you

[Faith Moore]

have done it unto one of the

[Mr. Peggotty]

least of these, you have done it

[Faith Moore]

unto me, and that could never fail

[Mrs. Gummidge]

under this roofthat's been our shelter for

[Faith Moore]

so many, many year. He was quite passive now, and when I heard him crying, the impulse that had been upon me to go down upon my knees and ask their pardon for the desolation I had caused and curse Steerforth yielded to a better feeling. My overcharged heart found the same relief, and I cried too. Thank you so much for listening I'd love to know what you thought of the chapters. Is there anything you'd like me to clarify? Did something particularly interest you? Please go to my website, faithkmoore.com, click on Contact and send me your questions and thoughts. Or you can click on the link in the Show Notes to contact me. I'll feature one or two of your entries at the start of the next episode. Speaking of links, don't forget to take a look at the other links in the Show Notes. You can learn more about me, check out our Merch store or become a member of the Storytime for Grown Ups online community. Before I go, I'd like to ask a quick favor. This is an independent podcast. It's produced, recorded and marketed by me, so I need your help. Spread the word about the show by posting about it on social media or texting a link to your friends. Subscribe, tap those five stars and leave a positive review wherever you're listening. If you are able to support the show financially, there's a link in the Show Notes to make a donation. I would really, really appreciate it. Alright everyone, story time is over to be continue.