David Copperfield: Chapter 47

Summary

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Storytime for Grownups – Ep. "David Copperfield: Chapter 47"

Host: Faith Moore
Date: June 18, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Faith Moore reads and discusses Chapter 47 of David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, guiding listeners through the emotional and narrative complexities of the novel’s ongoing storylines. Interweaving personal commentary, listener insights, and relevant historical or literary notes, Faith helps uncover the deeper themes in this critical chapter—the search for Emily, the despair and redemption embodied by Martha, and a major revelation about Aunt Betsy's past. The episode maintains a cozy, thoughtful tone, ideal for both newcomers and fans of classic literature.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Recap of Prior Events and Setting the Stage

• Faith reminds listeners of where the story left off:
  • David is now one year into his marriage, increasingly successful as a writer.
  • He has learned from Ms. Steerforth's household that Emily has run away from Steerforth, after he abandoned her and tried to "arrange" a marriage for her with Littimer, who then locked her up when she objected.
  • Steerforth is indifferent, and Emily is missing in London.
  • David and Mr. Peggotty believe Martha, a "fallen" woman, may help find Emily and are following her (04:24-05:50).

2. Listener Comments & Community Discussion

• Faith and her co-host share thoughtful listener insights reflecting on the motivations of Emily, Steerforth, and surrounding characters.

  • Amanda B: “After David's encounter with Rosa, etc. I hope that Mr. Peggotty finds Emily first. I couldn't help but feel like Rosa knew David would go to Mr. Peggotty. Is it all a trap? So many lines going in this story.” (05:50)
  • Handle 'IT': “Can you blame Emily for going into a rage when Steerforth offered up Littimer?... That is quite a straw to break the camel's back with.” (06:26)
  • Handle 'ilv': Satirical breakdown of “Team Emily” (forgiveness, love) vs. “Team Steerforth” (contrition, obedience) dynamics. (06:28-06:49)

• Faith expands upon Dickens’s skillful management of multiple storylines and highlights the ongoing motif of Mr. Peggotty’s quest for Emily as a kind of “mystery story.”

3. David’s Growth and Dickens’s Autobiographical Touch

• Noted milestones: David is settling into married life and, like Dickens, is now a novelist—a role that fits his dreamy, imaginative character.
• Quote:

  “The childish recollections and later fancies, the ghosts of half formed hopes, the broken shadows of disappointments dimly seen and understood. The blending of experience and imagination incidental to the occupation with which my thoughts had been busy.” (10:33, read by Faith Moore)

• Faith connects David’s new career with Dickens’s own background and the broader theme of storytelling in the novel (09:00-10:42).

4. The Fate of Emily and Steerforth’s Cruelty

• Faith dramatically recounts Littimer’s explanation:

  • Steerforth abandons Emily with cold indifference.
  • He arranges for her to marry Littimer as a “consolation prize,” which is condescending and reflects Victorian attitudes toward fallen women.
  • Emily’s rage is justified, and her actions driven by the desperate hope for status and love, not just passion (11:13-12:57).

• Quote:

  “Mr. James, he set off one morning from the neighborhood of Naples... under pretence of coming back in a day or so, left it in charge with me ... for the general happiness of all concerned, he was—[interrupted by a short cough]—gone.” (11:13, recounted by Faith)

5. The Fairy Tale Metaphor: Good vs. Evil

• Faith draws out Dickens’s fairy-tale storytelling:
  • Mr. Peggotty as the embodiment of love and forgiveness—even a saintly figure (14:33-15:22).
  • Ms. Dardle as the “wicked queen”: “she reclined upon the seat between us and looked at me, was worthy of a cruel princess in a legend.” (15:24-15:39)
• These literary references frame the search for Emily as an epic battle between good and evil, unconditional love and vindictiveness.

6. Martha’s Despair and Redemption

• Chapter 47 centers around Martha’s despair (nearly suicidal at the river) and Mr. Peggotty’s and David’s rescue.
• Detailed reading and analysis of Martha’s speech about her identification with the river and her struggles with guilt and alienation (26:27-33:41).
• Quote:

  “Oh, the river… I know that I belong to it. I know that it’s the natural company of such as I am... and it goes away like my life to a great sea that is always troubled. And I feel that I must go with it.” (26:44-27:08, Martha)

• Mr. Peggotty expresses compassion and asks for Martha’s help in finding Emily, assuring her she is trusted and believed innocent in the matter of Emily’s downfall (33:48-36:31).
• Martha solemnly pledges herself to the search, refusing money as it would undermine the trust given her:

  “To give me money would be to take away your trust... to take away the only certain thing that saves me from the river.” (39:18-39:28)

7. Major Revelation: Aunt Betsy’s Secret

• After returning home, David sees his aunt speaking secretly with a disheveled man.
• Huge revelation: this is Aunt Betsy’s estranged, thought-to-be-dead husband, whom she married unwisely and has secretly supported over the years out of a mixture of guilt, honor, and lingering compassion (44:51-47:06).
• Quote:

  “Dead to me, returned my aunt, but living… Betsy Trotwood don’t look a likely subject for the tender passion… But the time was, Trot, when she believed in that man most entirely. When she loved him, Trot, right well.” (44:53-45:38, Aunt Betsy Trotwood)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “He used her for his own amusement. And the moment he wasn’t amused anymore, he dropped her. Which is Steerforth in a nutshell, right? I mean, it’s truly despicable.” — Faith Moore (11:16)
• “Mr. Peggotty is love and forgiveness… and Ms. Dardle is jealousy and vindictiveness.” — Faith Moore (15:09-15:14)
• “What shall I ever do? How can I go on as I am, a solitary curse to myself, a living disgrace to everyone I come near?” — Martha, read by Faith (32:34-32:39)
• “God forbid as I should judge you… You don’t know half the change that come in course O time upon me when you think it likely.” — Mr. Peggotty to Martha (33:48-34:04)
• “To give me money would be to take away your trust… to take away the only certain thing that saves me from the river.” — Martha (39:18-39:28)
• “Dead to me, returned my aunt, but living. I sat in silent amazement. Betsy Trotwood don’t look a likely subject for the tender passion… But the time was, Trot, when she believed in that man most entirely…” — Aunt Betsy (44:53-45:38)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Recap of Last Episode: 04:24
• Listener Comments & Discussion: 05:50–09:00
• David’s Literary Career / Novelistic Turn: 09:00–10:42
• Analysis of Steerforth & Emily Conflict: 11:13–12:57
• Fairy Tale Motif (Mr. Peggotty, Ms. Dardle): 14:33–15:39
• Martha’s Scene at the River: 26:27–39:48
• Aunt Betsy’s Husband Revealed: 44:51–47:06

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Thematic Wrap-Up

• The episode weaves together Dickens's commentary on social class, the stigma of “fallen” women, and the enduring optimism of hope, love, and forgiveness.
• Faith’s patient, nurturing explanations make even complex passages and Victorian attitudes clear for modern listeners.
• The major plot developments (Martha’s redemption and Aunt Betsy’s secret) leave the story on a significant emotional and narrative cliffhanger.

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Final Thoughts

Faith invites listeners to share their reactions, questions, or requests for clarification through her website or the show’s online community, reminding all that Storytime for Grownups is more than a podcast—it's a conversation and a way to rediscover classic literature together.

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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 Promoter]

Hi, everybody. You know how I'm always telling you that if you buy some merch and wear it around or carry it around, then somebody might ask you, hey, what's story time for Grown Ups? Then you can tell them about this show. Well, today I was wearing my Janet Donkeys to shirt and two different people

[Faith Moore]

asked me what that meant.

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

But here's the thing. This is why I need you guys. Because there was this guy in the park today and he said, I just have to ask you, what is Janet Donkey's? What does that mean? And I told him it was a line from David Copperfield and I explained that it was kind of a joke, but I just couldn't bring myself to tell him about the podcast because I didn't want to sound like I was kind of bragging or promoting myself. Which is why I will never, ever, ever be famous. And also why I need you guys to talk about this show instead of me. Because I'm so terrible at self promotion. I did tell the second person about it, but that was a person that I kind of know, so I felt a little bit more comfortable sharing. But I just wanted to say that it does work. So if you do want to help promote the show, because clearly I am terrible at it. So if you want to help me, you should scroll into the show notes, click on the merch store and pick up some Story Time for Grown Ups merch. Because apparently it really does work. People ask you what is going on with your shirt or your mug or whatever it is, and then maybe you, unlike me, can tell them about Storytime time for grownups. Anyway, I just thought I would share that because it was very funny. Otherwise, welcome to the show. I am very excited that you are here. We kind of ended on a cliffhanger last time, right? So we have to get back to the chapter, but we have lots to do before that. One thing is just to remind you that next Thursday, so one week from today, if you're listening in real time. So Thursday, June 25th is our next tea time. That happens over in our online community, the drawing room. It's like a voice Chat where we kind of talk. It's like a phone call where we talk to each other. But if you want to know more, if you don't know what I'm talking about again, scroll into the show notes and click on the link to our online community and it will tell you more. By the way, I keep saying scroll into the show notes. The show notes are just the description of the episode. I've gotten some questions about that. So it's just the description of the episode. So when you click on the episode in your podcast player, then you can scroll down and you'll find a description of the show. And then underneath that are all the links that I keep talking about. The merch store, the online community community, the contact page, all of those things that I'm always going on and on about are there. So that's what I mean. So you can find that there. If you'd like to join us for tea time, you have to sign up to become a member of the Landed gentry membership tier over at the drawing room, which is our online community. So I hope that you'll click on that and join us. It's June 25th, which is a Thursday, one week from today, if you're listening

[Faith Moore]

in real time at 8pm Eastern.

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

So I'll remind you one more time and I guess two more times because I'll tell you on the day and if you would like to submit, ask me anything questions, you can do that over in the drawing room as well. And hopefully I will be able to answer those during tea time. So I'm really looking forward to it. Other than that, all the usual things. Please subscribe to the show, Please tap the 5 stars, please leave a positive review, please tell a friend, please do everything that you can to get the word out about this show, because clearly I don't know how to do it. So please spread the word about story time for grown ups, because the more people that listen, the better it is. And also the more we can keep doing this and the more books we'll be able to read in the future. So please do spread the word in whatever way works best for you, since clearly I don't really know how to do it. All right, last time we read chapter 46, today we'll be reading chapter 47. So let's just remind ourselves of what happened. We'll talk for a little bit and then we'll get back to the story because like I said, we left off in the middle of a scene, basically. So here is the recap.

[Faith Moore]

All right, so where we left off. David has now been married for a year and he's becoming more famous as a writer and working on his first novel. One day as he's walking past Ms. Steerforth's house, a maidservant comes out and tells him that Ms. Dardle wants to speak with him. He goes in and finds her looking as pinched and angry as ever and she asks him if he knows where Emily is. He says he doesn't and she reveals that Emily has run away from Steerforth. Then she calls to someone to come into the garden and Steerforth's servant, Mr. Littimer, shows up. He says that Steerforth and Emily were having a good time in Europe for a while, but then Emily became melancholy and that made Steerforth lose interest in her. Eventually he left her and made arrangements for her to marry Littimer. When she found out what had happened, she became angry and violent and Littimer locked her up. But she escaped and ran away. He doesn't know where she is and Steerforth fired Littimer over what happened. Steerforth is apparently still gallivanting around Europe. David asks if Emily received any letters from Mr. Peggotty and Littimer implies that they didn't allow her to see them. Mrs. Steerforth comes in and says it's in all of their interests if Emily is found. But she seems to feel that it's all Emily's fault and that she lured Steerforth into this. David leaves and goes to find Mr. Peggotty, who has been staying over the Chandler's shop and going out at night in search of Emily. David tells him everything he learned learned and they both agree that Emily may still be alive and hiding in London. David suggests that Martha might be able to help them find her. So they go out looking for Martha and find her. And we left them following her, hoping to find a quiet spot to talk to her.

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

Okay, I'm going to read 3 comments today. The first one comes from Amanda B. She says after David's encounter with Rosa, etc. I hope that Mr. Peggotty finds Emily first. I couldn't help but feel like Rosa knew David would go to Mr. Peggy. Is it all a trap? So many lines going in this story. The next one comes from our online community, the Drawing Room and this person goes by the handle it. She says, can you blame Emily for going into a rage when Steerforth offered up Littomer? It probably wasn't a completely rude awakening for her, but that is quite a straw to break the camel's back with.

[Faith Moore]

And this last one also comes from

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

the drawing room, and this person goes by the handle ilv, he says.

[Faith Moore]

So we've got these two groups waiting for the Tristers return.

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

Team Emily and Team J. Steerforth, the captain of Team E, is waiting with

[Faith Moore]

forgiveness, love and address.

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

And Bonnet, the captain of Team S is waiting for contrition and obedience and a suspicion that he will be again

[Faith Moore]

bewitched by Emily's charms.

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

Maybe I'm biased toward Team E, but Team S seems deluded. Emily was the one charmed until the spell was broken by Steerforth bailing like we all knew he would as soon as he got bored. Okay, so, yes, as Amanda says, there are a ton of storylines going on at the moment, and Dickens is so great at shifting between them, I think, like, wrapping up some pieces of a storyline and then moving on to another and then going back to the first one to see where things stand. I think it's really amazing that he is able to do that. And one of these ongoing storylines is, of course, Mr. Peggotty's search for little Emily. Because in this chapter, we get some new information, right? This storyline is basically a mystery story. Where is little Emily? And will Mr. Peggotty be able to find her and bring her home? And so we just got another clue, basically in the form of this information from Littimer that Ms. Dardle chose to share with David. So we're going to take a look at that. But there are two very quick additional pieces of information in this chapter that I just want to highlight. The first is that David has now been married for a year, so time has moved forward again, not so much that we need, like, another retrospect chapter, but enough to just call your attention to it so that we can be clear about the timeline. So that's one thing. David and Dora aren't quite newlyweds anymore. I mean, they're definitely still in the very early stages of their marriage, but in theory, they are more settled than they were at the very beginning. Although we'll have to see how things are actually going in terms of the housekeeping and everything the next time that we come back to that aspect of the story. So that's one thing. And the other thing is that David is a novelist now, just like Dickens, Right. He has embarked on his first novel because he's had so much success writing short stories for magazines and things like that. So he's now able to work on a longer piece of fiction. And we get the sense, I think, that this is actually David's calling in life, just as it was Dickens's obviously. Remember when David was first deciding what he wanted to be and he couldn't really figure it out. And Miss Betsy was like, how about a proctor? And David was sort of like, yeah, okay, sure, why not?

[Faith Moore]

And he enjoyed the Law, but it

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

didn't really fire his rockets in any discernible way.

[Faith Moore]

And I think when we think back

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

on David as a little boy and a young teenager, and we remember how dreamy he was and how much those old books he found of his fathers meant to him, and how he'd invent stories and adventures and imagine them kind of playing out in the scenes outside his window. When we think of the way that he tried to be a kind of errant knight and woo his various love interests, including Dora. When we think of all of that, I think novelist is actually the thing that he was meant to be all along. All his imagination and dreaminess and heroic aspirations.

[Faith Moore]

He can channel all of that into

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

the stories he writes.

[Faith Moore]

And it's not a stretch to imagine

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

that he would be very successful at it. We've talked at various points about the way in which David Copperfield is autobiographical. And this is another one of those points. Dickens has made David into an author, just like he's an author. But I think he set it up really well. I think this really fits with who David has been all along. And it also explains perhaps, why adult David might be writing all of this down for us to read, since we know now that he's well versed in writing narratives. And before we move on to little Emily and everyone, I just want to highlight this quote because it's such a lovely description of what it's like to be a novelist. It really resonated with me. And I know many of you are writers as well, So I just wanted to read it because Dickens is so wonderful at calling into being so many different relatable life experiences. And I think this is another one he says. The childish recollections and later fancies, the

[Faith Moore]

ghosts of half formed hopes, the broken shadows of disappointments dimly seen and understood. The blending of experience and imagination incidental

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

to the occupation with which my thoughts had been busy. Okay, so that's David. Now he is a writer, and I at least wish him well in that. Right. But let's get back to this situation with little Emily. So, as Phil V. Says, the thing we all sort of suspected was going to happen has happened. Steerforth has tired of Emily and he's left her. You know, until this moment, there was some hope. I mean, a very slim hope. But some hope that Steerforth might have been convinced to marry Emily and make her a lady the way that she hoped.

[Faith Moore]

But now that is definitively off the table.

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

He used her for his own amusement. And the moment he wasn't amused anymore, he dropped her. Which is Steerforth in a nutshell, right? I mean, it's truly despicable. Listen to how Littimer describes it. He says, Mr. James, he set off one morning from the neighborhood of Naples where we had a villa. The young woman being very partial to the sea and under pretence of coming back in a day or so, left

[Faith Moore]

it in charge with me to break

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

it out that for the general happiness

[Faith Moore]

of all concerned he was.

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

And then it says here an interruption of the short cough gone. Okay? So he doesn't even have the courage to tell Emily himself that he's leaving her. He just leaves and then makes Littimer do the dirty work, basically. And he treats her like some sort of object or possession that he can just sort of neatly tuck away when he's done with it. By suggesting that she marry Littomer. The idea here is that he's doing her a kindness by finding her someone willing to marry her in her quote unquote ruined state. Essentially, he has ruined her. And as a consolation prize, he's going to give her to Linamer so that she can become an honest woman, which is so condescending and awful and it doesn't at all make up for what he did to her. And as Witness says, we can't really blame Emily for flying into a rage

[Faith Moore]

because remember, she ran off with Steerforth

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

in the first place. Not so much because she loved him so much, although I think that she was attracted to him. But it wasn't that so much as

[Faith Moore]

it was the notion that he might

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

marry her and make her into what

[Faith Moore]

she always wanted, to be a lady.

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

Right? It was a kind of crazed attempt

[Faith Moore]

to make that far fetched dream come true.

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

That's why she gave up Ham and left the family that loved her and ruined herself. It wasn't because she just really wanted

[Faith Moore]

to sleep with Steerforth. It was because he was offering her

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

the one thing that she had always wanted. And even though she knew it was very unlikely that he would actually give it to her, she felt that she had to try or wonder for the rest of her life if she might have had it. And so now he's going back on his promise, totally closing the door on Emily's dream of becoming a lady and saying, but don't worry, you can marry this servant guy, which is not the same thing at all. And it treats her essentially like a kind of. Of prostitute or a kept woman. And so she runs away rather than step into that role and marry Littimer, who it turns out, is a really kind of slimy, oily sort of person. Almost a sort of Uriah Heep kind of person, it seems like, Although not as bad, of course, because nobody is. So anyway, she runs away, which means that now we don't know where she is. All we know is that she's not with Steerforth anymore. So is she trying to come home? Or does she think that she's not welcome there because of what she did and because Steerforth didn't allow her to receive the letter from Mr. Peggotty, which told her that she would be welcome at home. And if she thinks that, which seems like the most likely option, then where will she go and what will she do? But I think Phil's point about the two families waiting for their lost children and the various attitudes they have is really astute because we saw this earlier when Mr. Peggotty first came to Mrs. Steerforth, remember, to ask her to intervene and request that Steerforth marry Emily. We saw the way in which Mr. Peggotty embodies unconditional love and forgiveness and Mrs. Steerforth embodies, like, pride and appearances and sort of holding a grudge.

[Faith Moore]

And we've talked a couple times now about the way in which Mr. Peggy's search for Emily has become like a sort of legend or a fairy tale

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

and Mr. Peggy himself has become like a figure out of myth or even like a saint. I didn't mention it during this chapter because we had so much else to talk about. There was that one little moment, just

[Faith Moore]

one sentence really, a couple of chapters

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

ago, where Mr. Peggotty just kind of wandered through the narrative.

[Faith Moore]

He's like a kind of a character

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

in a story that you tell around the fireplace on a cold night or something.

[Faith Moore]

And I think Dickens gives him that

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

quality exactly, because he's the embodiment of

[Faith Moore]

these qualities and that are essentially Christian

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

qualities, Christ like qualities, love and forgiveness at all costs, no matter what. And in this chapter, chapter 46, we

[Faith Moore]

get another sort of fairy tale reference,

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

but this time it's actually about Ms. Dardle. Here's what it says. The air of wicked grace of triumph, in which, strange to say, there was yet something feminine and alluring with which

[Faith Moore]

she reclined upon the seat between us and looked at me, was worthy of

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

a cruel princess in a legend. Okay, so if Mr. Peggotty represents the forces of love and goodness here. Then Ms. Darle is the wicked queen, right? The evil sorceress or whatever. Mr. Peggotty is love and forgiveness, and Ms. Dardle is jealousy and vindictiveness. And I mean, any good legend or fairy tale or whatever needs the forces of good pitted against the forces of evil. And we've essentially got that going on here. I mean, you can almost hear Ms. Dardle, like, evilly laughing. I mean, she says she is dead, perhaps. And then it says, said Ms. Dardle with a smile, as if she could have spurned the body of the ruined girl. I mean, that's pretty cold.

[Faith Moore]

But I think Ms. Dardle feels that

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

Emily essentially entrapped Steerforth into this relationship. That Emily wasn't a virtuous, innocent girl

[Faith Moore]

before all of this, that she saw

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

an opportunity to get some money and live the good life for a while, and she took it. And now she's gonna either try to ensnare Steerforth again or go off and do the same thing, someone else. She doesn't understand that Emily is on Team Goodness and Love, and she thinks that she's protecting Steerforth, whom she loves.

[Faith Moore]

David attempts to set them right.

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

Right. He says, I must say, even to you, having known this injured family from

[Faith Moore]

childhood, that if you suppose the girl so deeply wronged has not been cruelly

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

deluded and would not rather die a hundred deaths than take a cup of water from your son's hand, now you

[Faith Moore]

cherish a terrible mistake, right?

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

But of course, they can't see that because they are the villains of this fairy tale. So they don't understand the forces that move Mr. Peggy. They are much more worldly, and they see things in a much more materialistic way.

[Faith Moore]

And Emily, too, is part of the fairy tale, right?

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

She is the doomed princess, the innocent maiden who has fallen into the clutches of the enemy. Here's what David says.

[Faith Moore]

Oh, Emily, unhappy beauty. What a picture rose before me of her sitting on the far off shore among the children like herself when she was innocent, listening to little voices such as might have called her mother had she been a poor man's wife.

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

And to the great voice of the

[Faith Moore]

sea with its eternal nevermore.

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

I mean, it's interesting, actually, that this chapter begins with David telling us that he's become a novelist. Because there's a way in which he

[Faith Moore]

is sort of telling us this.

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

This story as a fairy tale or a myth. He is giving it to us this way. And we now know that he's a storyteller. So that's kind of cool. But now we learn that both families are essentially waiting for the end of

[Faith Moore]

this whole saga, the end of the fairy tale.

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

But they're waiting in their own ways. Mrs. Steerforth and Ms. Dardle are just sort of sitting there in their cold, dark house, trying to keep their pride, their reputation, steadfastly refusing to offer any kind of kindness either to Steerforth or to Emily, and hoping that all of this will just kind of go away and Steerforth will come back and apologize and marry some nice upper class girl. While Mr. Peggy is searching, right, always searching for Emily, always believing that he will find her.

[Faith Moore]

I mean, it's so touching how he

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

keeps the room in readiness for her each night and makes sure that she'll have everything she needs if he does find her and bring her home. Here's what David tells.

[Faith Moore]

I saw how carefully he adjusted the little room, put a candle ready and the means of lighting it, arranged the

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

bed and finally took out of a drawer one of her dresses.

[Faith Moore]

I remember to have seen her wear it neatly folded with some other garments and a bonnet which he placed upon a chair, which it's just really very moving. And of course, the last thing that

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

happens in this chapter I is that we get this, this cliffhanger that I was talking about. We are following Martha down the dark road. But in terms of the themes that are going on in this chapter, I

[Faith Moore]

think it makes sense that the chapter ends with Martha.

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

Because remember the last time we saw Martha, she was kind of secretly listening to David's conversation with Mr. Peggy.

[Faith Moore]

And we talked then about the way

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

in which Martha was essentially the embodiment of Emily there, but that David was trying to keep Mr. Peggy from seeing Martha because Mr. Peggy refused to allow Martha into the same room with Emily before Emily ran off because he felt that Martha was too low and degraded to associate with her. But now Martha can potentially help them because if Emily shows up in London with no money and no friends, she will probably end up in the sorts of places that Martha frequents. So Mr. Peggotty is now forced to

[Faith Moore]

confront the fact that. That Emily and Martha really aren't that

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

different and that the forgiveness that he

[Faith Moore]

will give freely to Emily ought also

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

to be given to Martha.

[Faith Moore]

We don't know if he'll give it,

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

if he can see the parallels and allow the comparison. But we do know that in this almost metaphorical story that Mr. Peggy is the center of Martha and Emily are essentially one and the same.

[Listener or Community Member]

So let's just.

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

Let's get back to it. Right. We ended in the middle of a scene.

[Mr. Peggotty]

We were following Martha down a dark

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

alley, hoping that she will help to save little Emily. So let's see what happens. But of course, don't forget to write to me. It's faithkmore.com or you can scroll into the show notes and click the link. It's the same link and it will go right to my email and I will get it and write back to you. And I hope that you will, because I love to get your email. So please don't hesitate. Get in touch.

[Faith Moore]

All right, let's get started with chapter 47 of David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. It's story time. Chapter 47. Martha. We were now down in Westminster. We had turned back to follow her, having encountered her coming towards us. And Westminster Abbey was the point at which she passed. From the lights and noise of the leading streets, she proceeded so quickly when she got free of the two currents of passengers setting towards and from the bridge, that yet between this and the advance she had of us when we struck off, we were in the narrow waterside street by Millbank before we came up with her. At that moment she crossed the road as if to avoid the footsteps that she heard so close behind, and without looking back, passed on even more rapidly. A glimpse of the river through a dull gateway where some wagons were housed for the night seemed to arrest my feet. I touched my companion without speaking, and we both forbore to cross after her, and both followed on that opposite side of the way, keeping as quietly as we could in the shadow of the houses, but keeping very near her. There was, and is, when I write, at the end of that low lying street, a dilapidated little wooden building, probably an obsolete old fairy house. Its position is just at that point where the street ceases and the road begins to lie between a row of houses and the river. As soon as she came here and saw the water, she stopped as if she had come to her destination and presently went slowly along by the brink of the river. Looking intently at it all the way here, I had supposed that she was going to some house. Indeed, I had vaguely entertained the hope that the house might be in some way associated with the lost girl. But that one dark glimpse of the river through the gateway had instinctively prepared me for her going no farther. The neighbourhood was a dreary one at that time, as oppressive, sad and solitary by night as any about London. There were neither wharves nor houses. On the melancholy waste of road near

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

the great blank prison, a sluggish ditch

[Faith Moore]

deposited its mud at the prison walls, coarse grass and rank weeds straggled over all the marshy land in the vicinity. In one part, carcasses of houses, inauspiciously begun and never finished, rotted away. In another, the ground was cumbered with rusty iron monsters of steam, boilers, wheels, cranks, pipes, furnaces, paddles, anchors, diving bells, windmill sails, and I know not what. Strange objects accumulated by some speculator and grovelling in the dust underneath which, having sunk into the soil of their own weight in wet weather they had the appearance of vainly trying to hide themselves. The clash and glare of sundry fiery works upon the river side arose by night to disturb everything except the heavy and unbroken smoke that poured out of their chimneys. Slimy gaps and causeways winding among old wooden piles with a sickly substance clinging to the latter like green hair. And the rags of last year's handbills offering rewards for drowned men fluttering above high water mark led down through the ooze and slush to the ebb tide. There was a story that one of the pits dug for the dead in the time of the great plague was hereabout and a blighting influence seemed to have proceeded from it over the whole place.

[Listener or Community Member]

Place.

[Faith Moore]

Or else it looked as if it had gradually decomposed into that nightmare condition out of the overflowings of the polluted stream, as if she were a part of the refuse it had cast out and left to corruption and decay. The girl we had followed strayed down to the river's brink and stood in the midst of this night picture, lonely and still, looking at the water. There were some boats and barges, a strand in the mud, and these enabled us to come within a few yards of her without being seen. I then signed to Mr. Peggotty to remain where he was and emerged from their shade to speak to her. I did not approach her solitary figure without trembling for this gloomy end to her determined walk and the way in which she stood almost within the cavernous shadow of the iron bridge, looking at the lights crookedly reflected in the strong tide, inspired a dread within me. Me meaning he's worried she's here to kill herself. I think she was talking to herself. I am sure, although absorbed in gazing at the water, that her shawl was off her shoulders and that she was muffling her hands in it in an unsettled and bewildered way, more like the action of a sleep walker than a waking person. I know and never can forget that there was that in her wild manner which gave me no assurance but that she would sink before my eyes until I had her arm within my grasp.

[Mr. Peggotty]

Grasp.

[Faith Moore]

At the same moment I said, martha. She uttered a terrified scream and struggled with me with such strength that I doubt if I could have held her alone. But a stronger hand than mine was laid upon her, and when she raised her frightened eyes and saw whose it was, she made but one more effort and dropped down between us. We carried her away from the water to where there were some dry stones and laid her down crying and moaning. In a little while she sat among the stones, holding her wretched head with both her hands.

[Listener or Community Member]

Oh, the river.

[Faith Moore]

She cried passionately.

[Listener or Community Member]

Oh, the river.

[Faith Moore]

Hush, hush, said I. Calm yourself. But she still repeated the same words, continually exclaiming, oh, the river. Over and over again.

[Listener or Community Member]

I know it's like me.

[Faith Moore]

She exclaimed.

[Listener or Community Member]

I know that I belong to it. I know that it's the natural company of such as I am. It comes from country places where there was once no arm in it, and it creeps through the dismal streets, defiled and miserable, and it goes away like my life to a great sea that is always troubled. And I feel that I must go with it.

[Faith Moore]

I have never known what despair was, except in the tone of those works.

[Listener or Community Member]

I can't keep away from it. I can't forget. Haunts me day and night. It's the only thing in all the world that I am fit for or that's fit for me. Oh, the dreadful river.

[Faith Moore]

The thought passed through my mind that in the face of my companion, as he looked upon her without speech or motion, I might have read his niece's history if I had known nothing of it. It I never saw in any painting or reality horror and compassion so impressively blended. He shook as if he would have fallen. And his hand, I touched it with my own, for his appearance alarmed me, was deadly cold. She is in a state of frenzy, I whispered to him. She will speak differently in a little time. I don't know what he would have said in answer. He made some motion with his mouth and seemed to think he had spoken it, but he had only pointed to her with his outstretched hand. A new burst of crying came upon her now, in which she once more hid her face among the stones and lay before us a prostrate image of humiliation and ruin. Knowing that this state must pass before we could speak to her with any hope, I ventured to restrain him when he would have raised her, and we stood by in silence until she became more tranquil. Marsa, said I then, leaning down and helping her to rise. She seemed to want to rise as if with the intention of going away. But she was weak and leaned against a boat. Do you know who this is, who is with me? She said faintly.

[Listener or Community Member]

Yes.

[Faith Moore]

Do you know that we have followed you a long way to night? She shook her head. She looked neither at him nor at me, but stood in a humble attitude, holding her bonnet and shawl in one hand without appearing conscious of them, and pressing the other clenched against her forehead. Are you composed enough, said I, to speak on the subject which so interested you. I hope heaven may remember it that snowy night, meaning the time when she came to listen to Mr. Peggotty and David at the inn. Her sobs broke out afresh, and she murmured some inarticulate thanks to me for not having driven her away from the door.

[Listener or Community Member]

I want to say nothing for myself,

[Faith Moore]

she said after a few moments.

[Listener or Community Member]

I am bad, I am lost. I have no hope at all.

[Faith Moore]

But tell him, sir, she had shrunk away from him, if you don't feel

[Listener or Community Member]

too hard to me to do it, that I never was in any way the cause of his misfortune.

[Faith Moore]

It has never been attributed to you, I returned earnestly, responding to her earnestness.

[Listener or Community Member]

It was you, if I don't deceive

[Faith Moore]

myself, she said in a broken voice

[Listener or Community Member]

that came into the kitchen the night she took such pity on me, was so gentle to me, didn't shrink away from me like all the rest, and gave me such kind help. Was it you, sir?

[Faith Moore]

It was, said I. I should have

[Listener or Community Member]

been in the river long ago, she

[Faith Moore]

said, glancing at it with a terrible

[Listener or Community Member]

expression, if any wrong to her had been upon my mind, I never could have kept out of it a single winter's night if I had not been free of any share in that.

[Faith Moore]

The cause of her flight is too well understood, I said. You are innocent of any part in it we thoroughly believe we know.

[Listener or Community Member]

Oh, I might have been much the better for her, if I had had a better heart.

[Faith Moore]

Exclaimed the girl with most forlorn regret,

[Listener or Community Member]

for she was always good to me. She never spoke a word to me

[Faith Moore]

but what was pleasant and right.

[Listener or Community Member]

Is it likely I would try to make her what I am myself, knowing what I am myself so well when I lost everything that makes life dear, the worst of all my thoughts was that I was parted forever from her.

[Faith Moore]

Mr. Paggot, standing with one hand on the gunwale of the boat and his eyes cast down, put his disengaged hand before his face.

[Listener or Community Member]

And when I heard what had happened before that snowy night from some belonging

[Faith Moore]

to our town, cried Martha, the bitterest

[Listener or Community Member]

thought in my mind was that the people would remember she once kept company with me and would say I had corrupted her, when heaven knows I would have died to have brought back her

[Faith Moore]

good name, long unused to any self control. The piercing agony of her remorse and grief was terrible.

[Listener or Community Member]

To have died would not have been much. What can I say?

[Faith Moore]

I would have lived, she cried.

[Listener or Community Member]

I would have lived to be old in the wretched streets and to wander about avoided in the dark, and to see the day break on the ghastly line of houses, and remember how the same sun used to shine into my room and wake me. Once I would have done even that

[Faith Moore]

to save her sinking on the stones. She took some in each hand and clenched them up as if she would have ground them. She writhed into some new posture, constantly stiffening her arms, twisting them before her face as though to shut out from her eyes the little light there was, and drooping her head as if it were heavy with insupportable recollections.

[Listener or Community Member]

What shall I ever do?

[Faith Moore]

She said, fighting thus with her despair.

[Listener or Community Member]

How can I go on as I am a solitary curse to myself, a living disgrace to everyone I come near?

[Faith Moore]

Suddenly she turned to my companion.

[Listener or Community Member]

Stamp upon me, kill me. When she was your pride, you would have thought I had done her harm if I had brushed against her in the street. You can't believe. Why should you? A syllable that comes out of my lips. It would be a burning shame upon you even now if she and I exchanged a word. I don't complain. I don't say she and I are alike. I know there is a long, long way between us. I only say with all my guilt and wretchedness upon my head, that I am grateful to her for my soul and love her. Oh, don't think that all the power I had of loving anything is quite worn out. Throw me away, as all the world does. Kill me for being what I am and havin ever known her, but don't think that of me.

[Faith Moore]

He looked upon her while she made this supplication in a wild, distracted manner, and when she was silent, gently raised

[Mr. Peggotty]

her Martha, said, Mr. Peggotty, God forbid as I should judge you. Forbid, as I of all men should do, that, my girl, you don't know half the change that come in course. O time upon me when you think it likely.

[Faith Moore]

Well, he paused a moment, then went on.

[Mr. Peggotty]

You don't understand how it is that this ere gentleman in me has wished to speak to you. You don't understand what tis we has afore us Listen now.

[Faith Moore]

His influence upon her was complete. She stood shrinkingly before him as if she were afraid to meet his eyes, but her passionate sorrow was quite hushed and mute. If you heard, said Mr. Peggotty, aught

[Mr. Peggotty]

of what passed between Master Davy and me the night when it snows so hard, you know as I have been where not for to seek my dear niece.

[Faith Moore]

My dear niece, he repeated steadily, for

[Mr. Peggotty]

she's more dear to me now, Martha, than she was dear afore she put

[Faith Moore]

her hands before her face, but otherwise remained silent.

[Mr. Peggotty]

I have heard her tell, said Mr. Peggotty, as you was early left fatherless and motherless, with no friend for to take in a rough seafaring way their place, maybe you can guess that if you'd had such a friend, you'd have got into a way of being fond of him in course O time and that my niece was kind O daughter

[Faith Moore]

like to me as she was silently trembling, he put her shawl carefully about her, taking it up from the ground

[Mr. Peggotty]

for that purpose whereby he said, I know both as she would go to the world's furdest end with me if she could once see me again, and that she would fly to the world's furdest end to keep off seein me, for though she ain't no call to doubt my love. And don't and don't, he repeated, with

[Faith Moore]

a quiet assurance of the truth of what he said.

[Mr. Peggotty]

There's shame steps in and keeps betwixt

[Faith Moore]

us so he's saying he knows that Emily keeps away from him because she's ashamed of what she's done. I read in every word of his plain impressive way of delivering himself new evidence of his having thought of this one topic in every feature it presented.

[Mr. Peggotty]

Accordin to our reckonin', he proceeded. Master Deevie here and mine, she is like one to each to make her own poor solitary course to London. We believemaster, Davie, me and all of us, that you are as innocent of everything that has befell her as the unborn child. You have spoke of her being pleasant, kind, and gentle to you. Bless her. I knew she was. I knew she always was to all. You're thankful to her, and you love her. Help us all you can to find her, and may heaven reward you.

[Faith Moore]

She looked at him hastily and for the first time as if she were doubtful of what he had said.

[Listener or Community Member]

Will you trust me?

[Faith Moore]

She asked in a low voice of astonishment. Full and free, said Mr. Peggotty, to

[Listener or Community Member]

speak to her if I should ever find her, shelter her if I have

[Faith Moore]

any shelter to divide with her and

[Listener or Community Member]

then, without her knowledge, come to you and bring you to her?

[Faith Moore]

She asked hurriedly. We both replied together. Yes. She lifted up her eyes and solemnly declared that she would devote herself to this task fervently and faithfully, that she would never waver in it, never be diverted from it, never relinquish it while there was any chance of hope, if she were not true to it, Might the object she now had in life, which bound her to something devoid of evil in its passing away from her, leave her more forlorn and and more despairing, if that were possible, than she had been upon the river's brink that night? And then might all help human and divine, renounce her evermore? She did not raise her voice above her breath or address us, but said this to the night sky, then stood profoundly quiet, looking at the gloomy water. We judged it expedient now to tell her all we knew, which I recounted at length. She listened with great attention and with a face that often changed, but had the same purpose in all its varying expressions. Her eyes occasionally filled with tears, but those she repressed. It seemed as if her spirit were quite altered, and she could not be too quiet. She asked, when all was told, where we were to be communicated with if occasion should arise. Under a dull lamp in the road, I wrote our two addresses on a leaf of my pocket book, which I tore out and gave to her, and which she put in her poor bosom. I asked her where she lived herself. She said after a pause in no place long, it were better not to know, Mr. Peggotty, suggesting to me in a whisper what had already occurred to myself, I took out my purse. But I could not prevail upon her to accept any money, nor could I exact any promise from her that she would do so. At another time I represented to her that Mr. Peggotty could not be called for, one in his condition poor, and that the idea of her engaging in this search while depending on her own resources shocked us both. She continued steadfast in this particular his influence upon her was equally powerless with mine. She gratefully thanked him, but remained inexorable. There may be work to be got, she said. I'll try. At least take some assistance. I returned. Until you have tried, I could not do what I have promised for money, she replied.

[Listener or Community Member]

I could not take it if I was starving. To give me money would be to take away your trust, to take away

[Faith Moore]

the object that you have given me,

[Listener or Community Member]

to take away the only certain thing

[Faith Moore]

that saves me from the river in the name of the great judge, said I, before whom you and all of us must stand at his dread time. Dismiss that terrible idea. We can all do some good if we will. She trembled and her lip shook, and her face was paler as she answered.

[Listener or Community Member]

It has been put into your hearts, perhaps, to save a wretched creature for repentance? I am afraid to think so, if it seems too bold. If any good should come of me, I might begin to hope for nothing but harm has ever come of my deeds. Yet I am to be trusted for the first time in a long while with my miserable life on account of

[Faith Moore]

what you have given me to try for.

[Listener or Community Member]

I know no more, and I can say no more.

[Faith Moore]

Again she repressed the tears that had begun to flow and, putting out her trembling hand and touching Mr. Peggotty as if there were some healing virtue in him, went away along the desolate road. She had been ill, probably for a long time. I observed upon that closer opportunity of observation that she was worn and haggard and that her sunken eyes expressed privations and endurance. We followed her at a short distance our way lying in the same direction, until we came back into the lighted and populous streets. I had such implicit confidence in her declaration that I then put it to Mr. Peggotty whether it would not seem in the onset like distrusting her to follow her any farther, he being of the same mind and equally reliant on her. We suffered her to take her own road and took ours house, which was towards Highgate. He accompanied me a good part of the way, and when we parted with a prayer for the success of this fresh effort, there was a new and thoughtful compassion in him that I was at no loss to interpret. It was midnight when I arrived home. I had reached my own gate and was standing listening for the deep bell of St. Paul's the sound of which, I thought had been borne towards me along the multitude of striking clocks. When I was rather surprised to see that the door of my aunt was aunt's cottage was open and that a faint light in the entry was shining out across the road. Thinking that my aunt might have relapsed into one of her old alarms and might be watching the progress of some imaginary conflagration in the distance, I went to speak to her. It was with very great surprise that I saw a man standing in her little garden. He had a glass and bottle in his hand and was in the act of drinking. I stopped short among the thick foliage outside, for the moon was up now, though obscured, and I recognized the man whom I had once supposed to be a delusion of Mr. Dick's, and had once encountered with my aunt in the streets of the city. He was eating as well as drinking, and seemed to eat with a hungry appetite. He seemed curious regarding the cottage too, as if it were the first time he had seen it. After stooping to put the bottle on the ground, he looked up at the windows and looked about, though with a covert and impatient air, as if he was anxious to be gone. The light in the passage was obscured for a moment, and my aunt came out. She was agitated and told some money into his hand. I heard it chink. What's the use of this?

[Mr. Peggotty]

He demanded.

[Faith Moore]

I can spare no more, returned my aunt. Then I can't go, said he.

[Mr. Peggotty]

Here, you may take it back.

[Faith Moore]

You bad man, returned my aunt with great emotion.

[Listener or Community Member]

How can you use me so?

[Faith Moore]

But why do I ask? It is because you know how weak I am.

[Listener or Community Member]

What have I to do to free

[Faith Moore]

myself forever of your visits, but to

[Listener or Community Member]

abandon you to your deserts?

[Mr. Peggotty]

And why don't you abandon me to my deserts?

[Faith Moore]

Said he.

[Listener or Community Member]

You ask me why?

[Faith Moore]

Returned my aunt. What a heart you must have. He stood moodily, rattling the money and shaking his head, until at length he

[Mr. Peggotty]

said, is this all you mean to give me, then?

[Faith Moore]

It is all I can give you, said my aunt. You know I have had losses and am poorer than I used to be. I have told you so. Having got it, why do you give me the pain of looking at you for another moment and seeing what you have become?

[Mr. Peggotty]

I have become shabby enough. If you mean that, he said, I lead the life of an owl.

[Listener or Community Member]

You stripped me of the greater part

[Faith Moore]

of all I ever had, said my aunt. You closed my heart against the whole world. Years and years. You treated me falsely, ungratefully, and cruelly. Go and repent of it. Don't add new injuries to the long, long list of injuries you have done me. Ay, he returned.

[Mr. Peggotty]

It's all very fine. Well, I must do the best I can for the present, I suppose.

[Faith Moore]

In spite of himself, he appeared abashed by my aunt's indignant tears, and came slouching out of the garden, taking two or three quick steps as if I had just come up.

[Listener or Community Member]

Up.

[Faith Moore]

I met him at the gate and went in. As he came out, we eyed one another narrowly in passing and with no favor. Aunt, said I hurriedly, this man alarming you again?

[Listener or Community Member]

Let me speak to him.

[Faith Moore]

Who is he, child? Returned my aunt, taking my arm. Come in, and don't speak to me for 10 minutes. We sat down in her little parlor. My aunt retired behind the round green fan of former days, which was screwed on the back of a chair, and occasionally wiped her eyes for about a quarter of an hour. Then she came out and took a seat beside me. Trot, said my aunt calmly. It's my husband.

[Co-host or Guest Promoter]

Your husband, aunt?

[Faith Moore]

I thought he had been dead. Dead to me, returned my aunt, but living. I sat in silent amazement. Betsy Trotwood don't look a likely subject for the tender passion, said my aunt composedly. But the time was, Trot, when she believed in that man most entirely. When she loved him, Trot right well. When there was no proof of attachment and affection that she would not have given him, he repaid her by breaking her fortune and nearly breaking her heart. So she put all that sort of sentiment once and forever in a grave and filled it up and flattened it down. My dear good aunt, I left him. Him, my aunt proceeded, laying her hand as usual on the back of mine generously.

[Mr. Peggotty]

I may say, at this distance of

[Faith Moore]

time, Trot, that I left him generously. He had been so cruel to me that I might have effected a separation on easy terms for myself, but I did not. Meaning she could have gotten a legal divorce, but she didn't ask for one. He soon made ducks and drakes of what I gave him, sank lower and lower, Married another woman, I believe, became an adventurer, a gambler and a cheat. What he is now, you can see. But he was a fine looking man when I married him, said my aunt, with an echo of her old pride and admiration in her tone. And I believed him. I was a fool to be the soul of honour. She gave my hand a squeeze and shook her head. He is nothing to me now, Trot, less than nothing. But sooner than have him punished for his offences, as he would be if he prowled about in this country, I give him more money than I can afford at intervals when he reappears to go away. I was a fool when I married him, and I am so far an incurable fool on that subject, that for the sake of what I once believed him to be, I wouldn't have even this shadow of my idle fancy hardly dealt with. For I was in earnest, Trot, if ever a woman was. My aunt dismissed the matter with a heavy sigh and smoothed her dress. Us there, my dear, she said. Now you know the beginning, middle and end and all about it. We won't mention the subject to one another anymore. Neither, of course, will you mention it to anybody else. This is my grumpy, frumpy story. And we'll leave it to ourselves.

[Listener or Community Member]

Trot.

[Faith Moore]

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.