Little Dorrit

The Merdles continue to grow in popularity and are a frequent topic of discussion among the people of Bleeding Heart Yard, where everyone wishes to be Mr. Merdle. The Plornishes have opened a shop and Pancks comes there to visit their lodger, his friend John Baptist. Once, Pancks, Old Nandy, and Mrs. Plornish see John Baptist in the street, acting strangely, and he later tells them he has seen a bad man—referring to Rigaud. They see that John Baptist does not want to say more about it, but he fears that the man will come and find him.

Clennam arrives and tells the group that he has another letter from Amy. He walks home with Pancks, who has become his friend since they helped the Dorrits, and they discuss what happened earlier with John Baptist. They talk about how everyone in Bleeding Heart Yard is interested in Merdle’s investments, despite knowing nothing about financial matters, and Pancks admits that he has invested a 1,000 pounds with Merdle. Pancks tries to convince Clennam to invest, too, and Clennam considers what it could do for his business and his family.

Fanny debates what she should do about Edmund Sparkler now that his interest in her is widely known. She decides to marry him just to annoy Mrs. Merdle, and Amy is confused about this. They become engaged in the following months and Sparkler is determined to befriend Amy. Though Amy knows that Fanny has chosen the path she wants, she still pities her sister.

William Dorrit is excited to hear that Fanny is engaged to Sparkler since it connects the family to the Merdles. He speaks about it with Mrs. Merdle, and both of them are happy about the engagement and think Mr. Merdle will be, too. Once she is engaged, Fanny speaks poorly of Mrs. General to her father, and William is amazed by Fanny’s true feelings toward her. Sparkler must return to England for his new position at the Circumlocution Office; Fanny wonders if she should marry him soon and go with him, as she thinks he cannot be trusted by himself. She warns Amy not to trust Mrs. General when she and their father are away, still thinking that the woman is interested in marrying William. After the wedding, William insists that Amy, too, should marry someone from a good family to solidify their social position. Amy is terrified, even though William has not picked out a husband for her, and she mourns the growing distance between her and her father.

The newly married Sparklers arrive at the Merdles’ house and they are set up in Mrs. Merdle’s rooms. William finally meets Mr. Merdle and nervously speaks to the him about money. Both men are awkward at the meeting, yet Merdle takes William into the city and the two are seen riding together by many in the town, further cementing the Dorrits’ position as respectable gentry who have never crossed the threshold of Marshalsea. However, William does not like the suspicious look that the Merdles’ chief butler gives him when he is at their house, and he assumes the butler knows of his past.

William Dorrit receives a visit from Flora, who says she is a friend of Amy’s. She says Amy used to work for her, but no one ever told William that Amy worked outside of the prison and he is shocked to hear it. He is also uncomfortable that Flora knows of the family’s past. Flora tells him that a man named Blandois (who is Rigaud with a fake name) had come from Venice, just like William, and that he has disappeared. She asks for William’s assistance in finding him. All the papers are reporting that this man was last seen late at night in the house of Mrs. Clennam, and people are suspicious that she murdered him. William goes to Mrs. Clennam’s house, but when he arrives, Mrs. Clennam thinks he has news about Rigaud/ Blandois for her. Right then, Affery hears a mysterious sound that William hears, too, though everyone else ignores it.

When traveling around London, William is sure to never pass by the Marshalsea. One day, Young John Chivery comes to visit him at his hotel. When they are alone, William turns on John and asks him what he means by presuming to visit him. The meeting is awkward as William wrestles between who he is now and who he once was, and William essentially bribes John to not mention the past. William travels back to Italy, stopping in Paris where he buys jewelry that the narrator implies is for Mrs. General.

William arrives back in Rome, where he sees Amy and Frederick content to lead their simple lives without him and Fanny. He is jealous upon seeing this and is short with the two for the remainder of the night. The next day, Amy notices how her father pays extra attention to Mrs. General, and he continues to flirt with the lady over the following days.

The Dorrits go to dinner with Mrs. Merdle, who sees that William looks unwell. At dinner, William begins speaking to Amy as if they are still in the Marshalsea, shocking the other guests. Though Amy is not ashamed when he mentions he is called the Father of the Marshalsea and says that Amy was born there, she realizes that her father is indeed unwell and implores him to leave with her. Once she gets her father home, he continues to believe he is in the Marshalsea and does not recognize the changes that have since occurred in his life. William dies a few days later, and Frederick is especially affected by this. He, too, dies shortly after, at the bedside of his brother.

Clennam arrives in Calais after receiving important information from Pancks on the whereabouts of Miss Wade. He finds her and asks her about Rigaud (who is going by the name Blandois) and his disappearance. She reveals that she had once hired Rigaud/Blandois as a spy but knows nothing of his disappearance, suggesting that Mrs. Clennam might know something about it. She also says that Clennam should speak to Gowan about it as he was Rigaud’s/Blandois’s friend, but Clennam already has done that and Gowan knows nothing of him. Miss Wade then confesses that she hates Pet and Gowan as she was once in love with the man, and she gives Clennam papers that prove their relationship. Tattycoram appears and asks if the Meagles are well, and she mentions that she did stop by the gate of the house once. She also reveals to Clennam that Miss Wade is cruel to her, but she is still determined to never return to the Meagles. Clennam returns to London and reads the papers Miss Wade gave him.

From Miss Wade’s papers, Clennam discovers that her schoolmates taunted her for being an orphan. She then became a governess, where she noticed the falsities of the women around her. She took on another position and became engaged to the nephew of the house, though he treated her badly. Her fiancé’s friend, Henry Gowan, came to visit, and Miss Wade felt he understood her. She left her position and her fiancé for him, and though Gowan followed her, he insisted they couldn’t be together and began to court Pet shortly after. Miss Wade relates to Tattycoram because she feels they have both been misused by the people around them, particularly Pet Gowan.

Doyce has some work overseas, so he leaves London just after Clennam returns from Calais, temporarily giving Clennam full control of the business. However, Doyce does warn Clennam against speculation, though Pancks is trying to sway Clennam in the opposite direction. Clennam can’t stop thinking about Blandois (who is Rigaud under a fake name) and what Mrs. Clennam may have to do with his disappearance. He stumbles upon the topic when speaking to John Baptist. John Baptist is shocked and describes the man Clennam knows as Blandois and he knows as Rigaud. He tells Clennam everything he knows of Rigaud and how he has been hiding from him, and John Baptist is happy to hear that he has disappeared. Clennam, however, wants to find Rigaud and John Baptist agrees to help.

Clennam knows that his mother will not tell him anything about Rigaud/Blandois, so he intends to go to Affery for information. However, he finds Flintwinch with her when he gets to his mother’s house. Mrs. Clennam has visitors—Flora and Casby. Clennam tries to speak with his mother in private to tell her Rigaud/Blandois is a murderer, but she does not believe anything he has to say and tries to tell her visitors his secrets. Clennam finds it difficult to speak to Affery alone and she doesn’t feel safe speaking freely near Flintwinch. Eventually, Clennam gets Affery to tell him of Rigaud’s/Blandois’s visits, but he learns no new information. When he asks Affery about her dreams, she refuses to elaborate on them.

Mr. Merdle continues to have financial success, and this is passed on to the Sparklers. They do not learn of William’s and Frederick’s deaths until three months after their burial. Fanny goes into mourning but quickly becomes tired of it, and she speaks to Sparkler about Amy coming to visit them. Mr. Merdle comes to visit the couple but he hardly speaks, only asking if he can borrow a pen knife from Fanny before he leaves.

At a dinner Mr. Merdle was supposed to attend before he called on the Sparklers, the guests discuss a rumor that he will receive a title. The host of the dinner, Merdle’s physician, receives a letter calling him to the local bathing house. The physician goes to the baths and sees a man in a bath who has swallowed laudanum and slit his throat with a pen knife. The letter the physician received turns out to be from Mr. Merdle, who had died by suicide at the baths. The following day, the physician goes to tell Mrs. Merdle the news. News about Mr. Merdle’s death spreads quickly, yet people cannot believe that Mr. Merdle died by suicide. Instead, most people attribute his death to a pressure in the brain. People begin to talk about Merdle’s wealth and how no one ever knew its true amount, and many come to believe that he had actually been in debt. However, with time it is revealed that Merdle’s wealth “had been simply Forgery and Robbery” (929), and he died by suicide to escape detection and punishment.