Little Dorrit

Clennam thinks of Amy and how she has influenced him to be good. Young John helps Clennam by bringing his belongings and he is kind to him, though he admits to Clennam that he is also upset with him but refuses to say why. He invites Clennam to tea in the room where Amy had collapsed on her final day at the prison. Young John is aware of Amy’s feelings for Clennam even though Clennam is oblivious, and this makes Young John angry. He recognizes that Clennam is ignorant of Amy’s feelings and tells him about them.

Clennam is stunned by this information. He returns to his room and re-reads her letters to him. He thinks about how he had felt too old to be with her, despite Amy not seeing him as old. He considers his own feelings for her, and he realizes that he, too, loves her. The Plornishes visit Clennam and allude to Amy’s affection for him, and they are thankful that she is not there to see Clennam imprisoned. Clennam thinks Amy’s love for him is in the past as he has heard rumors of her father trying to get her married, and he falls asleep thinking of how much of his recent life has revolved around her.

After two or three months in jail, Clennam is visited by a young Barnacle named Ferdinand who encourages him to leave Doyce’s business with the Circumlocution Office alone. Mr. Rugg, his lawyer, visits him right after and tries to convince him to argue his case in court rather than resign himself to jail. Once Rugg leaves, Clennam is visited by the missing Rigaud, who is followed by John Baptist and Pancks. Clennam accuses Rigaud of intentionally compromising his mother’s reputation by implying that she had murdered him. Rigaud admits to Clennam that he is extorting Mrs. Clennam and that making her seem guilty of his disappearance served his purposes. Rigaud writes to Mrs. Clennam to assure her that he is alive and repeats his threat of extortion in his letter, yet he does not reveal the information he is using to extort her. Pancks delivers the letter as Rigaud taunts Clennam about his relationships with Pet and Miss Wade. Pancks returns with Flintwinch, and Rigaud demands an answer to his letter. Flintwinch says Mrs. Clennam agrees to Rigaud’s request, and Rigaud leaves with John Baptist as his guard.

In the prison, Clennam feels his health waning with his spirits. He continues to think of Amy and believes he is dreaming when he sees her enter his room; however, she is actually there. She comforts him, and Clennam tells her that he has thought of her every minute he has been in prison. Amy reveals that she is not going abroad again; she says her brother is searching for her father’s will and she thinks she will be rich. She wants to give Clennam all the money he needs and free him from prison once she comes into her inheritance, but Clennam refuses to allow her to do so. He confesses his love for her, but he won’t allow her to be with him in his current state. As she leaves, he entreats her not to visit often as he does not want to remind her of her past. Young John comes in later to tell Clennam that he made sure Amy made it home safely, and she tells John to tell Clennam “that his Little Dorrit [sends] him her undying love” (996).

Rigaud, John Baptist, and Pancks make their way to Mrs. Clennam’s house, and Rigaud quickly goes to her room. He recounts that at their last meeting, he told Mrs. Clennam he had information to sell to her. Mrs. Clennam pays him, but not as much as he asks for since he will not reveal the full extent of the secrets he knows about her. Rigaud agrees to do so and recounts “the history of this house” (1007), which Affery mentions she has heard Mrs. Clennam and Flintwinch speak about in her dreams.

Rigaud reveals that Clennam’s father had a domineering uncle who had forced him to marry Mrs. Clennam, a woman he did not love, although he was already married to another woman and had a child with her. Mrs. Clennam recounts her discovery of this fact, and how she, who had been brought up strictly and religiously, demanded that the first wife give up her child for Mrs. Clennam to raise as her own. In this way, Mrs. Clennam took Arthur Clennam as her son and made her husband swear to never see his first wife again. She demanded that her husband forget the other woman, yet he does not forget and urges his family not to forget either with the inscription on his watch. Mrs. Clennam also reveals that her husband’s uncle, who felt bad about his treatment of his nephew’s first wife, had left money to her in his will. Clennam’s birth mother was a singer, and the will stipulated that if she died before the uncle, as she did, the money would go to the youngest child of her patron or his brother.

Rigaud knows that this patron was Frederick Dorrit and that the money in the uncle’s will would have gone to Amy if Mrs. Clennam had not suppressed the will. She kept it hidden for years but gave it to Flintwinch to be burned when Clennam returned to England. However, to spite her, Flintwinch gave the will to his twin brother, who happens to be a friend of Rigaud’s. Rigaud once again asks for payment, now that Mrs. Clennam knows how he knows her story, yet Mrs. Clennam says she cannot pay. Rigaud says he has arranged for copies of the will to go to both Clennam and Amy if she does not pay by midnight. To everyone’s surprise, Mrs. Clennam jumps out of her wheelchair and runs out of the house.

Mrs. Clennam runs to the Marshalsea to find Amy, and Young John takes her to see Amy at the marshal’s lodgings. Amy is surprised to see Mrs. Clennam so well, but the older woman says she is not well and is not sure what power has come over her to bring her there. She instructs Amy to open the package Rigaud had given her and read through its contents. Mrs. Clennam says she will give her the money she is owed and asks her forgiveness, but she asks Amy not to tell Clennam anything about the matter until Mrs. Clennam is dead. Amy agrees to this, and Mrs. Clennam claims that everything she did for Clennam was done with good intentions. Mrs. Clennam asks Amy to come home with her to tell Rigaud that she knows everything so Mrs. Clennam can’t be extorted, and Amy agrees. Just as they reach the house and see Rigaud at a window, the leaning house collapses. Shortly after, Mrs. Clennam collapses as well, never to rise again. Affery had been out looking for Mrs. Clennam and Flintwinch had fled with the company’s money, so only Rigaud is killed.

Pancks grows tired of Casby’s good reputation among the people of Bleeding Heart Yard while Pancks has to harass his tenants for money. He confronts Casby in front of his tenants, and they side with Pancks against their greedy landlord.

Amy continues to care for the sickly Clennam in prison. She also tends to her siblings and relations, including Mrs. Merdle, who is now pitied by society. Amy writes to Mr. Meagles about Clennam’s situation and he embarks on finding the original papers of the will that would confirm Rigaud’s story. Clennam mentions that the will may be with Miss Wade, so Meagles goes to visit her. However, Miss Wade tells him that Rigaud left nothing with her.

Mr. and Mrs. Meagles go to the Marshalsea expecting to see Amy, but they instead find Tattycoram there with an iron box. She asks the Meagles to take her back and says that the box in fact belonged to Rigaud and that Miss Wade had lied to them. Amy comes in and Meagles shows her the box; Amy thinks only of Clennam when she realizes their secret is safe. As Amy leaves, Mr. Meagles tells Tattycoram of Amy’s past and says she could have let her birth make her selfish and prideful; instead, Amy’s sense of duty makes her a kind, good person. Mr. Meagles intends to leave London again the following morning to find Doyce.

Amy comforts Clennam, telling him that with Doyce and Rugg’s help, he will be released from prison soon. She says she has recently had some good fortune, but he continues to refuse any money she offers him. She tells him that Fanny has lost everything with Mr. Merdle’s death, as did Edward and her father, so Amy is left with nothing. She asks him again if he will allow her to share her fortune with him, and the two embrace as she tells Clennam of her love for him. Maggy, who has been sitting with them, is overjoyed; she leaves the room to share her joy with someone and runs into Flora, who has come to visit. When Amy meets Flora a few hours later, she sees that Flora has been crying from mixed emotions; however, they part as good friends.

Mr. Meagles goes to see Clennam and reveals that Doyce has made a great fortune and is also there to see him. Doyce completely forgives Clennam and wants him never to speak of the past again. He and Meagles have restored the factory to its former glory and Doyce looks forward to having Clennam as his partner again when he is released shortly. The following morning, Amy returns to Clennam’s cell, dressed for their wedding, and has Maggy light a fire. The last thing she wants Clennam to do before leaving the Marshalsea is to burn the contents of Rigaud’s box without asking what is inside, and Clennam agrees. Through this action, Amy transfers her inheritance to him. They go to the neighboring church to be married. Doyce gives Amy away and Pancks, Flora, Maggy, and the prison turnkeys are all present. Amy and Clennam leave the church and begin “a modest life of usefulness and happiness” (1078).