Mr. Mould, the undertaker, is sitting happily with his wife and two daughters when Mrs. Gamp arrives. Mrs. Gamp talks about her friend Mrs. Harris, whom many people believe is a figment of her imagination, and gladly drinks the liquor offered to her. She has been watching after Chuffey, but tells Mould she has taken on another job as a night nurse, and they should keep this fact from Jonas.

Mrs. Gamp arrives at the house where she is to watch over a sick patient, and hears the people of the house, including John Westlock, speaking about how the man has gotten worse and has no known family. She relieves the day nurse, Mrs. Prig, of her duties and sees the feverish young man she is to attend to, but cares more about making herself comfortable in the house. The man begins to talk in his sleep, and Gamp tries to shut him up before she hears him say “Chuzzlewit! Jonas! No!” (549).

Mrs. Gamp’s landlord, Poll Sweedlepipe, is a kindhearted barber and avid birder. One night, he runs into an old friend, who happens to be Mr. Bailey, formerly of Todgers’s boarding house. Sweedlepipe is going to fetch Mrs. Gamp from where she has been working, and Bailey joins him because he has heard of her employer, Jonas Chuzzlewit.

Jonas is bringing home his new bride, and Bailey is surprised to hear it is Merry, not Cherry. Merry is not her usual jolly self. Mrs. Gamp gives her a calling card before leaving, in case she ever needs her services.

It is revealed that Bailey is now working for Montague Tigg—who has transformed himself into appearing as a gentleman now going by the name of Tigg Montague—and his secretary, David Crimple. They are running a life insurance scam they call The Anglo-Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life Assurance Company, though Tigg and David argue over whose idea it initially was. They use the money they have to make a great show of their staff and offices, creating the illusion of trustworthiness, though the people who work for them—a doctor named John Jobbling and another board member named Bullamy—are equally corrupt.

This ruse fools many wealthy men, including Jonas Chuzzlewit, who comes to the Anglo-Bengalee Company to get life insurance for his new bride. Tigg and Jonas vaguely recognize each other from Jonas’s first visit to Pecksniff’s, and they can speak more openly with one another once Jonas sees how much Tigg has risen in station. Tigg tells Jonas about his life insurance and makes an appointment to dine with him the next day.

Once Jonas leaves, Tigg summons a man called Nadgett, who works as a spy for Tigg, discovering secrets about his clients, like Jonas.

Jonas comes to visit Tigg, already secure in the belief that buying life insurance will be profitable. Jonas is impressed by the jubilant company Tigg keeps and the expensive dinner he provides for them. He is determined to fall in with this group. Jonas gets too drunk, and Bailey has to take him home, where Merry is happy to see Bailey but scared to see her husband. Bailey hears the couple arguing as he leaves, with Jonas threatening and beating Merry.

Bailey visits his friend Poll Sweedlepipe for a shave, where he teasingly flirts with Mrs. Gamp. Gamp tells them about her fevered patient, with whom she is traveling to his home in Hertfordshire, where she will stay for a day to find him a new nurse. Bailey tells them about visiting the Chuzzlewit household the night before, and lies that the couple seem happy together.

Mrs. Gamp goes to see her patient, whose name is revealed to be Lewsome, when John Westlock comes to see them. Lewsome pulls John aside to whisper that he has a terrible secret to tell him, but has not the strength or courage to do so now, and will write to him. Mrs. Gamp leaves in a carriage with Lewsome, and they run into Mr. Mould, to whom she had previously promised the business of Lewsome’s funeral when he died.

Pecksniff wants to be happy once Merry is married, but Cherry is still bitter about being jilted for her sister by Jonas, and makes her father miserable. Cherry believes Merry and Pecksniff conspired against her, and wants to live somewhere other than her home. They agree to move her to Todgers’s. Pecksniff is secretly happy about this plan, as he hopes to take another wife after having seen both Anthony and Old Martin aging alone. He has his sights set on Mary Graham, in part because of her closeness with Old Martin, but he worries that Cherry has discerned his plans.

Pecksniff invites Old Martin and Mary to stay with him while Cherry is away. He knows he can now control Old Martin as he wants. On a walk, Pecksniff runs into Mary, who tries to get away from him as quickly as possible, directly telling him that he is disagreeable to her. Pecksniff tells her he loves her and holds Mary as she tries to escape. Since Pecksniff won’t let her go, Mary freely insults him, knowing his true nature from watching him influence Old Martin and hearing about his treatment of young Martin. Pecksniff threatens Martin if Mary doesn’t agree to be with him, knowing his influence over Old Martin and Mary and Martin’s engagement. Cherry tells Tom she is to leave for London the next day, and he is sadder than anyone, especially after having just lost Merry.

Pecksniff is passing through the churchyard when he hears Tom playing the organ, and begins to nod off once he goes inside and sits in the family pew. He awakes to the sound of voices and hears Tom and Mary discussing how he has only received one letter from Martin in New York. Tom says he has been worried about appearing too interested in Mary because he has feelings for her, but would never act upon them for the sake of their friendship and his friendship with Martin. Mary tells him that she hasn’t mentioned Martin much for fear of causing a problem between Tom and Pecksniff, but Tom again defends Pecksniff. Seeing his delusion, Mary tells Tom about Pecksniff’s proposal and the near-assault of her and his threats toward both Martin Chuzzlewits.

Tom’s view of Pecksniff is entirely altered, and his moral compass feels destroyed—all while Pecksniff curiously watches from the pew. Pecksniff goes back home to meet with Old Martin. He cries before the man, telling him that he has been deceived by Tom. He summons the apprentice before mentioning that he heard everything Tom and Mary said, particularly that he confessed his love for Mary. Tom denies this, knowing this is Pecksniff’s way of getting rid of him in front of Old Martin, but he is dismissed.

Tom is grieved to leave, but still the most grieved by the discovery that the Pecksniff he thought he knew has never existed. Tom is determined to walk into Salisbury that night, though Mrs. Lupin tries to insist he stay at the Blue Dragon. Everyone in town comes to see Tom off, but fears from Pecksniff’s cold goodbye that Tom must have done something terrible.

Cherry is welcomed to London by Mrs. Todgers, who informs the landlady that Pecksniff is cruel and wants to take a wife. Mrs. Todgers tells Cherry about a young boarder named Moddle who was in love with Merry and who has been depressed since he heard of her marriage. Moddle hangs around Cherry, since she reminds him of Merry, and begins to fall for her, to Mrs. Todgers’s great satisfaction. Cherry is confused about her feelings for him, especially because he often begins to cry around her. She makes it clear that they can only be friends, making him cry more.

Back in Eden, Mark is cheerful about the situation he is in, as it allows him to put his optimism to the test. When he goes to look for help for the sick Martin, he finds a family he befriended on the ship to America, and is happy to see them, in spite of their reduced circumstances. Mark’s friend comes to see Martin, whom he sees is fevered like many on the island, including his child, who dies later that night. Mark nurses Martin while trying to take care of their property and meeting with the ridiculous neighbors who come to visit and make fun of their native country. Martin gets dangerously ill, but Mark never complains as he takes care of him for weeks. Then Mark himself gets sick, and Martin nurses him.

Mark remains jolly, making Martin reflect on his own disposition and what he has experienced. He begins to see his own selfishness and pride, and becomes a changed man. After months of illness, Mark begins to recover, and Martin starts to plan how they will get back to England by asking for help from Bevan.

Mark is surprised by the changes in Martin, who now worries about what Mary is suffering in his absence, and how much she has done for him overall. Weeks later, they receive a letter from Bevan, including money to get them on a steamboat out of Eden in a few weeks.

On board the steamboat, Martin meets Elijah Pogram, a congressman with whom he fights about the greatness of America. While almost everyone Martin met in America gushed about freedom, Martin saw how this freedom could be hypocritical, with institutions like enslavement, and how it could be used to take advantage of people like the residents of Eden. Elijah and others tend to think that the British instinctively hate everything American, while exhibiting the same qualities Martin criticizes.

Martin and Mark return to the town from which they left for Eden, and their former landlord says that the people of the town won’t be happy that they are back, even though they were expecting them to die in Eden. The next day, Martin and Mark travel on toward New York City with Elijah, who gives Martin a copy of a speech of his and asks Martin to convey it to the British government.

Martin meets with Bevan, thanking him for saving them from Eden and arranging plans to sail back to England the next day with more of Bevan’s financial assistance. The ship is the same one they came over on. The crew remembers Mark and takes him on as the cook, securing their passage without depending on more of Bevan’s money.

Martin and Mark are relieved to return safely to England, and they form a plan to return to Wiltshire to look for Mary. Mark thinks he can learn the news of what has happened in the last year from Tom.

However, they suddenly see Pecksniff pass outside of the window. They learn he is in town to attend a ceremony for laying the first stone of a building he has designed. The men follow Pecksniff to the ceremony, where Martin learns that Pecksniff is using the blueprint for a building Martin designed himself. Martin is fuming, but Mark tries to get him to look forward to the future and move on with their plan.