David Copperfield

David agrees to stay until Mr. Barkis is buried (in the same cemetery as Clara Copperfield). He also helps Peggotty and exercises his professional skills by reading and interpreting Barkis's will, which he finds in the box Barkis always kept by his bed. As it turns out, this box also contains several hundred pounds and a few valuable items, including a gold watch. In total, Barkis has saved nearly 3,000 pounds, which he divides in his will between Peggotty, little Em'ly, and David; he also bequeaths the interest on 1,000 pounds to Mr. Peggotty. Dealing with this business keeps David preoccupied for the week leading up to the funeral, during which time he does not see Emily. The funeral itself is small and quiet, and gives David a chance to place some leaves on his mother's grave.

David pauses his narrative, saying that he is afraid to recount the events that followed the funeral. Although he realizes that his writing cannot change what has happened, he feels as though proceeding will make it "come again."

Everyone arranges to meet at Mr. Peggotty's the night of the funeral. The weather is "wild" when David arrives that evening, but Mr. Peggotty and Peggotty are already there preparing the house for visitors and usher him in. David asks how Peggotty is, and Mr. Peggotty says she can take comfort in the fact that she and her husband "did their duty" by one another. Mrs. Gummidge is as grumpy as usual and complains that the Peggottys would be better off without her. Mr. Peggotty attempts to cheer her up while setting a candle in the window—a signal he uses to let little Em'ly he's at home. Peggotty teases her brother for being so attached to Emily, and Mr. Peggotty agrees that he is, talking about how much pleasure he takes in visiting Ham and Emily's future home; all the objects in it remind him of his niece.

Mr. Peggotty sees someone coming: it's Ham, but he is not accompanied by little Em'ly. Ham asks David to step outside so that he can show him something, and David notices that Ham looks very pale. Once outside, David asks Ham what's wrong, and Ham eventually says that Emily has run away, and that it would be better for her to die than to face the "ruin and disgrace" she now will. Ham then asks David's help in breaking the news to the rest of the family, but Mr. Peggotty appears before David can respond and—realizing that Emily is not there—lets out a wail.

Back inside, David reads aloud a letter Ham gave him. It's from Emily, and explains that she is already "far away" from her home and Ham, whose love she says she never deserved. She doesn't intend to come back unless "he" makes her "a lady," and she asks Ham to convey her love to Mr. Peggotty and to think of her as dead—or "so bad" that her departure is no loss.

Mr. Peggotty seems dazed, although he does try to comfort Ham. Eventually, he asks who the man is that Emily has run away with, and Ham asks David to step outside. David remains, however, slowly realizing the truth as Ham explains that a servant (Littimer) and a gentleman have frequently been seen in the area, most recently with a horse and carriage. Ham assures David that he isn't responsible, but that Steerforth is the man he's talking about.

Mr. Peggotty finally rouses himself and prepares to leave: he plans to go knock a hole in Steerforth's boat since he can't "drown" the man himself, and then set off in search of little Em'ly. Mrs. Gummidge, however, begs him not to leave now, but to sit down for a while so that they can reminisce about Emily and Ham as children. This, she says, will help him "bear his sorrow better." Mr. Peggotty does as she suggests, and David—who had previously wanted to beg for the family's forgiveness—begins instead to cry with everyone else.