David Copperfield

David and Miss Betsey spend the night catching up. Mr. Peggotty and his family are apparently doing well in Australia, and Mr. Micawber has actually managed to send back some payments towards his debts. Mr. Dick, meanwhile, continues to copy whatever he can to keep "King Charles the First at a respectful distance."

Eventually, Miss Betsey asks when David is going to visit Canterbury, and he replies that he'll go the following day. He then appears lost in thought, thinking about the time Miss Betsey lamented that he was "blind" for loving Dora. Miss Betsey seems to guess what David is thinking, and says that Mr. Wickfield is a "reclaimed man," and that Agnes is "as beautiful, as earnest, [and] as disinterested" as ever. David hesitatingly asks whether Agnes has any suitors, and Miss Betsey says that she has many. When he asks whether she has found any "worthy" suitor to love, however, Miss Betsey says she believes Agnes has, but that it isn't her place to say. David replies that he wants to see Agnes happy and is sure she will confide in him eventually, and Miss Betsey puts her hand on his shoulder.

David goes to Canterbury the next day and lingers outside Mr. Wickfield's house, looking at the office where Uriah and Mr. Micawber used to work. That room is now a parlor, but the house is otherwise unchanged, and when David enters, he sees that everything has been restored to the way it was during his childhood, before the Heeps lived there. As David is looking wistfully out the window, Agnes enters the room.

David runs to Agnes and embraces her, trying to thank her for everything she has done for him. Eventually, Agnes's soothing presence calms David down, and she begins to talk about the meetings she had with little Em'ly before her departure, and about the visits Agnes has paid to Dora's grave. As Agnes speaks, David finds that he is better able to bear these painful memories.  

David asks Agnes how she has been, and she says that both she and her father are doing well in their "restored" home. David presses her, and Agnes—guessing he is asking her about suitors—blushes and shakes her head with "quiet sadness." David accordingly drops the subject and asks her about her school, and she says that she enjoys the work. David responds by praising her goodness, causing her to blush again, and change the topic, asking David if he will spend the night. David explains that he has promised to return to Miss Betsey's, but that he will spend the remainder of the day with Agnes and Mr. Wickfield.

Agnes says that she has to leave David for a while, but explains that he is welcome to the house's books and music. David remarks that even the flowers are the same as those that used to be in the house, and Agnes says that she has tried to return everything to the way it was when they were children. She still carries the basket of keys, for instance, and says that it reminds her of those happy times, and her "brother,” David. After she leaves, David resolves never to lose her "sisterly" love, which he believes is the only thing he has left. He then goes for a walk, passing by the butcher and thinking about his childhood infatuation with Miss Larkins. In all this time, Agnes is the only thing that seems to have remained constant.

David returns to find Mr. Wickfield, who had been out working in a garden he has outside of town. They have dinner and tea with Agnes and several of her students, who leave afterwards. The three reminisce, and Mr. Wickfield says that as much as he regrets things he has done, he doesn't want to change the past, because that would mean losing the memory of Agnes's kindness and devotion. David says he understands, but Mr. Wickfield insists that no one appreciates what Agnes has endured.

Agnes hushes Mr. Wickfield, and he changes the subject to Agnes's mother, explaining that she married Wickfield against her father's wishes. Her father never forgave her, and she never recovered from his "repulse," dying just two weeks after Agnes was born. Wickfield explains that he was in an "unhealthy" state of mind at the time, and that his love for Agnes was consequently "diseased." Since then, he has often felt that Agnes's personality reflects "something of her poor mother's story," and David—looking at the pair—is touched once again by Agnes's compassion and loyalty.

Agnes plays some "old airs" on the piano, and then asks David whether he plans to go abroad again. He asks for her opinion, and she says that she hopes he won't, since his fame "enlarges [his] power of doing good" at home. David credits Agnes with making him what he is, and says that he has thought so since Dora's death, when Agnes appeared on the stairs "pointing upward." This image has stayed with him, he says, because he feels that Agnes is always guiding him toward something higher and better. Agnes attempts to deny this, but David insists that he will see Agnes in this way for the rest of both their lives. Agnes, touched, says she is proud of David and then resumes playing the piano.

David continues to speak, saying that Mr. Wickfield's story seems "part of the feeling with which [David] regarded [Agnes]" at their first meeting. Agnes suggests that he simply felt sorry for her, but David insists that he always felt that there was something "softened" about Agnes that verged on sorrow. He then asks whether she thinks it is foolish of him to think that he could have sensed this, or that he could have sensed her capacity for loyalty, at such an early meeting. Agnes assures him that she does not, but looks upset for a moment. He thinks about her expression as he goes home that night, worrying that she is unhappy. Meanwhile, David is unhappy, but still determined not to confess his love for Agnes.