Middlemarch: Book 6, Chapter 60 Summary & Analysis

At the end of August, a successful lawyer has a public sale of his furniture, books, and paintings, as he is about to buy a new mansion and fill it with new things. The auction is treated “as a kind of festival.” Mr. Bulstrode’s health prevents him from attending, but he asks Will to buy a painting that his wife wants. Despite having declared he would leave weeks ago, Will remains in Middlemarch, because the truth is he doesn’t want to leave. Will agrees to go reluctantly. Many of the men at the auction look down on him because he is part-Polish.

The auction begins with small items, such as a novelty book of riddles, before moving on to paintings and prints. Suddenly a “shabby”-looking stranger arrives, and members of the crowd wonder who he is. Finally the painting Mrs. Bulstrode wants is brought out and Will is relieved, as he is desperate to go. Will bids £5, while Mr. Trumbull enthusiastically attempts to push up the price. In the end, it is sold to Will for £10. As he goes to leave, the stranger—Raffles—approaches and asks Will if his mother was named Sarah Dunkirk. Will says she was.

Raffles tells Will that he knew Sarah when she was young, and that he also knew Will’s father. He asks if Will’s parents are still alive, Will angrily tells him they aren’t, and Raffles says goodbye and leaves. Later that night, however, Raffles finds Will again. He says he knows that Sarah left her family because they ran a “respectable thieving line” and she didn’t want to have anything to do with it. He suggests that they have a drink at the local tavern, but Will says he has to go. Walking away, Will feels dirty.