Middlemarch: Book 8, Chapter 81 Summary & Analysis

Dorothea arrives and asks Lydgate, who clearly has no idea what happened the day before, if she can see Rosamond. Lydgate expresses his deepest thanks for Dorothea’s £1000 check. Rosamond looks alarmed when Lydgate tells her Dorothea is here to see her, but agrees to come downstairs. Rosamond feels resentful of the power held by Dorothea, who is both the object of Will’s love and Lydgate’s financial rescuer. As the women greet each other, they are both overwhelmed with emotion. Dorothea says she hopes that Rosamond won’t find it inappropriate for them to discuss Lydgate’s situation. Rosamond assures her she won’t.

Dorothea tells Rosamond that Mr. Farebrother, Mr. Brooke, and Sir James all know and believe the truth about Lydgate’s involvement in the Bulstrode scandal. She then stresses that Lydgate desperately wants to make Rosamond happy and feels wretched about how his actions have hurt her. On hearing this Rosamond bursts into tears. For the first time, the illusion of her “dream-world” in which she is blameless and everyone else is at fault has been broken. Dorothea reflects that marriage is very difficult, as even the closeness of two people can become a kind of curse.

Composing herself, Rosamond explains that Dorothea misinterpreted the scene between her and Will yesterday. She says that Will was confessing that he loved “another woman,” but that after Dorothea saw them Will was adamant that he couldn’t explain the truth to her. Dorothea is stunned, but focuses on comforting Rosamond. Lydgate enters and asks if Dorothea wants a carriage, as it has started raining. However, Dorothea maintains that she is “strong” and wants to walk in the rain. She and Rosamond exchange a heartfelt yet restrained goodbye. Once Dorothea leaves, Rosamond tells Lydgate that she is “better than any one.”