The Life of David Learn English through story level 3

chapter one

david copperfield’s childhood

i was born at blunderstone in suffolk in

the east of england

and was given my poor father’s name

david copperfield

sadly he never saw me

he was much older than my mother when

they married and died six months before

i was born

my father’s death made my beautiful

young mother very unhappy

and she knew she would find life

extremely difficult with a new baby and

no husband

the richest and most important person in

our family was my father’s aunt

miss betsy trotwood

she had in fact been married once to a

handsome young husband

but because he demanded money from her

and sometimes beat her

she decided they should separate

he went abroad and soon news came of his

death

miss trotwood bought a small house by

the sea and lived there alone with only

one servant

she had not spoken to my father since

his marriage because she considered he

had made a mistake in marrying a very

young girl

but just before i was born

when she heard that my mother was

expecting a baby

she came to visit blunderstone

it was a cold windy friday afternoon in

march

my mother was sitting by the fire

feeling very lonely and unhappy and

crying a little

suddenly a stern strange looking face

appeared at the window

open the door

ordered the stern-faced lady

my mother was shocked but obeyed at once

you must be david copperfield’s wife

said the lady as she entered

i’m betsy trotwood

you’ve heard of me

yes

whispered my mother trembling how young

you are cried miss betsy just a baby

my mother started sobbing again

i know i look like a child

i know i was young to be a wife and i’m

young to be a mother

but perhaps i’ll die before i become a

mother come come answered miss betsy

have some tea

then you’ll feel better

what do you call your girl

my girl

i don’t know yet that it will be a girl

replied my mother miserably no i don’t

mean the baby i mean your servant

her name’s peggotty

her first name’s clara the same as mine

so i call her by her family name you see

what a terrible name

however never mind peggety she called

going to the door bring mrs copperfield

some tea at once

she sat down again and continued

speaking

you were talking about the baby

i’m sure it’ll be a girl now

as soon as she’s born

he perhaps said my mother bravely don’t

be stupid

of course it’ll be a she

i’m going to send her to school and

educate her well

i want to prevent her from making the

mistakes i’ve made in life miss betsy

looked quite angry as she said this

my mother said nothing but she was not

feeling at all well

but tell me

were you and your husband happy

asked miss

betsy this made my poor mother feel

worse than ever

i know i wasn’t very sensible

about money

or cooking

or things like that she sobbed

but we loved each other

and he was helping me to learn

and then he died

and she fell back in her chair

completely unconscious

peggotty who came in just then with the

tea realized how serious the situation

was and took my mother upstairs to bed

the doctor arrived soon afterwards and

stayed all evening to take care of his

patient

at about midnight he came downstairs to

the sitting room where miss betsy was

waiting impatiently

well doctor

what’s the news

how is she

the young mother is quite comfortable

madam

replied the doctor politely but she

the baby

how is she

cried miss betsy

the doctor looked strangely at miss

betsy

it’s a boy madam

he replied

miss betsy said nothing

but walked straight out of the house

and never came back

that was how i was born

my early childhood was extremely happy

as my beautiful mother and kind peggety

took care of me

but when i was about eight

a shadow passed over my happiness

my mother often went out walking in her

best clothes with a gentleman called mr

murdstone

he had black hair a big black moustache

and an unpleasant smile

and seemed to be very fond of my mother

but i knew that peggety did not like him

a few months later peggotty told me that

my mother was going to have a short

holiday with some friends

meanwhile peggotty and i would go to

stay with her brother daniel in yarmouth

on the east coast for two weeks

i was very excited when we climbed into

the cart

although it was sad saying goodbye to my

mother

mr murdstone was at her shoulder waving

goodbye as the driver called to his

horse

and we drove out of the village

when we got down from the cart in

yarmouth after our journey peggotty said

that’s the house master david

looked around

but could only see an old ship on the

sand

is that

that your brother’s house i asked in

delight

and when we reached it i saw it had

doors and windows and a chimney just

like a real house

i could not imagine a nicer place to

live

everything was clean and tidy and smell

to fish

now i was introduced to the pekiti

family

there was daniel peggotty a kind old

sailor

although he was not married he had

adopted two orphans who lived with him

and called him uncle

ham peggotty was a large young man with

a gentle smile and emily was a beautiful

blue-eyed little girl

they all welcomed peggotty and me warmly

i spent a wonderfully happy two weeks

there playing all day on the beach with

emily and sleeping in my own little bed

on the ship

i’m sure i was in love with little emily

in my childish way

and i cried bitterly when we had to say

goodbye at the end of the holiday

but on the way home to blunderstone

peggotty looked at me very worriedly

master david my dear

she said suddenly in a trembling voice

i must tell you

you’ll have to know now

while we’ve been away

your dear mother

has married mr murdstone

he’s your stepfather now

i was deeply shocked

i could not understand how my mother

could have married that man

and when we arrived home

i could not help showing my mother how

very miserable i was

i went straight to my room and lay

sobbing on my bed

which made my poor mother very unhappy

too

as she sat beside me holding my hand

mr murdstone suddenly came

in what’s this cloud of my love he asked

sternly

remember

you must be firm with the boy

i’ve told you before

you’re too weak with him

yes edward

i’m afraid you’re right my mother

replied quickly

i’m very sorry

i’ll try to be firmer with him

and when she left the room

mr murdstone whispered angrily to me

david

you know what i’ll do if you don’t obey

i’ll beat you like a dog

i was still very young

and i was very frightened of him

if he had said one kind word to me

perhaps i would have liked and trusted

him

and my life would have been different

instead

i hated him for the influence he had

over my dear mother who wanted to be

kind to me but also wanted to please her

new husband

that evening mr murdstone’s sister

arrived to help my mother in the house

a tall dark lady with a stern frowning

face

she looked and sounded very much like

her brother

i thought she was planning to stay with

us for a long time

and i was right

in fact

she intended to stay

forever she started work the next

morning

she said firmly to my mother at

breakfast

i’m here to help you

you’re much too pretty and thoughtless

to worry about the servants the food and

so on

so just hand me your keys to all the

cupboards

and i’ll take care of everything for you

my poor mother just blushed

looked a little ashamed and obeyed

from then on

miss murdstone took complete control of

the house

keeping the keys hanging from her waist

as she hurried through the house

checking that everything was being done

just as she wished

chapter 2

david is sent away to school

i was very unhappy during this time

mr murdstone insisted on my studying

and so my mother gave me lessons

in the past

she and i had enjoyed our studies

together

and she had taught me a lot in her

gentle way

but now

both mr and miss murdstone were present

during my lessons

and somehow i could not concentrate

or remember what i had learned

my poor mother was very sympathetic

and tried to encourage me

sometimes even whispering the answer to

but the murder stones had sharp ears

clouded my love mr murdstone used to say

crossly

remember

be firm

you’re making the boy’s character worse

by helping him like that

edward i’m sorry

my mother replied

looking embarrassed

and hanging her head like a guilty child

one morning

when i arrived in the sitting room as

usual for my lesson

i saw that mr murdstone

had a thin stick in his hand

i could not take my eyes off it

you must be very careful today david

he said with his unpleasant smile

holding the stick in both hands

i knew what would happen then

a terrible fear

took hold of me

and all that i had learnt disappeared

immediately from my memory

so that i could not answer any of my

mother’s questions

mr murdstone got up from his chair

well david

he said heavily

i think you’ve worried your mother

enough today

we’ll go upstairs boy

come

and he picked up the stick

i heard my mother crying as we went

upstairs

please mr murdstone i cried

don’t beat me

i’ve tried to learn really i have sir

but he did not listen to me

in my bedroom he held my arms

and started hitting me with a stick

i managed to get hold of his hand

and bit deep into it

he cried out angrily

and began to hit me as hard as he could

above the noise of my screams

i could hear my mother and peggotty

crying outside the door

then the next moment

he was gone

i heard him lock the door

and i was lying

sore and bleeding

on the floor

the whole house

seemed suddenly very quiet

i stayed there for a time

without moving

in the evening

miss murdstone brought me some bread and

milk

which she left on the floor beside me

frowning angrily at me as she went out

i was kept locked in that room for five

days and nights

and saw nobody except miss murdstone

who brought me food

but never spoke to me

to a small boy

the five days

seemed like years

and i can still remember how frightened

and guilty i felt

but during the fifth night

i heard a strange noise at the keyhole

it was peggety

trying to give me a message

master david my dear she whispered

sobbing

they’re going to send you away to

boarding school tomorrow

oh piggety i cried

then i won’t see you and mother very

often

know my love

but don’t forget

i’ll take care of your mother

she needs her cross-old peggotty

i’ll stay with her

although i hate these murder stones

and remember david

i love you as much as i love your mother

and more

and i write to you

thank you

dear peggotty

i whispered back

tears rolling down my face

will you write your brother too

and ham

and little emily

and tell them

i’m not as bad as the murder stones

think

and send my love to them

especially

little emily

peggotty promised to do what i asked

the next morning miss murdstone told me

that because of my wickedness

i was going away to school

she had already packed my case for me

my mother was only allowed to say a very

quick goodbye to me

when the horse and cart arrived

the driver put my case on the cart

and we drove slowly out of blunderstone

i was still sobbing loudly

when suddenly i saw peggety running

after us on the road

the driver stopped and waited for her

with difficulty

she climbed up onto the cut

here master david

she cried breathlessly

a little present from me

and your dear mother

take care of yourself my dear

she put a small purse and a paper bag

into my hands

and held me so close to her fat body

that i thought i would never breathe

again

then she jumped down

and ran back along the road to the

village

as we continued our journey i dried my

tears and looked at what she had given

the bag was full of peggotty’s special

cakes

and in the purse were eight bright

shilling coins

thinking of my mother and peggotty

made me start crying again

but just then the driver

mr barkus

began to talk to me he was a large

red-faced man

who clearly found conversation difficult

did

she make those cakes

he asked slowly having finished the one

that i had offered him

you mean pegatisa

yes

she does all our cooking

replied mr barcus

with great interest

there was a long silence while he

considered his next question

does she

have a young man he asked

you know

someone

wants to marry her

peggotty

a young man i repeated surprised

oh no

she’s never had any young men

replied mr barcus

looking very pleased

again

he thought for a long time before

speaking

wow

he said it last

perhaps

if you write to her

will you be right into her

you could give her a message from me

you could say

barcus

is willing

would you do that

barcus

is willing

i repeated innocently

wondering what the message meant

yes of course

but you could tell her yourself mr

barcus when you return to blunderstone

tomorrow

he said no

you just give her the message

remember

barcase is willing

after this conversation

mr barcus was completely silent for the

rest of the journey

when we arrived in yarmouth

i bought paper at the hotel

and wrote this letter to peggotty

my dear pekety

i have arrived safely in yarmouth

barcus is willing

please give my love to mother

yours david

p.s

he says it’s important

barcus is willing

in yarmouth

i was put on the long distance coach to

london

and traveled all through the night

at the coach station in london

i was collected by a teacher

mr mel and taken to salem house

the school which the murder stones had

chosen for me

the school was a large old building with

a dusty playground

surrounded by a high brick wall

it looked strangely deserted

i was very surprised to find that none

of the boys were there

and was told that they were all on

holiday

that i had been sent there during the

holidays as a punishment for my

wickedness

the headmaster and teachers were on

holiday too

all except for mr mel who had to look

after me

i spent a whole month

in that miserable place

doing my lessons in the dirty empty

classroom

which smelt of old food

and unwashed boys

every evening i had to eat my supper

with mr mel

and then go straight to bed

the worst thing

was the sign i had to wear around my

neck

it said

be careful

he bites

i was only allowed to take it off when i

went to bed

although i was extremely lonely and

unhappy at this time

i was not looking forward to meeting all

the other boys

i felt sure they would laugh at me

and especially at the sign i was forced

away

but one day mr mel told me that the

headmaster mr kriegel had returned and

wanted to see me

so i went trembling to his part of the

house

i realized at once that mr kriegel lived

much more comfortably than the boys or

the teachers

he was a small fat man with a purple

nose who was sitting in an armchair with

a bottle and a glass in front of him

so this is the boy who bites is it

he asked unpleasantly

i know your stepfather boy

he’s a man of strong character he is

he knows me

and i know him

do you know me

answer me boy

he pulled violently at my ear

not yet sir

i answered tears of pain in my eyes

but you soon well

oh yes

i have a strong character too you’ll see

he banged his hand hard on the table

i was very frightened

but i made myself ask the question i had

been considering for a whole month

please sir

i’m very sorry for what i did to mr

murdstone

could

could i take this sign off

before the other boys see it

mr creeker gave a sudden terrible shout

and jumped out of his chair

i did not wait to see whether he was

going to hit me

but ran out of his room

and hid in my bed

for the next hour

however

the boys were not as cruel to me as i

had feared

i made a friend almost immediately

a boy called tommy traddles

it was known to be the unluckiest boy in

the school

i was also noticed

and even smiled on

by the great james steerforth

one of the oldest boys

at least six years older than me

he was a handsome intelligent

curly-haired young man who had become an

important figure of the school

with great influence over the younger

boys

how much money have you got copperfield

he asked me

eight shillings stay forth i answered

remembering the present my mother and

peggotty had given me

you’d better give it to me

i’ll take care of it for you

he offered in a friendly way

i opened peggotty’s purse and turned it

upside down into his hand

perhaps you’d like to spend some of it

now he suggested smiling

a bottle of wine

a turn of biscuits

a few cakes

that sort of thing

i can go out whenever i like

so i can buy it for you

yes

that’s very kind of you i said

although i was a little worried that all

my money would disappear

when we went upstairs to bed

i realized that all my money had been

spent

eight shillings worth of food and drink

was laid out on my bed in the moonlight

of course

i did not want to eat and drink it all

by myself

so i invited steerforth and the others

to help themselves

the boys were very willing

and we spent a pleasant evening sitting

on our beds whispering to each other

i discovered that the boys all hated

salem house

which they considered one of the worst

schools in the country

they especially hated mr kriegel who was

in the habit of beating them regularly

with a heavy stick which he carried with

him at all times

the only boy he dared not beat was

steerforth

i admired steerforth even more when i

heard this

when we were all too tired to stay awake

steerforth got up to go

good night young copperfield he said

putting a hand on my head

i’ll take care of you

it’s very kind of you

i replied gratefully

you haven’t got a sister have you

yes sleepily

no i haven’t i answered

what a pity

if you had one

i’m sure she’d be a pretty

bright-eyed little girl

i would have liked to meet her

i thought of him a lot that night

with his laughing handsome face and his

careless confident manner

i could never have imagined

what a dark shadow he would throw over

the lives of people who were dear to me

i stayed at salem house

for three more months

although one or two of the teachers like

mr mel were kind to us boys

and tried to teach us properly

we were too afraid of mr crickle and his

stick

to concentrate on our studies

but tommy traddles and i cheered each

other up if we were beaten

and i was lucky enough to be friendly

with the great steerforth

in spite of the difference in our ages

however

my home

even with the murder stones there

seemed a much pleasanter place than

school

and i was glad when the christmas

holidays arrived and i was allowed to

return to blunderstone

i was a little surprised to find that my

mother had a new baby

and i could see it once

that she was not well

she looked tired and worried

and very thin

but she and peggotty were delighted to

see me

although

they dared not show it if the murder

stones were present

my stepfather and his sister

seemed to hate me even more than before

if that were possible

and they made my life

quite miserable whenever they could

in fact

i was almost pleased when it was time to

return to school

and see travels and steer forth again

as the cart drove away

i remember my mother standing outside

our house

with her baby in her arms

smiling sadly at me

that was the last time i saw her

and that is how

i shall always remember her

chapter 3

david the orphan

life went on as normal for me at school

until my birthday two months later in

march

i remember that day very well

it was cold icy weather

and we boys had to blow on our fingers

and rub our hands to keep warm in the

freezing classrooms

when a message came for me to go and see

mr kriegel

i thought that peggotty must have sent

me a birthday present

and so i hurried gladly along to his

room

but there i realized something unusual

had happened

because it was mr kriegel’s wife who was

waiting to speak to me

david my child

she said kindly holding my hand

we all have to accept

that our loved ones can die at any

moment

i looked at her

trying to understand what she meant

i’m sorry to tell you she continued

that your mother

is dangerously ill

there was a mist in front of my eyes

and suddenly

burning tears ran down my face

i knew the truth

your mother is dead

she said

i was already sobbing loudly

and i felt i was an orphan

quite alone in the world

mrs kriegel packed my case herself

and sent me home on the coach for the

funeral

i did not realize at the time

that i would never return to salem house

when i arrived home

peggotty met me at the door

and we cried miserably in each other’s

arms

mr murdstone seemed very sad

and did not speak to me at all

miss murdstone however

showed her usual firmness of character

which she and her brother were so proud

by checking that i had brought all my

clothes back from school

after that

she showed no interest in me at all

there was a deathly stillness in the

house

peggotty took me up to the room where my

dear mother’s dead body lay

with my little brother

who had died a few hours after her

everything was fresh and clean in the

room

but i could not look at my mother’s

lovely face

which would never smile at me again

without crying

how did it happen peggotty

i asked sobbing

she was ill for a long time master david

she got worse after the baby was born

you see

she was sometimes unhappy and forgetful

but she was always the same to me

her old peggety

those two downstairs

often spoke crossly to her

and made her sad

but she still loved them you know

she was so sweet and loving

i always sat beside her while she went

to sleep

it made her feel better she said

there was a short silence while peggotty

dried her eyes

then took both my hands in hers

on the last night

she asked me for some water

and then gave me such a patient smile

she looked so beautiful

the sun was beginning to rise and she

put her head on my arm

on a stupid crossover pegged his arm

and died

like an innocent child

going to sleep

after my mother’s funeral

i began to wonder what would happen to

the murder stones did not even seem to

notice that i was in the house

they had told pegarty to leave

as they did not want her as their

servant anymore

so peggotty was going to her brothers in

yarmouth

until she decided what work to do next

she suggested taking me with her for a

holiday

and to my surprise the murder stones

agreed

next morning

mr barkes appeared at the door with his

cart

and peggotty’s cases were put on it

we climbed up

and sat beside him

peggotty was naturally a little sad to

leave her old home

where she had been so happy with my

mother and me

and at first she cried a little

but when mr barcus saw her drying her

eyes and looking more cheerful

he too began to look happier

and he whispered to me

parkers is willing

you told her that

aloud he said to peggotty

are you comfortable

peggety laughed

and said that she was

and are you

comfortable

master david

he asked

i said that i was

mr barcus was so pleased with this

conversation

that he repeated it many times during

the journey

and peggotty and i

both had to keep giving him the same

answer

when we arrived in yarmouth and got down

from the cart

we said goodbye to mr barkes

daniel and ham peggotty were waiting for

daniel and ham were exactly the same as

i remembered them

cheerful and generous as ever

but little emily

seemed different somehow

she was taller and prettier

but she did not want to play with me

or spend her time with me

i was rather disappointed

because i still considered she was the

most beautiful girl i had ever seen

and i thought i was in love with her

daniel and ham were very proud of her

intelligence and beauty

and just smiled when she laughingly

refused to sit next to me

but they all listened with interest to

my stories of school life at salem house

i told them about the other boys

especially the handsome clever

steerforth

i admired him so much that i could not

stop myself telling them all about him

suddenly i noticed that emily was

listening eagerly her blue eyes shining

and a smile on her lips

she blushed when she saw that we were

all looking at her

and hid her face behind her hands

emil is like me

said peggotty kindly and would like to

see david’s friend mr steerforth

the days passed happily although emily

and i did not play together as we had

done before

mr barcus was a frequent visitor

and soon peggety explained to me that

she had decided to marry him

i love you just as much david my dear

when i’m married she told me holding me

close to her

and i’ll be able to come and see you in

the cart anytime i like

marcus is a good man

and i’m sure i’ll be happy with him

he’s got a nice little house and i’ll

keep a little bedroom there for you to

use whenever you want you’ll always be

welcome to come and stay

so when i returned to blunderstone

peggotty had become mrs barcus

and i was glad to think of her in her

own house with a husband to take care of

her

at home

my stepfather and his sister did not

seem pleased to see me and were clearly

trying to find a way of getting rid of

as they considered school too expensive

they finally arranged for me to start

work

although i was still only 10 years old

and very small for my age

i was sent to london

to work in a warehouse in the east of

the city near the river

my job was to wash bottles

which would then be filled with wine

or to pack the filled bottles in cases

i was paid only six shillings a week

there were several other boys who worked

with me

but i was the only one who had been to

school

all the warehouse workers were coarse

rough people

who were used to working in dirty

conditions for long hours

no words can describe the horror i felt

when i realized what my life was going

to be like from now on

i was deeply ashamed at having such a

job

and i was also afraid that i would

forget everything i had learned from my

mother and my teachers

i would never find friends like traddles

or steerforth

or be able to get a better position in

life

it was an extremely unhappy time for me

my stepfather had asked mr quinion the

manager to find me somewhere to stay in

london

so at the end of my first day i was

called to mr quinion’s office and

introduced to an important looking

rather fat middle-aged man with a head

as bald as an egg

his name was mr micawber

and he offered me a spare room in the

house he was renting with his family i

agreed to take it

and mr micawber and i walked home

together

the micawbers were obviously very poor

but tried hard not to let the show

the house had several floors of rather

dirty empty rooms with very little

furniture

mrs macorber was a thin

tired looking woman with a baby in her

arms

the baby was one of twins

and in all my experience of the family

i never saw mrs micawber without at

least one of the twins

they also had a four-year-old son

and a three-year-old daughter

their only servant was a young orphan

girl

i never thought mrs micawber told me

sadly as she showed me my room

when i lived with mother and father

before i was married

though i would ever be as poor as this

but as mr micawber is for the moment in

difficulties

i must of course accept the situation

i’m afraid he owes a lot of money

but his creditors will just have to wait

you can’t get blood out of a stone

nor can anyone get any money at all out

of mr micawber a present

i soon realized

that neither mr nor mrs micawber had

ever been able to manage money

the little that mr micawber earned was

not enough either to keep his creditors

happy

or to pay for the needs of his growing

family

his creditors were constantly at the

door demanding payment

and meals were rather irregular in the

micawber house

mr and mrs micawber’s moods varied

according to the situation

one moment mr micawber looked extremely

miserable and depressed

the next he was brushing his shoes and

singing a song before going out

mrs micawber’s character was similar to

her husband’s

sometimes i came home to find her lying

on the floor with her hair undone

looking wild and desperate

but an hour later she was cheerfully

eating a good supper

i lived with these kind people for

several months and became very fond of

them

i bought my own food out of my wages

because i knew the micawbers hardly ever

had enough for themselves

and i lived mostly on bread and cheese

as they were so short of money

once or twice i offered to lend them a

few shillings

which they refused to accept

but at last mr micawber’s creditors

became tired of waiting for their money

and went to the police who arrested him

for debt

he was taken to the king’s prison and

asked me to visit him there

when i arrived i was shown to his room

where he was waiting for me

he seemed quite broken-hearted

and even cried a little

this is a black day for me copperfield

he sobbed

i hope my mistakes will be a warning to

young people like you

remember

if a man earns 20 pounds a year

and spends 19 pounds and 19 shillings

the result

is happiness

but if he spends 20 pounds and one

shilling the result

is misery

by the way copperfield could you lend me

a shilling for some beer

mrs micawber will pay you back as soon

as you arrive home

and when the beer arrived

he appeared much more cheerful

we had a pleasant evening telling

stories and jokes

he stayed in prison for several weeks

and i visited him regularly

i was delighted to hear on one of my

visits that he would soon be free as his

creditors had unwillingly accepted the

fact that he had no way of paying his

debts

i gave the news to mrs micawber when i

returned home

we celebrated by sharing our supper and

a glass of wine together

may i ask what you will do madam when mr

micawber is free i ask politely

my family said mrs micawber grandly

believe that mr micawber should move to

the country

to devon

and carry on his business interests

there

mr micawber is a very clever man master

copperfield

i’m sure he is i agreed

although they haven’t found anything

exactly right for him yet

my family think he should be ready in

devon

in case something turns up

she put down her empty glass

and

will you be going with him madam i asked

i must i will

mrs micawber’s voice rose to a scream he

is my life my love my husband the father

of my children i would never desert mr

micawber you can’t ask me to desert him

i felt very uncomfortable

as i had not asked her to desert him at

all

but she soon became calm again and

finished her supper i was becoming used

to the micawber’s changes of mood

i now realized that when the micawbers

left london as they were planning to do

i would be very lonely in the city

i still hated my work in the warehouse

and wanted to make a better life for

myself

i thought about it for a long time

and decided there was only one thing i

could do

i would try to find my one surviving

relation my father’s aunt

miss betsy trotwood and ask her to help

i knew that she lived somewhere near

dover in kent

i could go there by coach because

peggotty had once sent me ten shillings

to keep in case i ever needed it

the time had come to use that money

chapter four

david and his aunt

so after helping the micawbers to pack

their few clothes and waving goodbye to

them at the coach station on their way

to devon

i went to the warehouse for my last day

at work

i did not tell anyone i would not be

coming back the following week

in the evening i packed my case and put

the ten shillings in the little purse

peggotty had once given me

i looked around for someone to help me

with my case which was rather heavy for

and saw a tall young man with a horse

and cart passing by

could you please take my case to the

coach station i asked him politely

the young man put the case into his cart

then

looking around quickly to make sure

there were no witnesses

he pushed me roughly against the wall

and took my purse out of my trembling

hand

before i could say a word he had driven

the horse and cart down the road and out

of sight round the corner

i knew i would never see him my case or

my ten shillings again

i sat down on the pavement and cried

now i had lost everything i owned in the

world

and had no money for the coach fair to

dover

in the end

i decided i would have to walk there

and i started the long journey

it took me six days to cover the hundred

kilometers as i got tired very easily

and had to rest

i sold my jacket for a shilling so that

i could buy bread and milk on the way

and at night i slept in disused farm

buildings or under trees

sometimes i was afraid of the dangerous

looking beggars and thieves i met on the

road

but i knew i had to keep going

as i walked

i thought of my mother’s gentle pretty

face

i felt sure she would approve of what i

was doing

and that encouraged me to continue

but when i arrived in dover

it seemed a much larger town than i had

imagined

i spent a whole morning asking people if

they knew where miss betsy trotwood

lived

finally i found someone who recognized

the name and showed me the way to her

house

stood at her front door in the neat

little garden for a few moments

trembling with fear and wondering what

my aunt would think of me

my face and hands were dirty my hair was

unbrushed and my clothes were torn and

dusty

perhaps she wouldn’t even want to invite

me into her house

just then a handsome but strict looking

grey-haired woman came out of the door

towards me

i knew she must be my aunt go away she

said crossley i don’t allow anyone to

walk on my grass

please madam i said bravely

please aunt what cried miss betsy in

great surprise

please aunt

i’m your nephew good

havels she cried and sat down rather

suddenly on the grass

i’m david copperfield your your nephew

son of blunderstone in suffolk where you

came on the night i was born and saw my

dear mother i’ve been very unhappy since

she died

my stepfather sent me to work in london

and i hated it and ran away and someone

stole my case and my money and i’ve had

to walk all the way and i haven’t slept

in a bed for six nights

here my self-control broke

they fell to the ground sobbing bitterly

my aunt jumped to her feet picked me up

and took me into her sitting room

where she mixed some medicine in a glass

and made me drink it

she also wrapped me in a large blanket

and put me on her sofa

then she rang the bell for her servant

janet

please ask mr dick to come here janet

she said

a tall grey-haired pleasant-looking

gentleman entered a few minutes later

laughing rather strangely to himself

now mr dick said my aunt firmly

don’t be a fool because we all know

you’re intelligent

mr dick looked very serious at once

no doubt you remember that i had a

nephew david copperfield well

this is his son

he has run away

oh really

david’s son

run away

well

said mr dick

now the question is mr dick what shall i

do with him

well

mr dick looked vacantly at me

and then suddenly his eyes shone

if i were you

i would wash him

well done mr dick you always have the

right answer

said my aunt delightedly

and so they washed me

and gave me clean clothes and delicious

food

while i was eating my aunt stared at me

occasionally whispering good heavens to

herself

when she could see that i felt better

she asked me question after question

and i told her the story of my life good

heavens she said again when i had

finished

why did your poor mother marry again

what a terrible mistake

perhaps she was in love suggested mr

dick

smiling his rather foolish smile

in love

said miss betsy crossley

perhaps the poor silly girl thought she

was in love

but now mr dick another question

what should we do with the boy

well

said mr dick thinking

then an idea suddenly came to him

you should put him to bed

thank you again mr dick for your common

sense said my aunt happily

janet

put the boy to bed

and so

in a comfortable clean little bed in a

pleasant airy room at the top of miss

betsy trotwood’s house

i floated away into the world of my

dreams

at breakfast next morning i bravely

asked my aunt

are you

have you

what’s going to happen to me

i’ve written to your stepfather she

replied

are you going to send me back to the

merch stones

please don’t aunt

please let me stay here i cried

trembling i don’t know what i’ll do yet

we’ll have to wait and see

she answered firmly

this news made me very depressed but

there was nothing i could do about it

and my aunt soon began to talk about

something else

what do you think of mr dick child

he looks a little

well

mad

is he mad aunt

well

his family called him mad and wanted to

lock him up forever

but i met him and thought i still think

he’s an extremely sensible intelligent

person

so i offered to take care of him and

he’s lived in my house for 10 years

nobody knows what useful advice he’s

given me i trust him completely

when i heard how generous my aunt had

been to poor harmless mr dick

i began to understand her character

better

in spite of her stern appearance and

frequent crossness

she was very kind to people who needed

her help

i hoped she would be kind to me

several days later i was looking out of

the sitting room window

when i saw mr and miss murdstone riding

into my aunt’s garden

my aunt had seen them too and hurried

out waving her umbrella angrily at them

and shouting go away don’t ride on my

grass who do you think you are go away i

tell you

aunt i cried out

they’re mr and miss murdstone i don’t

care she shouted nobody is allowed to

ride on my grass

and she went back into her house banging

the door behind her

the merch stones had to lead their

horses out of the garden and then return

to ring the doorbell

they looked very uncomfortable and

unsure of themselves

janet showed them into the sitting room

where my aunt mr dick and i were waiting

miss trotwood began mr murdstone

stepping forward excuse me said my aunt

sharply i imagine

you are the mr murderstone who married

my nephew’s widow

in my opinion it would have been much

better if you had never married the poor

child

i agree with you miss trotwood said miss

murdstone smiling falsely my brother

would certainly have been happier if he

hadn’t married her because i consider

poor dear clara was in fact just a child

fortunately said my aunt you and i

madame are too old and plain for anyone

to say that about us

miss murdstone did not seem eager to

agree to this

her brother however wanted to get down

to business

miss trotwood he said a little crossly

having received your letter i’ve come to

explain to you in case you haven’t

realized it yet

that this boy is extremely wicked and

violent

both my sister and i have tried to

change his character but sadly we have

failed

i must add said miss murdstone that of

all the boys in the world

i believe this is the worst boy

i see

said my aunt

now tell me

has david inherited any money from his

father or mother

no madam answered mr murdstone

my dear clara naturally trusted me to

take care of david and i’m ready to do

that if he comes back with me now

but i alone shall decide what to do with

him miss trotwood understand that i am

here for the first and last time to take

him away

if you decide to keep him with you

you keep him forever

what to say david

asked my aunt turning to me

please don’t let me go with them aunt i

bet

they’ve always been unkind to me and

they made my mother very unhappy

i’ll be so miserable if i have to go

back with them

what do you think mr dick asked my aunt

mr dick thought for a moment

get a suit of clothes made for him

immediately he said

what would i do without you mr dick

asked my aunt shaking his hand

enthusiastically

then she turned to mr murdstone

you’d better go

i’ll keep the boy and take my chance

with him

i don’t believe a word of your story do

you think i don’t know how you broke

that poor girl’s heart

and how you hated her son and punished

him for it

i can see by your face that i’m right

we all stared at mr murdstone

it was true that his face was white

and he was breathing fast

goodbye sir

and goodbye to you too madam

added my aunt

turning suddenly to miss murdstone

if i see you riding on my grass again

i’ll knock your hat right off your head

the murder stone said nothing in reply

to these fierce words

but walked quickly out of the house

thank you

thank you aunt i cried

i’ll do my best to make you proud of me

and i kissed her many times

mr dick

you and i will adopt this boy together

said my aunt

a stern expression

softening into a smile

and so a new life began for me

i was soon able to forget the warehouse

and the merchants in learning to please

my aunt and to play games with mr dick

who spent much of his time with me

but one day my aunt suggested that i

should go to boarding school in

canterbury

i was delighted as i was eager to

continue my studies and canterbury was

very near my aunt’s home in dover

so the next day my aunt and i went to

canterbury where i admired the beautiful

old buildings in the ancient city center

is it a large school aunt i asked

politely

i haven’t decided which school you’ll go

to yet she replied

first we’re going to ask my old friend

mr wickfield’s advice about it

he lives and works in canterbury you see

soon we stopped in front of a very old

house

with a very clean front doorstep and

fresh white curtains at the windows

a strange-looking person

dressed in black with short red hair and

a very thin white face came out to meet

i thought he must be a servant

he was about fifteen but looked much

older

is mr wickfield at home uriah heap

asked my aunt

here’s madam

replied uriah smiling unpleasantly

he showed us into the sitting room

where i noticed two large paintings on

the wall

one of a grey-haired gentleman the other

of a lady with a sweet gentle face

just then a gentleman entered the room

looking a little older than his picture

i soon discovered he was mr wickfield my

aunt’s lawyer

mr wickfield said my aunt this is my

nephew i have adopted him

and i want to send him to a good

boarding school here in canterbury

can you help me find a school for him

mr wickfield thought for a moment

there’s a very good school i can

recommend dr strong’s

but the boy can’t board there

and it’s too far to travel from dover

every day however

he could live here if you liked in my

house

there’s plenty of room for him

that’s very kind of you mr wickfield

i’ll pay you for his food of course said

my aunt

come and meet agnes who takes care of

everything and manages the house

said mr wickfield

we all went upstairs to another sitting

room prettily furnished

where a girl of my own age was sitting

on her face i saw immediately the

beautiful calm expression of the lady in

the painting downstairs

and i knew she must be mr wickfield’s

daughter agnes

when i saw the way mr whitfield looked

at agnes and held her hand

i realized that she was the only thing

that made life worth living for him

the lady in the painting was her mother

who had died some years before and agnes

was now in complete charge of the house

she welcomed me warmly as a guest and

showed me the comfortable bedroom i

would sleep in

my aunt was very happy to leave me in

the care of mr wickfield and his

daughter

i must leave now david she told me

mr wickfield will take you to school

tomorrow and make all the arrangements

i’m sure you will work hard and do well

thank you aunt i said trying not to cry

and give my love to mr dick

and thank you again

when she had gone i dried my tears

and spent a pleasant evening with the

wickfields

we ate supper and talked in the pretty

little sitting room

agnes played the piano and tried to

amuse her father

but he often looked serious and rather

sad

during the evening he drank a good deal

of wine

i wondered why he seemed unhappy

the next day i had my first experience

of a well-organized school

it could not have been more different

from salem house

the headmaster dr strong was a gentle

kind man who enjoyed teaching and never

punished anybody

i soon made friends with the other boys

and as time went on with the teachers

too

but although i liked school very much

i was always happy to return to the

wickfield’s quiet house every evening

there agnes used to help me with my

studies

and listen sympathetically to my

problems

and her father always seemed pleased to

see me

i often wrote to my aunt and peggety and

mr dick came to visit me once a week

the strangest person in my new life was

uriah heap

soon after i arrived in canterbury we

had a conversation one evening

he was doing a lot of mr whitfield’s

work

and was working late in his small office

just off the hall of the wickfield’s

house

come in come in master copperfield he

cried when he saw me passing the door

i entered

and found him reading a large dusty book

and making careful notes in a notebook

what are you studying uriah i asked

politely

i’m going to be a lawyer he replied

rubbing his thin hands together and

smiling his oily smile

you’re mr wickfield’s assistant aren’t

you

perhaps one day you’ll be his partner i

said trying to make conversation

oh no master copperfield cried uriah

rolling his eyes upwards

i could never rise so high

i’m much too humble for that

but thank you master copperfield for

thinking kindly of me

and may i say

that if ever you have the time and i’m

sure a young gentleman like you is much

too busy to spare the time for a poor

person like me

my mother and i would be glad to offer

you a cup of tea at our humble home

of course

if i have time i answered

and left the room quickly

did not feel comfortable with him for

some reason

but the following week he invited me to

tea again

and i did not want to appear rude so i

agreed

that evening he and i walked to the

small house where he lived with his

mother

it was a warm day and we were drinking

our tea near the open door

when a gentleman i recognized passed by

it was mr micawber

he saw me sitting near the door and

called out

copperfield

is it really you

i was delighted to see him again

and mrs heap invited him in for some tea

i had to introduce him to the heaps

but i did not think that uriah would be

a good influence on mr micawber

however i was interested to discover

that the micawbers were now living in

canterbury as nothing had turned up in

devon

they seem to be very short of money

again and surrounded by creditors as

usual

i left the heaps house as soon as

possible taking mr micawber with me as i

did not want him to tell uriah all about

my life at the warehouse in london

and so

the years passed

i learned everything that dr strong and

his teachers could teach me

and at 17

came to the end of my school days

my aunt suggested that before deciding

what profession to choose

i should spend a month in london or

traveling around the country

this would give me time to consider my

next step

i agreed enthusiastically and although i

was sorry to say goodbye to my sweet

friend agnes and her father

i was looking forward to leading the

life of an independent young gentleman

chapter 5

david meets old friends again

i decided to go to london first to stay

at a hotel for a few nights and see all

the sights of that great city

i knew it would be very different from

the last time i was in london when i was

working at the warehouse

now

i was adult and educated

and had money

the hotel i chose was called the golden

cross

and because i looked so young i was

given a very small dark room in the roof

but i did not feel confident enough to

complain

that evening

i was returning from the theater when i

recognized someone going into the hotel

i could not prevent myself from saying

it once

steer forth

do you remember me

he stared at me for a moment

then he cried

good heavens

it’s little copperfield

i was so delighted to see him that i

held both his hands saying

my dear stiff

you have no idea how pleased i am to see

you again

i remembered how much i had admired him

and all my love for him came back

i had to brush away the tears from my

eyes

don’t cry copperfield old boy he said

kindly

i’m glad to see you too

what are you doing here

i’ve just finished school and my aunt

has sent me to london to look around

before deciding on a profession

what about you steerforth

well i’m studying at oxford university

but nothing exciting ever happens there

that’s why i’m in london for a few days

but it’s boring here too isn’t it

in london i asked surprised

i think it’s wonderful

there’s so much to do and see

i’ve just been to the theater

the actors were excellent and david

david laughs steerforth

it does me good to see your fresh

innocent face so full of excitement now

let me see

which room are you staying in

number 44

it’s rather high up i can first blushing

they’ve put you in number 44

i’ll soon change that and when

steerforth complained to the manager i

was immediately given a large airy

comfortable room on the first floor next

to his

that night as i fell asleep i thought

happily of the next few days which

steerforth and i were planning to spend

together

a week passed very quickly

with visits to the theater the museums

and the zoo

we went sightseeing riding swimming and

boating

steerforth was the perfect companion to

have

and i admired him even more than before

in fact i loved him with all my heart

one day i said to him

you know stay forth

i really must go and visit my mother’s

old servant peggotty

she was very good to me when i was a

child

yes david i remember you told me

she lives in yarmouth now doesn’t she

why don’t we go there together

oh yes dear forth

you’d enjoy meeting her brother and all

the family

they’re very kind good people

even if they are only working people

said steerforth

i looked quickly at him to see what he

meant

but he was smiling at me so i knew he

was joking

and i smiled too

we traveled to yarmouth by coach

and when we arrived steerforth stayed at

the hotel while i went to barcus’s house

to find pegatty

when i knocked at the door

peggotty opened it and did not recognize

me for a moment

i had continued to write to her

regularly

but we had not seen each other for seven

years

and i was no longer the small boy she

remembered but when she realized i was

her master david

she sobbed and sobbed with delight

holding me in her arms as she had always

done

soon she was calmer

and we talked about the events of the

last few years

i heard that she was very happy with mr

barcus who however was ill in bed at the

time

she was so pleased to see me that she

insisted i should sleep at her house

during my stay in yarmouth

in the little bedroom she had always

kept for me

the next day i took steerforth with me

to visit daniel peggotty

it was a dark and windy winter evening

as we came closer to the old boat

we heard happy voices and laughter

inside

i opened the door and suddenly i was

surrounded by daniel

ham and emily all looking very surprised

look it’s master david

look how he’s grown

and for a moment we were all shaking

hands and talking and laughing at the

same time

i did not forget to introduce steerforth

they welcomed him warmly as my best

friend

well

cried daniel peggety his large face red

and shining with delight

it’s wonderful master david that you two

gentlemen have come here tonight of all

nights

that’s the best night of my life

because tonight gentlemen

my little emily

and he took emily’s small white hand in

his rough red one and placed it on his

heart

as agreed to become ham’s wife

i congratulate you with all my heart

said steer forth politely to him

without taking his eyes off emily was

blushing prettily

master david knows how i love this girl

continued old daniel

and my dearest wish was for her to have

a good husband to take care of her

and there’s no one i trust more than ham

he’s only a rough sailor like me but

he’s honest and sincere

and i know she’ll come to no harm while

he lives

meanwhile

ham was blushing too

i did not know what to say

unsure whether i still loved emily and

was therefore jealous of ham

or whether i was glad they were going to

be happy together

but stir forth always knew the right

thing to say

and with a few well-chosen words

he made us all feel much more

comfortable

we spent the rest of the evening very

pleasantly telling stories and singing

songs

and it was midnight when steerforth and

i left the old boat

well said steer forth to me as we walked

across the sand in the cold night air

what a lovely girl

and what a coarse young man she’s

engaged to

i was shocked by these unexpectedly cold

words

but when i turned to him

and saw him smiling i replied warmly ah

steer forth

you pretend to laugh at people who are

poorer or less educated than yourself

but i’ve just seen you spend the whole

evening with the peggotty family making

them happy

i know you understand and love them

and i admire you all the more for it

he stopped and looked at me

saying rather sadly

david you’re serious aren’t you

i wish i were as good as you

for the next two weeks

i was often with peggotty and barcas

while steerforth went sailing or fishing

with daniel and ham

or found other things to do

so i did not see very much of him

finally we decided to return to london

while we were traveling back on the

coach

i turned to say something

and was surprised to see how miserable

he looked

oh david he said unhappily

i wish i could control myself better

i hate myself sometimes

steerforth

what can you mean i cried

you’re the best the most intelligent the

kindest of men

thank you david he said shaking his head

but you don’t know how bad i am

bad i repeated

my dear steerforth don’t say that

i know your character well

and i’m proud to call you my friend

in a little while his mood changed and

he became cheerful again

i soon forgot his words

but i remembered them later

in london

i discovered that my aunt had arrived at

the golden cross hotel and had booked a

room there for several days

we were delighted to see each other and

had a long conversation that evening

she had come to ask me a particular

question

david

she said very seriously

i’ve been thinking about your future

profession

how would you feel about becoming a

lawyer

i thought for a moment

well not

it sounds a very good idea

i confess i hadn’t considered it before

but i think i’d like it

very good said my aunt jumping up

in that case

let’s go immediately to see mr spendler

he’s a partner in an important law firm

and i think he’ll agree to train you

we’ll have to pay him of course

but after several years you’ll be a

properly trained lawyer and be able to

earn your own money

and so we carried out this plan

my aunt paid mr spenlow’s firm a

thousand pounds

and i promised to work hard and do my

best to become a successful lawyer

before she returned to dover my aunt

rented a small flat for me at the top of

her house near the law courts and i

moved in at once

at first it seemed very exciting to walk

through the busy streets after a long

day in the courts or mr spenlow’s dusty

office

and know that i had my own home to

return to

but when i had climbed up all the stairs

and entered my sitting room it no longer

seemed so exciting

in fact

my flat looked empty and depressing

after two days of loneliness i was very

glad to receive my first visitor

steerforth

and because i was so happy to see him i

invited him and two friends of his to

dinner the next evening

as it was my first dinner party

i did not know what to buy

but i ordered cooked dishes of chicken

and fish from the restaurant

bought cheese and fruit from the market

and had a large number of bottles of

wine delivered

i was quite frightened by how much money

i had spent

but when starforth and his friends

arrived i soon became more cheerful

the party was a great success

and we all enjoyed ourselves very much

we ate and drank and smoked

and drank again

i was constantly opening bottles of wine

and became unusually talkative

i began to feel rather strange

and when i caught sight of myself in a

mirror

i seemed very pale

i had to confess to myself that i looked

drunk

someone suggested going to the theater

and in a kind of mist we left my flat

and walked through the streets

steerforth was holding my arm and

laughing then

a man in a little box looked out of the

fog

and took money from somebody

soon

we were sitting high up in a very hot

very crowded theater

there were bright lights there was music

but i could not understand what anyone

was saying

and the whole building

seemed to swim in front of my eyes

then someone suggested going to visit

some friends in another part of the

theater

so we went downstairs

suddenly i saw quite clearly agnes

wickfield

sitting with a lady and a gentleman

she was looking at me with a surprised

expression on her face

good heavens i cried agnes

you’re in london

quiet she whispered

people are trying to listen to the

actors you’ll disturb them then she

added kindly

david

please do what i say

ask your friends to take you home

i’d always taken agnes advice

and i did so this time

i do not remember how i got home

but i do remember steerforth helping me

to undress and get into bed

what a terrible sleepless night i spent

how ill i felt

how dry my mouth was

the next morning

i felt even worse

i was so miserable and ashamed that i

had been so stupid and that agnes had

seen me drunk

i could not even apologize to her

because i did not know where she was

staying in london

i spent the whole day with my head in my

hands in my dirty smoky room surrounded

by empty wine bottles

but the next day a note was delivered to

my flat

it was from agnes

asking me to visit her at the house

where she was staying

i went straight there after my day’s

work at the

office she looked so quiet and good

and reminded me so much of my happy

school days in canterbury that i could

not help crying

i’m so sorry agnes i said

that you saw me like that i wish i were

dead

david don’t be unhappy she said

cheerfully you know you can trust me and

i’ll always be your friend

i took her hand and kissed it

agnes

you’re my good angel

she shook her head

no david

but if i were

i’d warn you to stay away from your bad

angel

my dear agnes i cried

do you mean steer forth

i do david

she replied looking firmly at me

agnes you’re wrong

here’s my trusted friend he helps and

guides me

it wasn’t his fault that i got drunk you

know

i wasn’t thinking of that

i judge him from what you’ve told me

about him

and your character

and his influence over you

agnes spoke very seriously

and her words went straight to my heart

i’m certain i’m right

you’ve made a dangerous friend david

because you’re so trusting

please remember what i say

and forgive me for saying it

i will

if you forgive me for getting drunk

agnes agreed smiling and then said

suddenly

have you seen uriah heap

no i replied is he in london

what’s he doing here

i’m worried david answered agnes with

sadness in her beautiful eyes

i think he’s going to be father’s

partner

i remembered uriah heaps oily smile and

how uncomfortable he always used to make

me feel

what

that creature

he’s so unpleasant you must prevent your

father from agreeing to it agnes

agnes smiled miserably

my poor father has no choice

you know how unhappy he has often been

and of course you’ve seen him drinking

you see

he loved my mother very much

and when she died

he didn’t care so much about his work

that’s when he started drinking

your eye is very clever

he knows all this

and he’s been very useful to father

doing all the work that father had

forgotten

or didn’t want to do

father really needs uriah now to keep

his business going

and uriah himself pretends to be humble

and grateful but in fact

he’s in a strong position

and is insisting on becoming a partner

father is ashamed of himself

but he has to agree

poor father

i’d do anything to help him

anything

and agnes sobbed bitterly

i had never seen agnes cry before

it made me so sad

that i could only say helplessly

my dear agnes

please don’t cry

however

in a few minutes she was calm again

and i was able to leave her

promising to visit her and her father in

canterbury very soon

chapter 6

david falls in love

agnes had asked me to be polite to uriah

if i met him and so when i saw him the

next day near the law courts i was

careful not to offend him

he looked even stranger than before with

his small evil head and long thin body

and his wide oily smile

when we shook hands i noticed how cold

and wet his hand felt

just like a fish

would you

would you like to come to my rooms for

coffee uriah i offered trying to hide my

horror of him

oh master copperfield i mean mr

copperfield i should say now how kind of

you i’m too humble to expect such

kindness but i would like that

and when we reached my flat he looked at

me with an unpleasantly confident smile

and said

perhaps you’ve heard that i’m going to

become mr wickfield’s partner mr

copperfield

yes i replied

agnes has told me about it

i’m glad to hear that miss agnes knows

about it he answered

thank you for that mr copperfield

i was annoyed with myself for mentioning

agnes’s name

and hated hearing him say it but i said

nothing and drank my coffee

you said once mr copperfield continued

uriah rubbing his hands together happily

that’s perhaps i’d be mr wickfield’s

partner one day

it was kind of you to say so

a humble person like me remembers things

like that

and now it’s true

i’m glad to think i’ve been able to help

poor mr wickfield

oh how very careless he has been

if i hadn’t been his assistant

he would certainly have lost his

business his house and all his money by

now of course i’m helping him because i

admire him

and not only him

suddenly although the room was warm an

icy coldness spread through my body

as i stared into his cruel little face

miss agnes is looking beautiful at the

moment isn’t she he went on smiling

horribly

mr copperfield i trust you because as

you know i’ve always liked you although

i’m so humble

and you’re a gentleman

so i’d like to tell you my little secret

in spite of my low position

i love miss agnes

i’ve given my heart to her and i hope to

marry her one day

there was a purple mist in front of my

eyes

i wanted to hit his ugly face

or stab a knife right into his wicked

heart

i was almost mad with anger

but i thought of agnes request

and i managed to control myself

have

have you spoken to agnes about your

your love

i asked as calmly as i could

oh no mr copperfield

i’m waiting for the right moment perhaps

i’ll ask her when i become her father’s

partner

she’ll think kindly of me you see when

she realizes how much her father needs

she loves him so much

what a good daughter my agnes is

and what an excellent wife she’ll be to

dear

sweet agnes

my adopted sister

i did not know any man good enough to be

her husband

could she ever marry this worthless

insect

when uriah left my flat

i spent a sleepless night worrying about

what i should do

in the end i decided to say nothing to

agnes about uriah’s plan

as she already had enough to worry about

a year had passed since i first started

work in mr spenlow’s firm

i often went to court with him and began

to understand the details of some of the

most difficult cases

mr spendlo was kind to me

and occasionally talked to me not only

about law but also about other matters

i discovered that his wife had died and

that he lived in a large country house

just outside london with his only

daughter and her paid companion

one day he invited me to his house for

the weekend and i accepted gratefully

so on friday evening mr spendlo’s coach

and horses drove us to the house

when i saw the spendlos home

i realized how rich mr spendler must be

it was a lovely old building with large

gardens

as soon as we entered mr spenlow asked

one of the servants

where’s ms dora

dora i thought

what a beautiful name

we went into the sitting room and i

suppose mr spenlow introduced me

i did not notice because

nothing mattered at that moment

i just stared stupidly at his daughter

dora

lost in wonder at her beauty

and unable to say anything

i had fallen in love in a second

as i stared

i heard a voice speaking to me

but it was not dora’s

it was her companion whom i had not

noticed at all while mr spendler was

making the introductions

when i saw that the companion was miss

i was surprised certainly

but nothing could take my attention away

from dora for more than a second or two

mr spender explained that miss murdstone

had been kind enough to come and look

after his poor motherless daughter and

to be her confidential friend and

companion

but it seemed to me

that dora was neither friendly nor

confidential towards her stone companion

as for me

the rest of the weekend passed in a kind

of fog

we ate meals and went for walks

people spoke to me and i answered

but i have no idea what i actually said

all i remember was dora’s golden hair

and dora’s blushing face

and dora’s beautiful blue eyes

occasionally i was lucky enough to speak

to her alone and then i was so shy

that i blushed as much as dora herself

i was very jealous of the little dog

that she carried everywhere with her

sometimes i thought she liked me a

little

and at other times i was sure she would

never love me

i was wildly

desperately in love

i had wondered if miss murdstone would

try and blacken my name with the

spendlose but on that first evening she

had taken me to one side

david copperfield she said coldly

i see no need for either of us to speak

about the past to anyone here

i imagine we are agreed on that

certainly mom

we are agreed on that

although

i shall never change my opinion of you

i put miss murdstone out of my mind and

for several weeks after meeting dora i

lived in a dream

i did my work automatically and i never

stopped thinking of her

the greatest happiness i could imagine

was being engaged to dora

i dared not hope that one day

we would be married

while walking around london one day

hoping to meet dora out shopping

i met my old school friend tommy

traddles

he was living in the city like me and

was also studying to become a lawyer

i arranged to visit him and went to his

house after work the next day

he lived in one room in a rented house

in a very poor part of the city

his room was small and almost empty

copperfield i’m glad to see you he said

warmly

you can see i haven’t got much furniture

but i’m hoping to earn more money later

when i finish my studies didn’t you have

a rich uncle traddles i asked

yes

but i’ve always been unlucky you know

he decided he didn’t like me so he

didn’t leave me anything when he died

i’m really very poor and i have to do

several jobs to pay for my studies

travels look surprisingly cheerful but i

must tell you copperfield as you’re an

old friend that i’m engaged

to a lovely girl who comes from a large

family and lives in devon

i was thinking of dora as i shook hands

with him and congratulated him

enthusiastically

will you get married soon i asked

she’s very poor too so we’ll have to

wait a long time until we’ve saved

enough money

she’s such a dear girl copperfield she

says she’ll wait for me until she’s 60

if necessary

and i’m quite happy here with the people

who rent the house

the micawbers are very kind

who did you say i cried

the micawbers i know them

just then

mr micawber himself knocked at the door

and entered

his stomach was a little fatter and his

face a little older than before but he

looked as confident as ever

i went up to him and shook his hand

how are you mr micawber i asked do you

remember me

is it possible

can it be

a vi the pleasure of seeing my old

friend copperfield again he replied a

smile spreading over his large face

he turned to call downstairs my dear

come and meet this gentleman my love

when mrs macrober came in

she was also delighted to see me and we

talked for some time about the twins and

the other children and her husband’s

business interests

but this conversation soon made mr

micawber rather depressed

you see copperfield he said miserably

nothing is turned up yet sometimes i

wonder whether anything ever will turn

i can’t pay for our food or even our

water

it’s hard enough for me to accept the

situation but how can i expect my dear

wife to live like this

perhaps it would have been better if i’d

never asked her to marry me

he put his head in his hands

mikorba cried his wife how can you say

that

you know i’ve always loved and admired

you and always will love and admire you

my dear husband

they fell into each other’s arms sobbing

on each other’s shoulders

in a few moments they had both dried

their eyes and looked quite cheerful

again

i realized that the micawbers had not

changed at all but this quick change of

mood was rather a surprise for traddles

before i left i made sure i had a word

in private with my old school friend

rattles i whispered take my advice

don’t lend mr micawber any money

he’s got a lot of debts

rattles looked uncomfortable

thank you copperfield he whispered in

but i’ve already lent him some

i don’t know whether he’ll give it back

you know how unlucky i am

when i got back to my rooms i found

steerforth waiting for me there

i thought of agnes warning about him

but when i saw his open good-looking

face i could not believe he could be a

bad influence on anyone

however

there was something rather strange in

his manner that night sometimes he

seemed quite depressed almost desperate

but a minute later he was laughing

wildly

and i had no idea why he was like that

i’ve just been to yarmouth david he told

me oh i replied

you’ve seen the pegarty family i expect

i haven’t seen much of them

but i have got some news for you

it’s about old barcus

i’m afraid his illness has got much

worse

and the doctor thinks he’ll die very

soon

oh dear i said

poor peggety will be so sad

yes it’s bad luck replied steer forth

carelessly but people die in this world

every minute

i’m not afraid of death

i want to live life in my own way and

nobody can stop me

he threw his head back proudly

i looked into his handsome face

wondering why he was so excited which

was unusual for him

steerforth

i think i’ll have to go to yarmouth

myself i said

perhaps i can help pekety at this

difficult time

smiling he put his hands on my shoulders

i wish i could be as good as you

david

promise me that if anything ever happens

to separate us

you’ll think of me at my best

promise me that

stir forth

you have no best or worst for me i

answered

you will always have your place in my

heart

and as he turned to go he gave me his

hand and smiled in his old friendly way

that is how i like to remember him

now that i shall never touch his hand

again

or see him smile

when i arrived in yarmouth

i went straight to barcas house

in the sitting room i found daniel ham

and emily

ham was standing by the door while emily

was sobbing in daniel’s arms

none of them seemed surprised to see me

emily’s very young master david

explained daniel it’s hard for her to

accept death

that’s why she’s crying

now cheer up emily my dear

ham has come to take you home

what’s that

he bent his grey head down to hear her

whispered reply

you want to stay here with your old

uncle

but you should go with ham

you’ll be your husband soon

that’s alright said ham

if it makes emily happy it’ll make me

happy i’ll go home alone

he went over to emily and gave her a

gentle kiss

she seemed to turn away from him a

little

as ham went out i went upstairs to see

poor barkers

he was lying unconscious in bed looking

very pale and ill

peggety was sitting beside him

she jumped up and took me delightedly in

her arms just as she used to do

then she turned to her husband marcus my

dear she said almost cheerfully

here’s master david who brought us

together you remember

he carried your messages for you

can you speak to him

marcus lay silently there not moving

we sat beside him all through that long

night

in the early morning he suddenly opened

his eyes

reached out his hand to me and said

clearly

with a pleasant smile

markers

his swelling

and then he closed his eyes

and died

he was a good man

said peggety with tears in her eyes

i shall miss him

i was able to help peggotty with the

arrangements for the funeral

bacchus was buried in blunderstone

churchyard close to my mother and little

brother

we discovered that bacchus had saved

quite a lot of money which he left at

peggotty and daniel

so i knew that peggotty would not need

to work in future

on the day before the funeral we all

arranged to meet at the old boat

it was my last evening in yarmouth as i

was returning to london the following

day

when i arrived i was surprised to see

that ham and emily were not there

peggotty was feeling more cheerful now

and daniel was talking to her

just then

ham came to the door

master david

come outside a minute would you he asked

i stepped outside and ham shut the door

carefully

it was raining heavily

and as we stood on the lonely beach i

noticed how very pale ham’s face was

ham i cried

what’s the matter

mr david

he sobbed wildly

i had never seen such a strong man cry

like that before

it’s emily

i’d have died for her

i love her with all my heart

but she’s run away

and worse than that

how i wish god had saved her from this

ruin

i shall never forget his desperate face

turned towards me

and the pain in his honest eyes

your educator master david he continued

you know how to express yourself

help me

how can i ever explain to him in there

he loves her even more than i do

i saw the door open

and tried to stop ham speaking but it

was too late

daniel peggety came out

and when he saw us he seemed to realize

immediately what we were talking about

the expression on his face changed in a

moment

and he pulled us both back inside

i found myself with a letter in my hand

which ham had given me

read it sir said daniel

his face pale and trembling and his eyes

wild

read it slowly please

the room was completely silent as i read

aloud

dear ham

please please forgive me for running

away and leaving you

when you see this

i’ll be far away

i shall never return to my dear home

unless he marries me and brings me back

as a lady

oh i am so sorry

and so ashamed

i know this will break your heart

but believe me

i’m not good enough for you

i’m too wicked

tell uncle i’ll always love him

even if he can never love me again

and i’ll always think of you dear ham

even if you hate me for what i’ve done

forgive me

and goodbye

emily

daniel did not move for a long time

after i had finished reading

i took his hand

but he did not notice

suddenly he appeared to wake up and said

in a low voice

who’s the man

i want to know his name

ham looked quickly at me

and i felt a shock run through my whole

body

i fell onto a chair and could not speak

don’t listen master david ham said

hesitating

we don’t blame you for it

peggotty put her arm around my neck

but i could not move

i’d

gentleman’s been here very often

recently

continued ham in a broken voice

and

today

people saw emily driving off with him in

his coach

tell me cried daniel wildly

is his name steer forth

it is

replied ham just as

and i’m sorry master david

but he’s the wickedest man i’ve ever

known

after a moment daniel spoke

he looked suddenly much older

i wish i drowned him when i had the

chance

but it’s too late now

there’s no peace for me here

while my dear girl is away

i’m going to look for her and bring her

back home don’t any of you try to stop

ham

you must stay here in yarmouth

keep a light always burning in the

window of this house

so that if the poor girl ever comes back

she can find her way home across the

sand

i’m going to london

and france

and all over the world if necessary

i’m prepared to spend my whole life

traveling

until i find her

if anything happens to me

if i don’t come back

tell her

i forgive her

tell her my love for her

unchanged

and although we all tried hard to

persuade him to stay

he refused to listen

he took his coat hat bag and stick

and stepped out into the darkness

we watched him walking along the london

road until he disappeared from sight

i often thought of that lonely figure in

the next few weeks and months

walking through strange streets in

foreign cities

looking for his adopted child

when i thought of him i remembered his

last words to us

if anything happens to me

if i don’t come back

tell her i forgive her

tell her my love for her

is unchanged

chapter 7

good news and bad news for david

all this time i had gone on loving dora

more than ever

the more evil there seemed to be in the

world the more brightly dora’s star

shone down on me

i’m sure i considered her a beautiful

angel

far above the rest of us poor humans

and i had no real hope of persuading her

to love me

peggotty had come to london with me as

she was feeling rather lonely after

barcus’s death and daniel’s departure

and i could not stop myself telling her

all about dora

she was very interested and most

encouraging

the young lady should be very proud to

have such a handsome intelligent young

man as you master david she cried and

i’m sure her father will be delighted to

accept you as her husband

but i could not share her hopeful view

of the situation

however

a wonderful thing happened

during a long conversation with mr

spendler in the office he mentioned that

it was dora’s birthday the following

week and invited me to a picnic to

celebrate it

as soon as i heard this i went

completely mad and could not think at

all clearly

in the next week i bought expensive new

clothes and boots and arranged to hire a

handsome white horse

on the day of the picnic i got up at six

in the morning and went to covent garden

market to buy the freshest and most

beautiful flowers fedora and by 10

o’clock i was riding towards the

spendlo’s house

how lovely dora looked in her sky blue

dress and white hat when i met her in

the garden in front of the house

and when she accepted my flowers with

delight

i almost thought i would die of

happiness

you’ll be glad to hear mr copperfield

she said smiling prettily

that cross miss murdstone isn’t here

she’ll be away for at least three weeks

instead i have my dear friend miss julia

mills here with me

sitting next to door was a young lady i

had not noticed before

although she was only about 20 she

looked very calm and wise

i later discovered that she had had an

unhappy experience in love and had

decided never again to become personally

involved in matters of the heart

how delightful for you i answered

blushing as i always did when i spoke to

dora

and everything that is delightful to you

is delightful to me miss spendlo

miss mills said nothing

but smiled kindly on us both

to get to the picnic place which was

some way from the house mr spenlow dora

and miss mills drove in an open carriage

while i rode by their side on my

handsome white horse

i shall never have such a ride again

dora sat with her back to the horses

looking towards me and holding my

flowers close to her sweet face

our eyes often met

and i’m surprised i did not fall off my

horse

i did not notice the dust

or the road we were taking

sometimes mr spenlow spoke to me about

the scenery and i replied politely

i cannot remember what i said

all i could see

was dora

i was very disappointed when we arrived

to find that other guests had been

invited

i was quite jealous even of the ladies

because they talked to dora and took her

away from me

but i hated all the men as soon as i saw

them

there was a very unpleasant talkative

man with a red moustache who insisted he

knew all about preparing food

and soon had most of the young ladies

around him

one of them was dora

i felt that he was now my worst enemy

when we started eating i saw to my

horror that red moustache was sitting

with a huge plate of chicken at dora’s

feet

i could not think clearly

but i pretended to be cheerful

i sat with a young lady dressed in pink

and talked amusingly to her

and looked at her and fetched her

whatever she needed

sometimes i looked over at dora

she looked back at me

but she had red moustache

and i had the young lady in pink

after the meal the young lady’s mother

took her away

and i walked alone into a wood feeling

angry and desperate

i was just planning to ride away on my

handsome white horse

although i did not know where to

when i saw dora and miss mills coming to

meet me

mr copperfield said miss mills

you are unhappy

no no miss mills i protested firmly

perfectly happy

and dora continued miss mills

you are unhappy

who could heavens know julia cried dora

not at all

mr copperfield andorra said miss mills

looking old and wise

enough of this foolishness

you love each other

confess it and be happy

take the chance that life offers you

listen to one who speaks from bitter

experience

i was so hot and excited that i took

dora’s little hand immediately and

kissed it

and she let me i kissed miss mills’s

hand too

and life seemed wonderful again

dora shyly put her arm in mine

and we walked about together until

much too soon we heard the other guests

calling her name

so we had to go back

and when they wanted dora to sing a song

red mustache offered to fetch the guitar

from the carriage for her

but dora told him nobody except me knew

where it was

so i fetched the guitar

and i held her gloves and i sat beside

her while she sang

and i knew that in that great crowd of

people she was singing only for me

who loved her

when the guests left

i rode beside the carriage all the way

back to the spendelo’s house

mr spanlow who had drunk a lot of wine

was asleep in his seat

and miss mills was smiling in a motherly

way as dora and i whispered happily to

each other

once miss mills called me to her side of

the carriage

dora is coming to stay with me she told

me quietly the day after tomorrow

perhaps you would like to visit us

miss mills

how can i ever thank you i said

what a friend you are

to miss spendlo and me

when we arrived at the spendlose house i

had to say goodbye to dora and ride back

to london

on the way i remembered everything she

had done or said ten thousand

times i decided i had to tell her i

loved her as soon as possible and asked

whether she loved me too it was the most

important question in the world and only

dora could give me the answer to it

so two days later

i dressed in my finest clothes and went

to the address miss mills had given me

the servant took me to the sitting room

where i found julia mills learning a

song and dora painting the flowers i had

given her

after the short conversation miss mills

made an excuse and left the room

and dora and i

were alone together

i hope your poor horse wasn’t tired the

other night said dora raising her

beautiful eyes to mine

it was a long way for him

to and from the picnic place

i must ask her today i thought

my whole body was trembling

it was a long way for him i answered

for me

it seemed very short

because of my happiness in being so near

you

there was a moment silence

then dora said

you didn’t seem to care for that

happiness earlier in the day

when you were sitting with the lady in

pink

but i expect you don’t mean what you say

and of course you’re quite free to do

whatever you like

i don’t know how i did it

it happened so quickly

suddenly i had dora in my arms and i

couldn’t stop speaking

i told her how i loved her i told her i

would die without her

and when she blushed and cried a little

i said i had loved her day and night

since the moment i had first seen her

i told her that nobody had ever loved or

could ever love as much as i loved her

somehow

i found myself sitting quietly next to

dora on the sofa holding her little hand

we were engaged

i suppose we realized that one day we

would get married

but for the moment we were going to keep

our engagement secret from mr spendlo

when miss mills came in

she was delighted to hear our news and

promised to help us as much as possible

now began one of the happiest times of

my life

when i look back i see how foolish i was

but how loving and sincere

i visited dora every day

and i did not have time for anyone or

anything else

but in the middle of my excitement i

suddenly thought of agnes

of her

clear calm eyes and her gentle face and

i sat down immediately to write to her

and tell her all about dora

i knew that as my adopted sister she

would share my happiness

and i wanted her approval

one day when peggy and i were having tea

in my flat tommy traddles came to visit

my dear copperfield he cried

i’ve been several times before but

you’ve been out

my dear traddles i replied yes i’m very

sorry i’ve been visiting my

miss d you know

i expect she lives in london doesn’t she

mind that’s sophie beautiful name isn’t

mine lives in devon i think i told you

so i don’t see her very often

she really is the dearest girl

she’s very busy at home you know looking

after the other nine children and a

mother who’s unable to walk

what a wonderful girl she must be i

agreed politely

and tell me traddles

how is mr micawber

i’m not living in his house at the

moment said traddles

because his creditors demanded payment

of his debts recently and he had to move

to another house

to avoid these unpleasant men he’s even

changed his name to mortimer and he only

comes out of the house after dark

wearing glasses

so nothing has turned up for him yet

and what about the money you lent him

traddles

i’m afraid i may not get it back

but mr micawber promises to give it back

one day

he’s a fine honest man isn’t he

and rattles looked hopefully at me

before i could reply we heard footsteps

on the stairs

i was very surprised to see my aunt

coming upstairs

she was carrying two cases and her cat

and was followed closely by mr dick

carrying two more cases

my dear aunt i cried what an unexpected

pleasure

we kissed each other and i shook hands

with mr dick

traddles left quietly as he could see we

would be discussing family matters

peggotty made some more tea for my aunt

who had sat down heavily on her cases

dear aunt i said make yourself more

comfortable

sit in an armchair

or sit on the sofa

why do you think i’m sitting on my cases

she asked looking seriously at me

i shook my head unable to guess

because what i’m sitting on

is all i have

because i’ve lost

all my money my dear

i couldn’t have been more shocked if the

house and all of us in it had fallen

into the river thames

yes

continued my aunt putting her head

calmly on my shoulder

i’ll tell you all about it tomorrow

david but tonight

we must find a bed for mr dick

and i’ll sleep here to save money

so that night my aunt agreed to take my

bed while i planned to sleep on the

sitting room sofa and i took mr dick to

a neighbor’s house to rent a room

when i returned i found my aunt walking

up and down in front of the sitting room

fire

that pegarty woman is very fond of you

david she said

she’s been offering to give us some of

her money the money she inherited from

her husband

of course i refused it once

but she’s a good woman

and she’s been telling me about the

trouble at yarmouth

yes

poor emily i could not stop myself

saying

silly emily you mean

but i’m sorry for you because you cared

for her once

and now piggety tells me you’re in love

again

i blushed

i loved dora with all my heart aunt

i suppose the little thing is very

lovely is she

no one can imagine how lovely she is

isn’t it all silly is she asked my aunt

i had never considered this possibility

before

and could only repeat what my aunt had

said

silly

aunt well well i only ask replied my

aunt gently

david you’re very loving like your poor

mother

and you need a good

serious sensible person to love

aunt

if you only knew how sensible dora is i

replied

oh david she answered blind blind blind

this made me feel a little uncomfortable

but i was glad she knew my secret

i thought perhaps she was rather tired

so i said good night

she went to my bedroom and i lay down on

the sofa

how miserable i was that night

i knew i should be thinking of my poor

aunt situation

but i could not prevent myself

from thinking of dora

how could i marry her if i had no money

no expensive clothes to wear no handsome

white horse to ride all flowers to give

her

the next morning i got up early to have

a walk in the fresh air and on the way

home a carriage stopped beside me

and agnes wickfield got out

i immediately felt better when i saw her

beautiful calm face smiling at me

she had heard that my aunt was in

trouble and had come to london to see

her

we walked together to my flat

you know that uriah heap is my father’s

partner now she said quietly

his influence over my father is far too

great

father is much

much worse

he looks years older

and i’m afraid that encouraged by uriah

he drinks more than ever

your i and his old mother live with us

now

so i can’t always be with father to

to protect him

from whatever uriah is planning

i just hope that love and truth will

always be stronger than evil

i could not give her my opinion of uriah

because by then we had arrived at the

flat my aunt was very pleased to see

agnes again and made us sit down on the

sofa next to peggotty

now

let me explain to you all what happened

to my money said my aunt firmly

i was surprised to see that agnes was

pale and trembling

betsy trotwood continued

i saved a lot of money over the years

and my lawyer mr wickfield

used to help me invest it in the right

companies

but recently

i thought he wasn’t such a good lawyer

as he used to be

so i decided to invest my money myself

but a lot of mistakes i made

who knows where it’s gone

in gold

and foreign banks and so on

that’s no good worrying about it but i

can tell you

there’s nothing left

the color was beginning to return to

agnes face

so it

it wasn’t my father’s fault dear miss

trotwood

not at all agnes said my aunt joyfully

now

can any of you give me some advice

i’ve asked my servant janet to rent my

little house in kent

it will bring in about 70 pounds a year

i think we’ll need more than that to

live on

you and david could share this flat very

cheaply

with mr dick just round the corner in

his rented room

suggested agnes

and i think i can find a little job for

david

do you remember dr strong the headmaster

of the canterbury school

now that he’s retired and come to live

in london he needs a private secretary

to work for him in the mornings and

evenings at his house

he was asking father about it the other

day

what do you think

agnes i cried

what would we do without you

you are my good angel i told you so

before

i could easily be dr strong’s secretary

as well as continuing my work in mr

spendler’s firm

i’ll go and see him today and arrange it

with him

agnes gave me her beautiful smile as she

got up to leave

i went downstairs with her

and as we walked together to the coach

station

i saw an old beggar with a white stick

in the street

he was holding out his thin hand for

money and crying blind blind

blind

it sounded like an echo of what my aunt

had said the day before

oh agnes

dear sister

if i had only known then

what i discovered long afterwards

chapter 8

david’s new life

with agnes encouragement i felt much

stronger and no longer depressed

my life now had a purpose

i intended to work as hard as i could to

help my aunt and to earn enough money to

marry dora

i got up every morning at five o’clock

walked to dr strong’s house on the other

side of london

worked with him for two hours every

morning and then walked back to mr

spenalo’s office where i spent most of

the day in the law courts

then i returned to dr strong’s for two

or three more hours in the evening

and finally came home to my flat where

my aunt peggotty and mr dick would be

waiting for me

i was glad to be able to tell my aunt

that dr strong would pay me 70 pounds a

year for my work

with that and the rent from my aunt’s

house in kent

we could live quite well if we were

careful

because i was young and healthy i did

not mind hard work and whenever i was

tired i told myself

you’re doing it for dora and that made

me work even harder

when i met traddles one day near the

courts i told him about my new situation

and he was very sympathetic

but i have news for you too copperfield

he said

the micawbers are moving to canterbury

that means something must have turned up

for them i replied interested

yes mr micawber is going to become

assistant to someone called uriah heap a

partner in a firm of canterbury lawyers

heap i cried in horror

i know him

why would mr micawber want to work for

him

well i do know that heap has paid all mr

micawber’s debts in london answered

traddles the whole family is leaving

tomorrow they asked me to tell you

i wondered why heap wanted micawber to

work for him

and i felt sure uriah had some evil plan

in his ugly head

the next day peggotty was returning to

yarmouth to look after ham while daniel

was away

after i had taken her to the coach

station and said goodbye to her i

hurried to miss mills house

i had not yet told dora about the

changes in my life because i had not

wanted to explain it all in a letter but

today she was visiting julia mills and

was expecting me to come to tea

how happy and beautiful dora looked when

she met me in the sitting room

and how shocked and miserable she looked

when i asked her immediately

can you love a beggar dora my pretty

little daughter she had no idea what i

meant

don’t be silly david she cried what are

you talking about

it’s true dora my love i cried

i’ve lost all my money i’m a beggar. and

i looked so serious that dora was

frightened and began to sob bitterly on

my shoulder

but i love you dora and always will i

continued it doesn’t matter if we are

poor because i’ll work hard to buy our

bread we don’t need much as long as we

have each other

tell me your heart is still mine dear

dora

oh yes she cried oh yes it’s all yours

only don’t frighten me again don’t talk

of hard work and bread i don’t

understand i hardly ever eat bread

i loved her more than ever

but i felt she was not very practical

in a few moments when she had stopped

crying and was calmer i tried again to

make her understand

my dearest

may i mention something

oh please don’t be practical beg dora

tears coming to her lovely eyes it

frightens me so much

my dear one if we work together and

share our problems it will make us and

our love stronger

but i’m not strong at all

she cried miserably ask julia

she’ll tell you

i’m weak

and foolish

but if you thought sometimes my sweet

daughter that you are engaged to a poor

man

if you try to see how your father

manages the servants or

how much food costs in the markets

it would be helpful to us

we must be brave dear dora

our path in life is steep and rocky

i was becoming quite enthusiastic

but i suddenly realized i had said far

too much

poor little dora was sobbing and

screaming with fear

and in a moment was lying unconscious on

the sofa

i really thought i’d killed her

i threw water on her face

and went down on my knees to ask her to

forgive me

i called myself a selfish heartless

creature and shouted for julia mills

at last she hurried in and i explained

what had happened

when dora opened her eyes her friend

helped her upstairs

while dora was upstairs washing her face

and calming herself i asked miss mills’s

advice on the best way to encourage dora

to become more practical

miss mills shook her head sadly

i must be honest with you mr copperfield

our dearest dora is a beautiful innocent

child of nature

full of light and happiness

she is above the things of this world

which we poor humans have to worry about

i think you’ll just have to accept that

fact

when dora came downstairs again she

looked so lovely that i felt bitterly

angry with myself for making her unhappy

even for a moment

we had tea and she sang her french songs

to me and played the guitar

we were happy again until the moment

when i stupidly mentioned that i had to

get up at five o’clock the next morning

suddenly her pretty face looked sad and

she did not play or sing again

when i got up to go she came up close to

me and said lovingly

you bad boy

don’t be so silly

don’t get up at five o’clock why should

you

but my love

i have work to do

i have to work in order to live i

replied work

don’t be so foolish david dear

and she seemed to think that was the end

of the matter as she gave me a kiss

straight from her innocent little heart

i loved her

and went on loving her

but i went on working hard too and

worrying about earning money

some evenings as i sat opposite my aunt

in my little sitting room at the end of

another exhausting day i was quite

frightened when i thought of the

problems i was going to have to solve

alone

several months passed in this way

dora and i wrote to each other every day

and occasionally i was able to visit her

at miss mills’s house

but one morning when i arrived at the

office for work mr spenlow greeted me

very coldly and asked me to step into

his office where we could talk privately

when i entered the room i was surprised

to see miss murdstone standing by his

desk staring unpleasantly at me

i knew at once that dora’s father had

discovered our secret

and i guessed who had told him

mr copperfield

said mr spenlow frowning sternly at me

i am sorry to say that miss murdstone

has found some letters which appear to

be from you to my daughter dora

are they yours

i looked at the letters he handed to me

blushed and whispered

yes sir

poor little dora i hoped she had not

been frightened by that horrible murder

stone woman

i hated to think of dora’s unhappiness

at losing my letters

i suspected something was wrong when

miss spendlo came back from her last

visit to miss mills said miss murdstone

looking very pleased with herself

i always said julia mills was not a

suitable friend for miss spendlo and i

was right

mr spenlow appeared to agree but rather

sadly

i’m very sorry sir i said

but it is all my fault

please don’t blame dora miss spendlo to

you young man said her father angrily

i know it wasn’t right to keep its

secrets

but i love your daughter

and i hope that one day don’t speak to

me of love mr copperfield cried mr

spenlow

you are both much too young we’ll throw

these letters in the fire and you must

promise to forget the whole thing there

is no question if you’re marrying dora

but sir

i can’t forget her

i love her i protested

that is my last word mr copperfield

when you have time to consider

you’ll realize it’s wiser to do as i say

now go to your work

i spent all day thinking of poor sweet

dora and how she must be feeling

in the evening i hurried round to miss

mills house but although she spoke

wisely of love and broken hearts

she could not offer me any practical

advice

the next day after the sleepless night i

arrived at the office at the normal time

and discovered all the clerks standing

talking at the front door

this was so unusual that i stopped to

ask what had happened

why don’t you know asked one of them

the police have found mr spendlo dead

i fell back shocked

you look very pale mr copperfield said

another

sit down here sir tell me

tell me what happened i gasped

well

he went into town to dinner last night

and the carriage and horses came back at

midnight without him

he was driving himself you see

so the servants went to look for him

and found him dead in the road

must have been ill

and have fallen out of the carriage

anyway

he was dead when they found him

this was a terrible shock to me

perhaps his anger with me had made him

ill

in that case

i was partly to blame for his death

but i’m sorry to say i was also jealous

of dora’s sadness

while she was crying for her dead father

she was not thinking of me

and i selfishly wanted to be the only

person in her life

in the next few weeks i became quite

desperate because i could not see or

speak to my sweet dora

miss mills reported that dora cried all

day

and when my name was mentioned only

sobbed more loudly and said oh poor dear

father how wicked of me to keep a secret

from him oh

so i did not feel encouraged to visit

her

soon after her father’s funeral dora was

taken to live with her two aunts at

putney in south london where she seemed

to be further away from me than ever

my aunt meanwhile began to be seriously

worried about my health as i was getting

more and more depressed

so she suggested i should go to dover

for a few days to make sure that her

house was still in good condition and

then to canterbury to visit the

wickfields

i agreed willingly as i was always happy

to see agnes

it was easy to take a few days holiday

from my work at the law courts and with

dr strong

i was glad to find that the person who

was renting my aunt’s house in dover was

looking after it well

i was then free to continue my journey

to canterbury that beautiful ancient

city

which seemed very little changed since

my school days

the soft clean air made me feel better

than i had done for weeks

when i arrived at the wickfield’s house

i found mr micawber in uriah heaps old

office

we were pleased to see each other but we

both felt a little embarrassed

i realized that he did not want to talk

about confidential matters concerning

the firm of heap and wickfield

and he knew that i disliked his employer

heap

conversation was difficult

and in the end i was glad to leave him

and go upstairs to look for agnes

i found her in her sitting room

and she looked up at me with such a warm

welcome in her smile

that i was very moved

ah agnes i said

i’ve missed you so much recently

you helped me such a lot in the old days

that i suppose i never learnt to think

for myself

i always feel i need your help and

advice

i get into such trouble and i get so

worried and have so little confidence in

myself

but when i’m with you

you give me purpose

you make me strong

what is your secret

my dear adopted sister

agnes gave me her hand which i kissed

and she went on in her sisterly way to

listen sympathetically as i told her

everything that had happened in the past

few weeks

as usual she knew the right thing to do

she advised me to write to dora’s aunts

to ask if i could visit dora

occasionally

and she encouraged me in my hopes of

marriage

i felt again

that peace which agnes always brought to

we had not been sitting together long

when mrs heap came in

she did not leave us for a moment all

that evening

and i wondered whether uriah had told

her to watch over us

whenever i looked at agnes lovely face

i saw mrs heaps evil black eyes staring

at me

the next day mrs heap did not leave

agnes and me alone even for a minute

the heaps mother and son seemed to me

like two ugly great black birds hanging

over the house

and they made me so uncomfortable that i

went out for a walk in the afternoon

i was walking along a path near the

house wondering if i should warn agnes

about uriah’s plan of marriage

when i heard footsteps behind me

and turned to see uriah himself running

after me wait for me mr copperfield he

cried

actually i said

i came out to be alone ah

he said with his oily smile

you don’t like my mother being there all

the time do you

no i don’t i replied not caring if i

sounded rude

but you see he continued

in my humble position i have to be very

careful

i’m not married to my agnes yet and

you’re a dangerous rival mr copperfield

what

i cried in disgust

you allow miss wickfield no peace in her

own home because of me

don’t you realize i think of her as my

very dear sister nothing more

let me tell you

i’m engaged to another lady there

is that enough for you

oh mr copperfield cried uriah gratefully

shaking my hand with his cold fishy one

i’ll tell mother to stop watching you at

once

why didn’t you tell me that before

i know you’ve never liked and trusted me

as i’ve liked you

we returned to the house together in

silence

that evening after dinner when agnes and

mrs heap had left us

uriah said to mr wickfield

let’s have some wine partner and drink

the young mr copperfield’s health

it isn’t often we have the pleasure of

his company is it partner

i knew your i was deliberately

encouraging mr wickfield to drink too

much

but i saw that although agnes father was

aware of his weakness

he could no longer stop himself

as the evening passed i was disgusted to

see that uriah became more and more

cheerful as mr wickfield became more and

more drunk

finally uriah stood up with a glass in

his hand come partner he said with his

evil smile

let’s drink to the health of the most

beautiful woman in the world

poor

broken mr whitfield looked for a moment

of the picture of his dead wife on the

wall so similar to agnes

i may be humble continued uriah but i

admire no

i love

your daughter agnes

suddenly

a horrible cry came from mr wickfield

he had stood up and was screaming with

anger

he behaved so wildly and desperately

that i thought he had gone mad

my child and you heep no never

you’ve taken everything from me my

business my good name my home

but you’ll never take her

perhaps i’ve said too much too soon

said uriah looking uncomfortable but

you’ll be sorry partner if you say any

you need me remember

you’ve got nothing without me

remember that

before you accuse me of anything

just then the door opened and agnes

entered silently

you’re not well father

come with me

she whispered gently

and helped the ashamed old man out

i thought she must have heard what had

been said

later that night she came to say good

night to me in the sitting room where i

was alone reading

agnes my dear sister i said to her

promise me that you will never agree to

marry that evil creature for any reason

through her tears she smiled calmly at

don’t worry brother

i’m not afraid of him

my duty is to take care of father

and i trust in god for the rest

good night david

chapter 9

david gets married

when i returned to london i was

delighted to discover that dora’s aunts

had decided to allow me to visit her

so every saturday and sunday i walked to

their house in putney and spent the

afternoons there

sometimes dora sang or played the guitar

sometimes we walked by the river and

sometimes i brought traddles or my aunt

with me

what happy times they were

mr spenlow had seemed a very rich man to

me but when he died the lawyers

discovered that dora would not inherit

much from him after all

as there were many debts to pay

so i did not feel worried that anyone

would suspect me of marrying dora for

her money

mr spenlow’s firm lost a lot of business

after his death

and i realized i would have to find

another profession

i had always been good at writing so i

continued as secretary to dr strong and

also began reporting what was said in

parliament for the daily newspapers

i even wrote some stories which were

published in magazines and was very

pleased with the money i was earning

the months passed and i reached my 21st

birthday

traddles was still studying to be a

lawyer and still hoping to marry the

dearest girl in the world

i had moved out of my flat into a

pleasant little house and at last dora’s

aunts had agreed to our marriage

i was looking forward to the happiest

day of my life

the next few days went by very fast in a

midst of excitement and happiness

my aunt and mr dick moved into an even

smaller house near mine and peggotty

traveled from yarmouth to be present at

my wedding

i had always wanted agnes to meet dora

so i was glad when they met the day

before the wedding

it was beautiful to see dora’s pretty

face next to agnes calm one and dora

whispering her secrets into agnes ears

as a child does to its mother

but after agnes had gone to see my aunt

dora said seriously to me when we were

alone

perhaps if i’d had agnes as a friend

when i was younger david dear i wouldn’t

be so foolish and silly

but i love you as you are dora i replied

i wonder why you ever fell in love with

because nobody can see you and not fall

in love with you

but if you’d never seen me david

i wonder

who you’d have married

i laughed and kissed her pretty lips and

she was soon as cheerful as usual again

i cannot remember much about the wedding

except dora by my side in her beautiful

dress and with a blushing face

only when we were driving away from

putney together did i wake from the

dream

i believed it at last

it was my dear little wife i was sitting

next to whom i loved so much

it seemed strange to return from our

week’s holiday and to find myself in my

own small house with dora

it was difficult to believe that we were

going to spend the rest of our lives

together but soon i realized that

married life was not as comfortable as

it appeared

neither dora nor i knew anything about

managing the house

we had a servant of course who managed

she served our meals late drank all our

wine and stole all our silver spoons

when she finally left we had another who

behaved in a similar way

i felt i had to speak to dora about it

my love i began

couldn’t you perhaps control the

servants a little better

david

don’t be cross with your little dora she

said

coming to sit on my knee

but i wanted to show i could be firm my

sweet dora

i really do think you should do

something i mean

yesterday i had no supper at all because

the beef was burnt

and last week when traddles came to

dinner

the meat wasn’t cooked at all

you knew before you married me what a

silly girl i am

you shouldn’t have married me if you

were going to be angry with me

i don’t think you love me at all

and large tears ran down her pretty

little face

dora my love of course i love you

don’t cry

i could not continue our conversation

then

but when she was calmer and had dried

her tears she said very seriously

david

will you do something for me

will you call me your child wife

whatever do you mean my dearest i asked

in surprise

just that whenever you feel i’m being

very foolish

you should remember that i’m like a

child

not as clever as you or anyone else

don’t be disappointed with me

just remember that your child wife loves

you very very much

of all the conversations we had

i remember that one very clearly

it made a strong impression on me

and i’m glad now that i did not try to

change dora anymore

i had fallen in love with an innocent

childlike girl and i could not expect

her to become a wise experienced woman

in such a short time

but this meant that i had to carry all

our problems on my own shoulders and

sometimes i felt sorry that i did not

have a real partner in life with whom to

share these worries

at about this time

my first book was published and was a

great success dora and my aunt were

equally proud of me

i was becoming however rather worried

about dora

she had been ill for some time but did

not seem to be getting better

she was not strong and could not walk

anywhere by herself

i began to carry her downstairs every

morning and upstairs every night

and my aunt came every day to look after

her

my little wife was still very pretty and

cheerful

but i knew how light she was and how

weak

i began to fear she would not be with me

for much longer

early one morning when i was walking in

the garden i saw daniel peggotty opening

the gate and coming towards me

his clothes were dusty and he looked

older than before with white hair

escaping untiedly from under his hand

but his face was brown and he looked

healthy and strong

asked david he said gladly when he saw

me i have come to tell you

you were always our friend

i found her

you found little emily i cried

delightedly but where and how

i heard she traveled with that wicked

steerforth through italy and lived there

for a while

but in the end he became tired of her

and left her

she didn’t know what to do or where to

go poor thing

but she came back to london

that’s where i found my dear child

because i’ve been all over europe

looking for her but i knew she’d come

back to england one day

so every night i’ve been searching the

city streets for her

last night i found her hopeless and

exhausted on a bridge looking down into

the river

i hadn’t found her then

i don’t like to think what she would

have done

but god was looking after my dear girl

and she’s safe with me now

he passed his strong hand over his eyes

and smiled at me

i’ve planned what we’ll do master david

and i want to tell you about it

emily and i are going to australia

it’s a new country

nobody knows anything about her past

we’ll be able to start a new life

together

we’ll be leaving in about six weeks

very sensible i said

and what about the rest of your family

a ham and peckety going to australia too

no they aren’t

poor am will never be the same again

i really think his heart is broken

but he’s got a good job he’s very

popular in yarmouth so he’ll stay there

my sister wants to stay too partly

because of you master david

partly to look after him

she cooks and cleans for me yarmouth you

know

well my friend i said shaking hands

firmly with the old boatmen

i wish you and emily all the best in

your new life

i’ll do my duty whether i’m in england

or australia said daniel

and i’ll never be separated from my

little emily again

chapter 10

death

and discovery

traddles and i had both received rather

strange letters from mr micawber in

which he asked us to come to canterbury

with my aunt

at this meeting he said he would show to

all of us the proof of uriah heaps

wickedness

dora was too ill to come with us so

traddles my aunt mr dick and i travelled

to canterbury by coach spent the night

in a hotel there and arrived punctually

at the wickfield’s house the next

morning

mr micawber met us at the door and

showed us into uriah heap’s office

uriah himself seemed rather surprised to

see us

but pretended to welcome us as old

friends

mr micawber brought agnes into the room

too

and then stood firmly by the door

don’t wait micawber

said uriah to his assistant

but mr micawber did not move

he stared coldly at his employer

did you hear what i said micawber

said uriah angrily his little eyes

becoming redder while his long face went

very pale

yes

replied micawber but i don’t choose to

leave

listen to me heap

i don’t care if i lose my job

i don’t wish to work any longer

for the wickedest man in england

uriah fell back shocked

looking slowly round at us with a dark

evil expression on his face he said

i see

you’ve all arranged this between you

but i know who to blame for this

it’s you copperfield

you’re jealous of my new position aren’t

you

but i know things about all of you which

i can use against you for example i know

about your father’s business mistakes

miss agnes

and i know about your past in the

warehouse copperfield

so be careful

i warn you all

mr micawber i said calmly please tell us

what you were going to say about this

man

just then traddles who had disappeared a

few minutes before reappeared with

missy’s heap

uriah had not noticed traddles before

who are you he demanded angrily

i’m a lawyer and a friend of mr

wickfield sir said traddles in a

business-like way and he’s asked me to

carry out all his business arrangements

from now on

this came as a surprise to me as well as

to uriah

the old fool has been drinking too much

again said uriah looking uglier than

ever you can’t believe anything he says

and you’ve bribed my assistant i suppose

to speak against me

it’s you have been dishonest said

traddles firmly as we shall hear from mr

micawber

and we all looked expectantly towards

that large important looking gentleman

he was clearly delighted to have such an

interested audience

and cleared his throat several times

before starting to speak

as he spoke

his voice became louder and louder with

excitement until he was almost shouting

ladies and gentlemen he began

when very poor and desperate for work i

came to canterbury as assistant to this

evil man ape

i’m sorry to say

i was soon involved in all his wicked

plans

i may be poor but i can’t accept his

lies his cheating his bribes and all the

rest of it

so i’ve brought you here today ladies

and gentlemen to hear me accuse heap

publicly

one

he has confused and lied to his partner

so often that poor mr wickfield now

thinks he has himself been dishonest

two

he has sometimes copied mr wickfield’s

signature onto false documents and

checks

three

for years he has been stealing large

amounts of money from mr whitfield and

the firm

you can never prove it cried uriah

wildly i’ve taken copies of all the

necessary documents said mr micawber

confidently while working as your clerk

and just to make sure

i’ve given them to mr traddles to keep

safely uriah my dear boy cried his

mother sobbing bitterly tell them how

humble you are

so you didn’t mean to hurt anyone

say you’re sorry and arrange matters

with these gentlemen

do dear boy brother be quiet he

whispered angrily don’t help my enemies

copperfield here would have given you a

hundred pounds to say what you just said

suddenly my aunt attacked uriah hitting

his head with her umbrella give me back

my investments she cried

i thought mr wickfield had lost my money

and i didn’t want to hurt agnes by

saying so

but now i know you’ve had control of the

firm and you’ve stolen my money

somehow i managed to get her away from

him before she hurt him too badly

then mrs heap fell on her knees to all

office begging us to forgive her dear

boy and to remember how humble he always

was be silent mother said her son

he turned to traddles and asked

unpleasantly well

what are you asking me to do

not asking

demanding heap

you will give us the keys to all your

boxes and drawers all your documents and

checkbooks everything infected belongs

to the firm

you will stay in this house until we’ve

checked all the documents

if i don’t agree he asked frowning

copperfield

perhaps you would fetch a couple of

policemen

things move slowly in the law courts but

in the end mr wickfield will get his

business back and you heap

will be in prison for a very long time

uriah realized that he had to do what we

wanted and went to fetch the documents

with mr dick at his side

at the door

with his blackest most evil expression

he turned and said to me

i’ve always hated you copperfield

then he was taken away

in the next few days traddles and

micawber worked very hard together to

put right what uriah had done

they discovered my aunt’s money and gave

it back to her and paid all the firm’s

debts

mr wickfield decided to sell his

business and retire

the wickfields would not have much money

but at least they did not owe anything

in the end uriah heap and his mother

left canterbury

but we all thought he was too evil to

stay out of trouble for long

my aunt had a wonderful idea for the

mikoba family

have you ever thought of going to live

in australia she suggested it’s a new

country with a lot of business

opportunities

mr micawber was very interested

something could easily turn up there he

agreed

my aunt generously offered to lend him

the necessary money to pay for the

journey and the whole mikorba family

started planning and packing immediately

when i returned to london

i realized my poor daughter was much

worse

she stayed upstairs all the time now and

the sitting room seemed very quiet

without my little child wife in her

usual place

one day when i was sitting with her in

her room she said lovingly

you know david dear

i’m afraid i was too young

don’t say that dora i whispered

conscious that she was speaking of

herself in the past

i was a silly little girl david and you

know it

it’s just as well that i won’t live much

longer

perhaps if i lived but we should marry

someone more sensible more practical

someone like

she did not finish what she was saying

but we’ve been so happy dora i said

trying not to cry

she took my hand and kissed it

we have haven’t we

david

you think if you asked agnes she’d come

and see me

i have something particular to say to

her

of course my love

i write to her tonight

agnes came the next day and went

straight upstairs to see dora

although the doctor and my aunt had told

me there was no hope that daughter would

live

when i held her hand and saw her love

for me and her innocent blue eyes i

could not believe she would be taken

from me but when agnes came downstairs

so calmly and silently and said nothing

but raised her hand and pointed upwards

i knew

it was over

and i remembered only darkness for a

long time afterwards

in the middle of my terrible sadness i

received a message from emily

she asked me to take a letter from her

to ham her last words to the man who had

loved her so much

before she and daniel left england for

australia

they were sailing in two weeks time and

the micawbers were going on the same

ship

i remembered my childish love for little

emily and agreed to do what she asked

the weather was very stormy as i

traveled through the night to yarmouth

several times the coach was almost

knocked off the road by the wind and the

rain

by the time we arrived in yarmouth most

of the local people were in the streets

afraid to stay in their houses in case

the roof or the chimney blew down

many women were crying afraid for their

husbands or brothers who were out

fishing in their small boats

the sea itself with its huge waves

crashing noisily on the beach frightened

us all very much

i went to the hotel and tried to sleep a

little after my tiring journey but the

wind made so much noise that i could not

sleep

and i went down to the beach again where

a lot of people were standing together

watching the waves

by now the storm had got even worse

two ships have gone down sir local

fishermen shouted to me few miles away

we couldn’t save any of the men on them

the waves were too high and look there’s

another

and suddenly i gasped in horror

i could see a great ship which had been

pushed violently onto the rocks by the

waves

it was in danger of falling back into

the waves sort of breaking in half at

any moment

several figures were visible on the ship

especially one very active curly-haired

young man who seemed to be giving orders

the crowd on the beach cried out as the

ship rolled and a huge wave swept over

it carrying the men into the rushing

water in a moment the only figure we

could see was the curly-haired young man

holding desperately onto the side of the

ship and calling for help

what could we do

it was certain death for any man to

enter those waves

just then i saw ham peggotty running

through the crowd to the edge of the

water

one end of a rope was tied around his

waist and the other end was held firmly

by three strong men standing on the

beach no ham i cried trying to hold him

back don’t try to rescue that poor

sailor you’ll kill yourself

let me go master david he replied

cheerfully shaking both my hands if god

thinks it’s time for me to die then i’m

ready

friends i’m going in

give me more rope

he dived in under a great wave and swam

strongly towards the ship

in another moment he would have reached

when a high green hill of water appeared

and the ship went down with a great

crash

the people on the beach pulled on ham’s

rope and he arrived at my feet

dead

they carried him to the nearest house

and i called a doctor but nothing could

be done for him he had been beaten to

death by that great wave and his

generous heart had stopped forever

as i sat hopelessly by his bed a

fisherman who had known me when emily

and i were children came to tell me he

recognized the curly-haired sailor whose

body had been thrown out of the water by

the waves

i went to sea

and then on the beach where she and i

had played

i saw steerforth lying with his handsome

face on his arm he would never smile at

me or emily again

i was surrounded by too many ghosts to

return to london and my old life

i was selfishly sad that i had lost my

child wife and my childhood friend

and sometimes i felt i wanted to die

so i left england and traveled for many

months in europe

i lived in a dark miserable dream with

no hope or interest in my future

one evening i arrived in a village in

switzerland and received a packet of

letters that had been waiting for me

the first one i opened was from agnes

she gave me no advice

but she told me simply that she trusted

me to find a purpose in life

and that she would always be proud of me

and love me as a sister

as the light died out of the sky and i

watched the color of the snow on the

mountain tops change

i felt i was waking from my unhappy

dream

and i began to understand how much i

loved agnes

she had been the one who had always

guided and supported me and now i

realized i needed her love for the rest

of my life

had falling in love with dora been a

mistake

we had both been very young it is true

i had always called agnes sister and now

perhaps i no longer had the right to ask

whether her love for me was more than

sisterly

however

i decided to return

and traveled home to england after three

years of absence

i was delighted to find that traddles

had married his sophie and was doing

well as a lawyer

my aunt had moved back to her old dover

house and was living happily there with

mr dick and peggotty

when i visited my aunt i took the

opportunity of asking her about agnes

has she

has she any young man she’d like to

marry

i asked as likely as possible

aunt looked carefully at me as she

replied

i suspect she has david

she’s never mentioned it to me but i

think

i feel sure

she’s going to marry soon

i was firm with myself and did not show

my feelings

i borrowed a horse and wrote to

canterbury to ask agnes myself

when i saw that beautiful gentle face

again

i knew i had come home

i knew how dear she was to me

and would always be

agnes i said

i am so grateful to you for making me

what i am

for helping me to be good

but i think you have a secret let me

share it agnes as your brother

tell me whom you love

agnes turned away from me and burst into

tears

somehow

these tears did not sadden me but gave

me hope

my dear agnes

don’t cry

david

leave me

i can’t talk about it now she sobbed

agnes

you’re dearer to me than anything in the

world

don’t think i’ll be jealous of any man

you choose to marry

i only want you to be happy

she had stopped crying no one was calmer

if i have a secret david it is

not a new one

it has been my secret

for a long time

i was wild with hope

not a new one

did she mean

dearest agnes

dare i hope to call you more than a

sister

she was in my arms and sobbing again

but this time with happiness

i went away agnes loving you

i returned home

loving you

we held each other for some time

sure now of each other’s love

there is something i must tell you david

she said gently looking calmly into my

face

i have loved you

all my life

she added

and something else

before our sweet daughter died

she asked me

can you guess

to fill the empty place in your heart

and agnes laid her head on my shoulder

and cried

and i cried with her

although we were both

happy

my story has almost come to an end

i have published several books now

and i’m a well-known writer

agnes and i have been married for 20

years and live in perfect happiness with

our children around us

we have heard from daniel peggotty in

australia

he and emily have made friends there and

are happy

mr micawber has become an important

figure in a large australian town and

his family are quite used to living

there

my aunt mr dick and peggotty are all

white-haired and old now but still very

fit

and they love playing with our children

whenever they can

my old friend traddles has two sons of

his own and will soon become a judge

when i think of my friends and family

agnes lovely face shines above them all

she is here next to me as i write

and i hope that when my life comes to

its end

she will be with me in the shadows

pointing upwards

to the light

you