Summary: Chapter 56, “Pursuit”
The narrator says that Volumnia finds Sir Leicester sprawled
on the floor of the library. She screams, causing a commotion and
bringing servants running to help. Sir Leicester is much weaker
and quieter than he was before. He can barely speak and writes notes
to communicate. When he asks about Lady Dedlock, the doctors say
she has gone out and doesn’t yet know Sir Leicester is sick. They
let Mrs. Rouncewell give Sir Leicester the letter from Lady Dedlock.
Sir Leicester requests Bucket. He tells Bucket that he fully forgives
Lady Dedlock and asks him to find her immediately. Before Bucket
leaves, he reassures Mrs. Rouncewell that George will be fine and
that her immediate concern must be attending to Sir Leicester.
Bucket first inspects Lady Dedlock’s chambers. In a drawer,
he finds a white handkerchief with Esther’s name on it. He rushes
to George, who tells him Esther’s address. When he reaches Esther’s home,
he shows the letter to Mr. Jarndyce and says he fears Lady Dedlock
is going to kill herself. Bucket says he needs Esther to go with
him on his search, and Mr. Jarndyce gets her. The narrator ruminates
on where Lady Dedlock is and then says there is a figure wearing
shabby clothes fleeing near the brick kilns.
Summary: Chapter 57, “Esther’s Narrative”
Esther tells us that when Mr. Jarndyce wakes her up, she
immediately prepares to go with Bucket. Bucket reads her the letter,
and they set off. Bucket asks her a few questions about her relationship with
Lady Dedlock and if there is anyone Lady Dedlock may have confided
in. Esther says perhaps Mr. Boythorn. Bucket stops in a police station
and quietly gives instructions to a few men. They continue on their
journey. Bucket stops by the water and speaks to some policemen
and sailors, then he inspects what Esther suspects is a person who
drowned. They make several other stops as they go on and eventually
head toward Saint Albans. After another stop, where Bucket gets
Esther a cup of tea, he says he’s been told that Lady Dedlock passed
through there that evening. They head toward Bleak House. Bucket
tells Esther that he took Jo away when she’d been sheltering him
in the stable to protect Lady Dedlock since Jo had been telling
too many people about the lady he led to the burial ground.
At Bleak House, Bucket asks if Skimpole always stays in
the same room when he visits. He tells Esther that Skimpole had
showed him where to find Jo after Bucket had given him some money
for the information. Esther feels betrayed by Skimpole, and Bucket
warns her to watch out for people like Skimpole. None of the servants
at Bleak House has seen Lady Dedlock.
Bucket and Esther head toward the brickmaker’s cottage.
There, Esther finds out that Jenny, Liz, and their husbands live
together in a single cottage. Jenny is not there, but they speak
to the others. Bucket asserts that he knows a lady had been there
the night before; Jenny’s husband is defensive and unresponsive.
Esther suspects that Liz wants to talk to her alone, but there is
no way for her to do this. Esther asks where Jenny is, but before
Liz can answer, her husband kicks her. Jenny’s husband says she
went to London last night. Esther asks if Jenny was home when the
lady visited. Liz asks her husband if she can answer, but her husband
threatens her. Jenny’s husband says Jenny was home, and that the
lady asked for Esther’s handkerchief. Then he says that the lady
went one way and Jenny went the other. He says he isn’t sure what
time it was, since they don’t have a watch. Esther asks how the
lady looked, and Liz said she didn’t look well. They leave the cottage.
Outside, Bucket tells Esther he’s sure Lady Dedlock gave
them her watch, since it was strange for Jenny’s husband to mention
a watch. He wonders what they gave Lady Dedlock in return and says that
if Liz had been alone she probably would have told them more. Bucket
speculates that Lady Dedlock may have sent Jenny to London to see
Esther, but they continue on straight ahead.
