[00:00.43] Chapter seven.
[00:02.28] Bad news from the Pegattys.
[00:05.64] But something was about to happen that would send all thoughts of Agnes and Uriah out of my mind, at least for a while.
[00:14.88] I fell in love with Mr.
[00:17.45] Spenlow's daughter, Dora.
[00:22.87] To me, Dora was the most beautiful creature in the world, and I would walk right across London from north to south, just for the chance to see the light at her window.
[00:36.36] I would stand for hours, waiting for a glimpse of my beloved, as she set out on an errand with her little dog, Jip.
[00:45.65] I could imagine no greater joy than to sit in the same room with her and to hear her voice.
[00:53.67] Can you imagine how madly happy I was the day I discovered that Dora loved me?
[01:01.70] It was too great a miracle, and we became secretly engaged to be married.
[01:10.12] Mr.
[01:10.76] Spenlow had always liked me and would probably have been happy for me to marry his only daughter, as long as I was wealthy.
[01:22.36] But something terrible had happened.
[01:26.34] My poor aunt Betsy had lost all her money.
[01:33.47] I worried and worried how I could save money.
[01:39.51] In the end, I decided to explain to Mr.
[01:44.79] Spenlow what had happened to aunt Betsy, and ask him to give back the thousand pounds that my aunt had handed over when I joined the firm.
[01:59.05] He had always been very encouraging about my work, and I hoped that he might still keep me on, even after he had returned the money.
[02:09.66] To my astonishment, he became very cool.
[02:17.70] He explained in a very off-hand way that it was quite impossible.
[02:25.80] I was thrown into the depth of despair.
[02:30.85] I wrote letter after letter to Dora, telling her how much I loved her, but how could we ever be together?
[02:43.06] Her father would never agree to our marriage now he knew I had no money.
[02:50.81] One day, shortly after my meeting with Mr.
[02:55.26] Spenlow, he asked to see me.
[03:03.21] What are the meaning of these letters you've been sending to my daughter?" he demanded.
[03:11.20] "I love your daughter and we are engaged," I declared.
[03:16.74] "Nonsense!" exploded Mr.
[03:21.06] Spenlow.
[03:22.74] "You will not talk of engagement."
[03:28.77] "But, but," I stammered.
[03:32.72] "No!" raged Mr.
[03:36.14] Spenlow.
[03:37.42] "We will throw these letters in the fire and forget all about them."
[03:46.87] When I seemed rich, Mr.
[03:49.57] Spenlow had thought well of me.
[03:55.19] Now I had no prospects, he'd obviously changed his mind.
[04:02.69] But life has a strange habit of taking twists and turns that we do not expect.
[04:11.96] To everyone's amazement, Mr.
[04:17.01] Spenlow, who had seemed quite strong and healthy, suddenly had a heart attack and died.
[04:27.46] Poor Dora was now left an orphan, as her mother had already died some years ago.
[04:37.63] I was, of course, very sorry, but I could not help hoping that in time, Dora and I might be together.
[04:50.45] Meanwhile, as I could no longer continue with my law career, I decided to try to earn my living as a journalist.
[05:02.73] I was always very busy and rarely had time to see my friend Steerforth.
[05:10.76] While he, having no money worries, spent much of his time sailing in Yarmouth.
[05:20.86] "How are Dan, Pegatti, Ham and Emily?" I asked when we did get to meet.
[05:27.69] It seemed so many months since I'd been in their warm and friendly home.
[05:35.71] "I've hardly seen them," Steerforth said, with a shrug of his shoulders.
[05:43.85] I found that strange, as the Pegattys had seemed to like him so much.
[05:54.03] But Steerforth always did things in his own way without consulting anyone else, so I did not press him further.
[06:05.17] However, when I received a letter from Pegatti to say that her husband was seriously ill, Steerforth agreed to make the trip to Yarmouth again with me.
[06:19.02] When we got down to Yarmouth, I dropped in to see Dan in his barge house.
[06:27.38] He was just the same as ever.
[06:31.69] But I was shocked when I set eyes on Emily.
[06:37.99] She was so changed, gone was the beautiful, passionate young woman I'd always known, to be replaced by a silent, trembling figure who clung to her uncle Dan all of the time.
[06:55.58] Pegatti's husband died while I was there, and the arrangements for the funeral took everything else out of my mind.
[07:05.30] But I arranged to meet Emily and Ham as soon as I could.
[07:11.30] When I reached the barge house, Ham was alone.
[07:18.86] "Can I have a word with you?" Ham asked me.
[07:23.24] "Of course," I replied.
[07:27.58] Ham's face was a ghostly pale.
[07:33.76] "What is it?" I asked, filled with a sudden terror.
[07:39.99] His voice quivered with despair.
[07:43.23] "My my dear Emily has has run away."
[07:55.04] He handed me a letter in Emily's writing.
[08:01.84] "When you, who love me so much better than I have ever deserved, see this, I shall be far away.
[08:11.95] I will never come back unless he brings me back a lady.
[08:17.63] Rub me out of your life, Ham, for I am truly wicked.
[08:24.94] My last tears and love to my dear uncle Dan."
[08:33.06] As I read and reread the letter with shock, Dan Pegatti joined us.
[08:42.74] "Where's Emily?" he asked cheerfully.
[08:48.90] Ham handed him Emily's letter.
[08:54.29] Dan's face clouded over with a dark sheen of fury.
[09:00.44] Emily's letter says he," said Dan in a rage.
[09:07.07] It's him, isn't it?
[09:10.11] It's Steerforth.
[09:15.69] Ham nodded, too unhappy to speak.
[09:22.14] I sank down into a chair, completely shattered.
[09:28.42] So that was why Steerforth had been so vague about all of his sailing trips down in Yarmouth.
[09:38.55] He hadn't been sailing at all.
[09:41.95] He'd been trying to persuade Emily to run away with him.
[09:48.79] How could he have done this to the Pegattys?
[09:56.65] "You mustn't blame yourself, Master Davey," said Ham, "It's not your fault."
[10:06.25] "Of course it's my fault," I groaned.
[10:11.39] "If it wasn't for me, Emily would never have met Steerforth."
[10:21.21] As I sank deeper into my chair, Dan Pegatti grabbed his coat.
[10:27.45] "Where are you going?" asked Ham.
[10:32.47] "I'm going to find Emily," replied Dan, his eyes alight with determination.
[10:41.52] "But she could be anywhere in the whole world!" cried Ham.
[10:47.94] "Then I'll search the whole world," replied Dan through gritted teeth.
[10:54.87] "I will find her and bring her back."