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Which contains the Substance of a Pleasant Conversation between Mrs. Bnmble and a Lady and shows that even a Beadle may be Susceptible on some Points.
Summary
It was a bitterly snowy night. Mrs. Corney, the matron of the workhouse where Oliver was born sat before a fire in her small room. She had just started taking tea when Mr. Bumble knocked on her door. Mrs. Corney said to Mr. Bumble to get in. He told her that he had come to deliver her two bottles of wine. Mrs. Corney asked him to have tea and Mr. Bumble said 'yes'. Mr. Bumble then sat down by Mrs. Comey's side and with tea started moving closer and closer to her. After finishing his tea he kissed the matron. Mrs. Corney said that she would scream if he had behaved again like that. At this Mr. Bumble put his arms around her waist but just then the door was knocked. Mr. Bumble quickly withdrew himself and went away.
An aged female, who was a pauper living on charity in this workhouse, came to inform Mrs. Corney that the sick woman Sally was on the verge of death. Mrs. Corney said what could she do if the old lady was dying. The lady said that Sally wanted to reveal some secret to Mrs. Corney before death. Mrs. Corney requested Mr. Bumble to stay till she come back. After that she left the room in order to go to dying Sally. (Sally was one of the inmates of the workhouse. Once she was a nurse in the workhouse but now she was too old to do any job. She was ill for a few days and now taking her last breath.)
Critical Analysis
Hence, the reader is brought back to the comic world of Mr. Bumble. The scene of Mr. Bumble's getting close to the plumpy Corney is quite amusing but more humorous is his counting of tea-spoons, cups and looking into her drawers.
It is very pathetic and inhuman that Bumble and Corney remain unaffected even at the death of the old pauper.