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Chapter 35: Depression
Miss Betsey very soon took a liking to Peggotty. She had lost her aversion to the savage name of Peggotty. All the same, she called her Barkis because it sounded more humane to her.
Miss Betsey noticed that David was in love. She cross-examined David to ascertain if it was merely a young boy's fancy for a girl. David on his part wondered how Mr. Spenlow would look upon his sudden fall to poverty. He was not sure whether Mr. Spenlow would agree to his marriage to Dora after this.
The next morning David visited Mr. Spenlow and asked him if it was possible to get a refund of the balance of the premium and let him discontinue his studies. But Mr. Spenlow did not oblige him. On his return to home, David met Agnes who was going to see Miss Trotwood. She dismissed the coachman and walked along with him. She said that she had come to London to meet Miss. Betsey. Her father and Uriah Heep had also come on some business. The two had now formed a partnership. Heep and his mother now lived in the same house with them and poor Agnes could not be as close to her papa as she wished to.
Agnes and David walked home in each other's company: Miss Trotwood welcomed them and told them how she came to lose her fortune as Agnes' father had taken care of her money and all her affairs but after he teamed up with help, she decided to invest the money herself. Agnes turned pale, for fear that her father might be held responsible for this. Miss Betsey Trotwood however, assured her that she did not blame her father.
Later, David came to know from Agnes that Dr. Strong had come to live in London and was in need of a Secretary. She suggested that David should work under his old master and earn something. Acting upon her advice he wrote a letter to Dr. Strong and made an appointment to call on him the next day, at ten in the forenoon.