Bleak House: Chapter 15 Summary & Analysis

During their time in London, the party spends a great deal of time with Mr. Jarndyce’s philanthropic acquaintances. Esther notices that they perform their duties and carry on their causes noisily and are not very pleasant people. Mr. Quale, who is often present, seems to spend most of his time going on and on about other people’s missions rather than cultivating a passion of his own. Mr. Skimpole has been ill, and they have seen little of him, but he reappears a short time into their stay and tells them that he is in debt again because of his doctor’s fees.

Mr. Skimpole tells them one night that he has been invited to go with them to stay with Mr. Boythorn, and that the man who tried to arrest him at Mr. Jarndyce’s has died. He has left three children orphaned with no one to care for them. Mr. Jarndyce is horrified and rebukes Mr. Skimpole for saying this last thing triumphantly. He wants to visit the man’s lodgings to find out more.

The group head down to Coavinses and are informed that the man, Neckett, used to live in Bell Yard. There, an elderly and ill-looking woman greets the group. She gives Esther a key and directs her to the top of the house, which is split into several lodgings. On the stairs, a man stops them and asks if they want Gridley. Alarmed at the man’s threatening appearance, Esther says no and they pass on.

Esther unlocks the room at the top and discovers a small boy who cradles a baby in his arms. Esther asks them who has left them here, and they say that they live with their sister Charley, who goes out to work washing clothes. Charley arrives just at this moment; she is a young girl dressed in an adult woman’s clothes which are far too big for her. She takes the baby from her brother in a motherly way and soothes the child immediately. Mr. Jarndyce is horrified and asks Charley how old she is. Charley replies that she is 13 and that she works to support her brother and sister.

Charley explains that their mother died when Emma, the baby, was born. She locks her siblings up while she goes out to work to protect them. Tom, the boy, cuddles his sister and begins to cry. The landlady, Mrs. Blinder, comes upstairs and quietly tells Mr. Jarndyce that she does not charge the children rent, but Mr. Jarndyce says that the situation cannot possibly continue. Mrs. Blinder says that people in the building disliked their father, because he was a debt collector, and says that they would have been kinder to the children if this was not the case.

While they talk, the man from the stairs, Gridley, comes in and begins to play with the children. He makes a gruff comment about rich people who come to gawk at the children, but Mr. Jarndyce respectfully tells him that this is not what they are here to do. Gridley apologizes for his bad temper and tells Mr. Jarndyce that he has been embroiled in a Chancery lawsuit which has ruined his life and almost sent him mad—he is “the man from Shropshire.” Mr. Jarndyce explains who he is, and Gridley is amazed that Mr. Jarndyce can be such a mild, good natured man.

Gridley explains that his lawsuit is about his father’s will and some property that he was left. All the property has been used up to pay legal fees, and the case is still not resolved. Gridley then takes the children down to his room so that they can play, and Mr. Skimpole muses on what these men could have been in a different life. The little group sees Charley off to work and then leaves the house themselves.