Daniel Deronda Chapter 40 Summary

  • Daniel goes back to the bookshop to try to meet up with Mordecai. Instead of taking a cab he decides to go by rowboat.
  • When he rows near Blackfriars Bridge, he notices that someone is looking at him from the bridge. It's Mordecai.
  • Daniel waves at Mordecai. Mordecai waves back. They wave at each other.
  • Several minutes later they catch up with one another. Mordecai stares at Daniel and is like, "I've been waiting for you – for FIVE YEARS." Which is not creepy at all.
  • Mordecai tells Daniel that he thinks the bridge is a place for spiritual messengers to meet.
  • They get in a cab and go to the bookshop.
  • The narrator is like, "I wish I could make you see what they looked like."
  • Mordecai tells Daniel that he is dying but that Daniel has come on time. Daniel seems to understand what he means.
  • Mordecai tells Daniel about his background. He was born in England, but he lived in Holland, where his uncle, a Rabbi, taught him everything about his faith.
  • Mordecai feels like he has a lot to teach the world, but he's short on time because he has tuberculosis.
  • Then Mordecai touches Daniel's arm and tells him, "You have come on time […] You will take the sacred inheritance of the Jew" (40.39). Daniel doesn't really know what to say. He's a little freaked out.
  • Daniel's like, "Dude, don't forget that I'm not Jewish." Mordecai tells him that he can't know that for sure if he doesn't know who his parents are. He tells Daniel that the truth will come out eventually.
  • Mordecai tells Daniel to meet him at a club called the Hand and Banner. He will start teaching him.
  • Daniel asks Mordecai why people can't talk with Mrs. Cohen about her daughter. Mordecai says that he knows why but he can't talk about it.
  • Daniel and Mordecai part ways but plan to meet later at the Hand and Banner.