Little Dorrit Book 2, Chapter 10 Summary

The Dreams of Mrs. Flintwinch thicken

  • Arthur goes to visit his mommy dearest. Every step closer to the house makes him more and more miserable.
  • Suddenly, he sees... Blandois!
  • Blandois is running fast, and Arthur loses him, but then he sees him knocking on Mrs. Clennam's door just as Arthur is coming up.
  • Affery opens the door and Blandois walks right in like he owns the place and demands to see Flintwinch.
  • Mrs. Clennam asks both Blandois and Arthur to come upstairs. There, she doesn't take her eyes off Blandois, and Arthur can tell she is super tense.
  • Arthur is taken aback and says that if he owned the house, he'd throw Blandois out. Mrs. Clennam is all, well you don't, and declares that this must be about business, and that everyone needs to just calm down.
  • Flintwinch returns, gets a half-bear hug half-beating from Blandois, and also very gets tense.
  • Then Mrs. Clennam asks Arthur to leave and come back some other time when "you may consider it a duty to bury half an hour wearily here" (2.10.50). Aw, that's so sweet, mom, and I love seeing you too!
  • Arthur reluctantly goes, but not before Blandois implies that Mrs. Clennam and Flintwinch have motives to kill him (Blandois) and that he's being brave by seeing them.
  • Arthur is totally confused and asks Affery what's going on before he leaves. She just flips her apron over her head and says that she's dreaming.