The Old Curiosity Shop

The schoolmaster returns with a set of old keys. The first house they unlock is old and beautiful, and the schoolmaster reveals that this house is for Nell and her grandfather. He pled their case to the sexton of the church, as the house is part of a parsonage position that also includes a salary. The smaller house next door is for the schoolmaster. Nell begins tidying the houses immediately. The schoolmaster notes Nell’s occasional involuntary chill.

In the morning, Nell, her grandfather, and the schoolmaster visit the head clergyman. He immediately approves them for the parsonage position and allows them to stay in the house. A man only called the bachelor visits the houses; he is the clergyman’s oldest friend. The bachelor offers household supplies to make Nell’s new home more comfortable. He also introduces the schoolmaster to his new pupils, who are excited to meet him and even more excited to see Nell.

In the morning, Nell visits the old church. She meets some children playing in the graveyard—one calls his brother’s grave a garden because of the plants that grow there, and he says the birds like that garden the best because his brother grows it.