The Old Curiosity Shop

Kit receives word of his pardon, and Mr. Garland takes him home. Barbara and her mother wait there with the single gentleman, Abel, and Mrs. Garland. Kit’s mother comes in, and they all toast to Kit’s freedom. Kit steps out to visit the Garlands’ horse, which missed him dearly. Barbara enters the stables, intending to feed the horse since she was the only one it trusted while Kit was gone. She and Kit exchange meaningful looks, and they finally kiss—twice. When they return to the party, Mr. Garland pulls Kit aside with news of Nell’s whereabouts. It turns out the bachelor is Garland’s brother, and he mentioned in one of his letters that there was an old man and a young girl new to the village. They resolve to leave immediately in the morning.

While they wait for their carriage to arrive, Kit and Barbara spend some time alone. She is sad that he is running off to Nell so soon after they realized their feelings for one another. Kit explains his relationship to Nell: He loves her because he was her servant and her family friend, and he wants to bring her home because he still feels he has a duty to her, especially since she always saw the best in him.

Their party travels all day through very poor weather. The single gentleman confides his story to Mr. Garland—he is the estranged brother of Nell’s grandfather. In their youth, they had a falling-out over a woman. The elder brother (Nell’s grandfather) married her, but she died, and he had to raise their daughter, Nell’s mother, alone. When she married and had two children, her husband’s misuse of their money pushed the family into extreme poverty. After her husband died, Nell’s mother passed away a few weeks later, leaving Fred (aged 10) and Nell (still an infant) in the grandfather’s care. It was at this time the grandfather started trading in antiques. Fred turned out to be like his father, while Nell was like her mother, and their grandfather was afraid the same misfortunes would plague them. Once the single gentleman learned what happened to them, he set off in search of them immediately, hoping to reunite their family.