Chapter 27 Summary

Because Dr. Harding and Eleanor are away at Plumstead, Mr. Slope cannot arrange the meeting with Dr. Harding immediately. Instead, he writes a letter to Eleanor, asking her to arrange the meeting. This letter is also full of very intimate expressions with which Mr. Slope hopes to establish a greater romantic bond with her. In particular, he refers to her loose hair and her private relationship with her baby son.

After leaving this letter with Eleanor's maid, he goes to visit the signora. He is very conflicted about his relationship with her because she is a married woman. He knows that any public relationship with the signora would be the end of his career but he can not help himself in his attraction to her. Their meeting is filled with poetic allusions to great loves throughout time and leads to Mr. Slope declaring...