Our Mutual Friend, Chapter 2 summary
Chapter 2 of 68 · Book 1: The Cup and the Lip · 19 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 2, the Veneerings entertain guests whose uncertain friendships expose their concern with social standing, while Mortimer tells the story of Harmon’s conditional inheritance. A note interrupts the dinner and reports that Harmon is drowned, turning an account of wealth and an arranged marriage into news of death.
What happens
- Twemlow arrives at the Veneerings’ dinner and struggles to decide whether he is their oldest or newest friend.
- Podsnap mistakes Twemlow for the host, exposing how little the guests know their supposed friends.
- Lady Tippins presses Mortimer to explain the story of a man returning from abroad.
- Mortimer describes a wealthy Dust Contractor who drives away his children and leaves his son a conditional inheritance.
- The son must marry a particular young woman or lose the fortune to an old servant.
- A servant delivers a note, and Mortimer announces that the returning heir is drowned.
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In this chapter
What to notice
The announcement overturns the dinner’s account of a returning heir. The expected marriage and inheritance now confront the reported death.
Quick check
What condition must Harmon meet to receive the main inheritance?
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