# Mr. Peacocke's Return explained — Dr. Wortle’s School > Chapter companion for Dr. Wortle’s School by Anthony Trollope. ## What happens The chapter opens with the Earl's brief acceptance of Mary's engagement to Lord Carstairs, lifting Dr. Wortle's spirits and prompting him to focus on Mr. Peacocke's affairs. Mrs. Wortle, however, is consumed with anxiety about the engagement's security. Meanwhile, preparations for Mr. Peacocke's return and remarriage to Mrs. Peacocke proceed. Dr. Wortle consults Mr. Puddicombe about the propriety of the ceremony and ultimately burns letters he had written in defense of his actions. Mr. Peacocke returns to Bowick, is warmly received by the boys and staff, and the remarriage is arranged to take place in London, with Mrs. Peacocke allowed a private meeting beforehand. ## Themes in this chapter ### Social Reputation and Scandal The chapter highlights the ongoing scandal surrounding the Peacockes and the careful management of their return to avoid further gossip. ### Love vs. Social Convention Mary's engagement to Lord Carstairs is complicated by social rank, while the Peacockes' remarriage defies conventional propriety. ### Integrity and Conscience Dr. Wortle struggles with his conscience over the letters he wrote, ultimately choosing to burn them based on Puddicombe's advice. ## Character check-ins ### Dr. Wortle His spirits are buoyed by Mary's engagement; he energetically arranges Mr. Peacocke's return and remarriage, and burns his defensive letters after Puddicombe's counsel. ### Mrs. Wortle Anxious about Mary's engagement to Lord Carstairs, she frets over potential obstacles and advises Mary while also managing Mrs. Peacocke's travel plans. ### Mary Wortle Acknowledges her love for Lord Carstairs and the uncertainty of the engagement, while her mother worries about the social implications. ### Mr. Peacocke Returns to Bowick after his journey to America; he is warmly greeted by the school and faces the difficult moment of reintegration. ### Mrs. Peacocke Anxious to see her husband, she is restrained from rushing to London and agrees to meet him privately before the remarriage ceremony. ### Mr. Puddicombe Advises Dr. Wortle against sending his letters and agrees to accompany the couple to London for the remarriage. ## Key lines > The Earl’s rejoinder to the Doctor was very short: “So let it be.” The Earl's reply was brief, simply agreeing to the arrangement. _Shows the Earl's acceptance of the engagement._ > It was evident to his wife, who probably alone understood the buoyancy of his spirit and its corresponding susceptibility to depression, that he at once went about Mr. Peacocke’s affairs with renewed courage. His wife noticed that his mood lifted and he tackled Peacocke's matters with fresh energy. _Highlights Dr. Wortle's emotional state and renewed determination._ > “I do think of him, mamma. I do love him now, and of course I think of him.” Mary admits she loves Lord Carstairs and naturally thinks about him. _Mary's candid confession of her feelings._ > Painful as this first reintroduction had been, there was not much more in it than that. Although the initial return was awkward, it passed without much incident. _Describes the ease of Mr. Peacocke's reintegration._ > When a man has written a letter, and has taken some trouble with it, and more specially when he has copied it several times himself so as to have made many letters of it—when he has argued his point successfully to himself, and has triumphed in his own mind, as was likely to be the case with Dr. Wortle in all that he did, he does not like to make waste paper of his letters. Dr. Wortle, having invested effort in writing and copying his letters, is reluctant to discard them. _Illustrates Dr. Wortle's internal conflict over the letters._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/dr_wortle_s_school_se/chapters/part-v-xi-mr-peacocke-s-return - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/dr_wortle_s_school_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/dr_wortle_s_school_se/chapters