While Mr. Tulliver’s health slowly improves, his lot in life quickly deteriorates. First the furnishings of the Tulliver’s home were bought by strangers; now the livestock are being made ready to be put up for sale. Following this will be the auction of the family’s house and mill. Although Mrs. Tulliver and Tom and Maggie are well aware of what is going on around them, Mr. Tulliver appears stuck in the first stages of his predicament. During his few, irregular moments of clarity, Mr. Tulliver talks to his wife about his plans to save their home upon his feeling better. Mr. Tulliver cannot yet imagine how deep his troubles have grown.

Mrs. Tulliver and her children have not lost all hope of something working in their favor to save the land. Mrs. Tulliver’s brother-in-law, Mr. Deane, has suggested that one solution might be for his company to buy the Tulliver homestead as an investment and then hire Mr. Tulliver to manage the place. However, no definite word has arrived from Mr. Deane confirming this plan. There also still remains the fear that Mr. Wakem, the lawyer who currently holds the mortgage on the land, might try to outbid Deane’s company, possibly to spite the Tulliver family.

Days later, while visiting his sister-in-law, Mr. Deane relays this information about Wakem to Mrs. Tulliver. Mr. Deane is proving to be very sympathetic toward the Tullivers and their problems. This is most likey because of his daughter Lucy’s concern about her “poor cousins.” Deane sees to it that Tom finds a job as well as a class in bookkeeping. Mrs. Tulliver’s other brother-in-law, Mr. Glegg, has not been as forthcoming, though he has promised to buy some black tea for his appreciative sister-in-law.

Tom might have been excited about his new job and training. They should have given Tom reason for predicting a good future. However, Tom feels depressed every time he hears someone talking about his father’s failures. It is one thing to have lost money but quite another to have failed, Tom thinks. Declaring bankruptcy would allow Mr. Tulliver to be excused from repaying all his debts in full, but Tom feels shamed by his father’s inability to do well by his family.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Tulliver has thought of a scheme to ensure that Mr. Deane’s plan will work. She has decided to pay a visit to Mr. Wakem. She wonders why no one else has thought of this. Upon meeting with him, Mrs. Tulliver makes the mistake of telling him that Mr. Deane’s company is thinking of buying the mill but only if Wakem does not raise the bid during the auction. Until this moment, Wakem had no notion of buying the mill. However, Mrs. Tulliver states that if Wakem were to purchase the mill and the land, it would be the end of her husband; Mr. Tulliver would be completely humiliated and would never consent to managing the mill under Mr. Wakem’s ownership. This puts ideas into Wakem’s head. After Mrs. Tulliver leaves, Wakem makes plans to get back at Mr. Tulliver for all his years of pestering him with endless lawsuits. Wakem has always beaten Tulliver in court, and now he relishes the thought of completely demoralizing his enemy.