Arthur is very ill. Mr. Rugg is getting no break for him in the legal system. Mr. Pancks is consumed with guilt. He should have had more money, and Arthur should be a very rich man. He keeps going over the figures. He becomes restless and impatient. He gets more irritable with the Patriarch.
Mr. Pancks continues working for Mr. Casby. One night, Mr. Casby tells him he needs to squeeze the people more. He wants Pancks to go to the Bleeding Heart Yard again. He didn’t get enough rent money, though Pancks assures him he got everything the people could pay.
Mr. Casby is displeased with Flora visiting Arthur in jail. He wants Pancks to tell her that he will not allow it. Pancks asks why he can’t mention it to his own daughter, but Mr. Casby tells him he pays Pancks to do it for him. He also wants Pancks to stop visiting Arthur.
Mr. Pancks follows Mr. Casby to the Bleeding Heart Yard, furious. He knocks off the Patriarch’s hat and calls him a swindler, saying he is going to have it out with him.
The people in the Bleeding Heart Yard watch in amazement. Mr. Pancks sneers at the Patriarch’s reputation for being benevolent. He tells Mr. Casby he is quitting. Now that he doesn’t have to work for him, he can tell him what he thinks of him. Pancks considers him worse than Mr. Merdle. The Patriarch is a deceiver.
Everyone always thought Pancks was the hard one. The people don’t believe him when he says it is Casby who would flay them alive. He tells them that Casby ordered him to squeeze them dry on Monday. Pancks admits he is not agreeable. However, what can he be with a proprietor like Casby? Casby instigates things. Pancks carried them out and was the bad buy.
Mr. Pancks knocks off Mr. Casby’s hat again. Unlike the first time, nobody picks it up for him. When Mr. Casby stops to get it, Mr. Pancks cuts off his hair. He cuts the hate up and puts it on the man’s head.
Mr. Casby stares at him, less impressive as he once was. Mr. Pancks flees and hides. The people in the Bleeding Heart Yard laugh.