Hawk has already sent a messenger to Nicholas to meet him. Lord Verisopht refuses to allow him to go through with it. Hawk hates his pupil, though he is still dependent upon him. Verisopht is beginning to have his own opinions and tries to thrust them on Hawk.
Lord Verisopht realizes that Hawk had pursued Miss Nickleby for himself. He is ashmed of his being an accomplice in the affair. He has begun to dislike Hawk, and he is determined to stop him.
During the night, Mulberry comes to blows with Lord Verisopht. The party breaks up, but they arrange to have a duel. Verisopht goes to the meeting place with two witnesses, Mr. Westwood and Captain Adams. He is strangely calm, though he regrets ever meeting Hawk. He dies during the duel.
Hawk and the witnesses flee the country. Verisopht could have had a happy life if he had made different choices, but he is now a corpse abandoned in a grassy area—killed by the man he considered a friend.