On his way to visit Doctor Strong, David concludes that his new financial difficulties will allow him to prove that he loves Dora. He determines that he will work through every difficulty to be with her and will raise himself and his aunt out of their present distress. Doctor Strong agrees that David should be his secretary and that the two of them will work together on the dictionary Doctor Strong is compiling. They begin immediately. While they are at breakfast, Jack Maldon asks Annie to go to the opera with him that night. Annie does not want to go, but Doctor Strong tries to force her.