After a bit of reading, I could see that Caleb lives in an impoverished home with his daughter, Bertha, who is blind. He works for a toy maker, Takleton, who is rather insensitive. To make Bertha feel better about Caleb's boss, Caleb exposes his virtues. He does such a good job that Bertha falls in love with Takleton. Then she is devastated to learn that he plans to marry another. He even invites Caleb and Bertha to the wedding.
However, someone is spotted in the kitchen and we wonder who this may be. It turns out that he is a character who was gone for a long time and has now reappeared. He is the true love of Mary, the woman who was going to marry Takleton.
When Mary sees Edward, she knows it is he who she really loves and she and Edward marry. Everyone is happy at the conclusion, even Takleton doesn't seem that upset and he helps celebrate the wedding of the couple.
The ending is nicely done. The short story came out as a Christmas story and leaves the reader with a lesson of love and forgiveness.
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2 comments:
This is the third of Dickens's Christmas stories. During December of this past year I read A Christmas Carol (for the umpteenth time) and the second story, The Chimes (which actually takes place at New Year's).
I plan to read this one and the two that follow it during the next Christmas holiday. It's my understanding that this story was his most popular until A Christmas Carol was made into a movie the first time (the Lionel Barrymore version, I think?).
I think you're right, Kelly and hope you enjoy the story.
Mike
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