The Rise of Silas Lapham

Lapham is proud of being self-made. He’s also proud of having Tom in his office, even though he rarely shows it to Tom. But whenever Lapham brings the subject up at dinner, Persis says that they shouldn’t make Tom feel like they’re chasing after him—if he wants to see Irene, he’ll have to figure that out on his own. She suggests that it sounds like Lapham is considering Tom as a partner, and Lapham gets defensive, saying he’ll make Tom a partner if he chooses.

Persis doesn’t want Lapham talking business at home, so Lapham and Tom sometimes go on carriage rides to have discussions. Tom finds that he and Lapham don’t have much in common for conversation topics, but he tries to be respectful. Since Persis doesn’t want Tom at the main house, Lapham sometimes takes Tom to the house-in-progress, and one time there, they see Irene.

Tom asks Irene about Middlemarch, a novel by George Eliot that Penelope was reading earlier and that Tom likes. Irene admits she hasn’t finished it and doesn’t recognize the names of George Eliot’s other novels. Irene talks about the architect’s plans for lots of bookshelves in the new house. She tries to talk with Tom about other writers but gets the names mixed up and wrongly thinks the author Walter Scott is American.

Tom offers to write down the names of several authors he’s recommended to Irene. They look over the wood shavings that a carpenter has left on the ground, and Tom offers one to Irene like a flower. She laughs and puts it in her belt.

At dinner with his parents, Tom wonders how many books the average “non-cultivated” person reads. Bromfield suspects that even cultivated people don’t read that much. Bromfield asks if the Laphams own a lot of books, but Tom thinks they probably get them from the library instead. Bromfield sees this as a failing, but Tom insists that he thinks the Laphams could be intelligent, if given the chance.

Lapham and Persis often talk about Tom’s new interest in the paint company. Lapham has no reservations about Tom but feels confused about how Bromfield acts whenever he sees him—despite being Tom’s father, he acts like he doesn’t know Lapham. Persis insists that Lapham shouldn’t mention this to Tom or make any advances toward Bromfield.

When Irene gets back home, Penelope tells Irene that she had better put the “flower” in her belt (the wood shavings) into a vase. Penelope quickly guesses that Tom was the one who gave Irene the gift, and Irene admits it. She tells the story of what happened but insists that despite the gift, Tom doesn’t actually like her.

The next day, Persis asks Penelope about the shaving in Irene’s belt. Penelope reveals that it was a gift from Tom but calls it “just some nonsense.” She retells Irene’s story. Persis agrees that Tom probably wasn’t flirting with Irene. Persis thinks Irene doesn’t have the “intellect” for Tom. She suggests that while Tom doesn’t mind Irene, Irene isn’t the one Tom is trying to see.