After leaving Martha, and then parting ways with Mr. Peggotty, David comes upon his aunt's cottage, late, a light burning, a man standing in the yard. The same man they had encountered at an earlier time on the London streets. David waits back, hiding in the shadows to observe as his aunt emerges from the cottage and hands the man money. The man complains that it is not enough, but finally leaves, when he can extract no more. David crosses his path as he exits the yard, asks Betsey whom the man is, and if he should go speak to him. Betsey takes him inside and asks him to wait a little while and she will explain.
He was once her husband. A liar, gambler, and a cheat, he left her broken-hearted, and broke her fortune, becoming less of a worthy man than he once was when she gave her heart to him, long ago.
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