One day, while she is reading over a letter from Dixon, who is still closing up the house in Milton, Mr. Bell is announced. He tells her that he just came up from Milton and that Henry Lennox was in the car with him. Suspecting a connection between them, Mr. Bell asks a few searching questions about Lennox; Margaret tells them that they used to be good friends and, since he's the lawyer handling Frederick's case, she corresponds with him though she hasn't seen him in almost three years. Mr. Bell was in Milton helping Dixon deal with selling/disposing of the Hale's furniture and belongings. He tells Margaret that Mr. Thornton was indispensable in this, dealing with the Hale's landlord and helping in a hundred other ways. Margaret asks quietly how Mr. Thornton is and Bell tells her that he's being driven crazy by Fanny's fussing over her wedding.
Mr. Bell and Henry Lennox leave at the same time and, curious about Lennox's feelings for Margaret, Bell plies him with subtle questions, attempting to get a read on him. Henry says that Margaret has had a lot to bear: not only with the deaths of her parents, but also the troubles brought about by her father's conduct. He basically says that, even if Mr. Hale had doubts, it was foolish of him to resign his post and give up a good living, moving his family across the country to live on a meagre income. This irritates Mr. Bell, who regards his late friends actions as principled and says so. Henry attempts to mollify Mr. Bell's feelings by saying that no doubt Mr. Hale's motives were admirable, but then irritates him again by comparing Margaret's father to Don Quixote.