Margaret sees a good deal of Henry Lennox as he frequently visits his brother and attends Aunt Shaw's dinner parties. They eventually lose the sense of awkwardness they have about being around each other, but Margaret finds that she now is sometimes put off by both Henry's opinions and manner of expressing them. For his part, Henry treats Margaret with a rather cool formality, but can't help looking for her reaction to topics being discussed during the aforementioned parties.
To take her mind off Mr. Thornton and her discontent with her present situation, Margaret begins thinking about going to Spain to visit Frederick and his fiancee. She mentions this to Edith, who is upset and cries at the thought of Margaret leaving. Margaret is hoping Mr. Bell will accompany her, as he had expressed interest previously in doing so. She intends to suggest it when he comes to London to visit. As time passes, though, Mr. Bell writes twice to say he's coming but then puts off his visit. Soon after the second time, Margaret receives word from Mr. Bell's servant that he has had a stroke and isn't expected to live through the night. Margaret, accompanied by Captain Lennox, takes the train to Oxford but finds that Mr. Bell has died. Margaret is grief-stricken, this loss reopening the wounds caused by the deaths of her parents and Bessy. She spends a couple of weeks at the seaside, dealing with her sorrow and thinking about the future. She returns to London rested and determined to take control of her own life instead of just drifting along, obediently attending Edith and Aunt Shaw's social events.