Hard Times Chapters 15-16

In which we witness Louisa Gradgrind’s composed acceptance of a marriage proposal, weighed and measured with the stern exactitude of her father’s utilitarian principles, and the household’s uneasy navigation of social formalities attendant upon this union. We also accompany Mr. Bounderby through the delicate prelude to matrimony, marked by awkward encounters and pragmatic arrangements, culminating in a wedding day devoid of sentimental flourish but steeped in the sober calculations of fact.