Martin Chuzzlewit Chapter 4

In which the venerable Mr Pecksniff endeavours with measured benevolence to mediate amidst the tumultuous and far from harmonious gathering of the Chuzzlewit family, whose members convene with mutual distrust and clashing interests around the ailing patriarch. With lively disputes, pointed repartees, and the shadow of a mysterious female companion looming over their proceedings, the household settles into a state of siege and uneasy alliance, all under the watchful and ever-cautious eye of the devoted Mr Pecksniff.