Our Mutual Friend Readalong

Chapter 14: Mr Wegg prepares A Grindstone for Mr Boffin’s Nose
Mr Venus is becoming an integral part of Wegg and Boffin’s reading evenings, and Wegg is determined to keep Venus close. This is mainly because Venus holds the recently discovered revised ‘Last Will and Testament’ of Harmon senior in his safety deposit box. A paper that would disinherit Boffin if it came to light, and that Wegg fully intends to blackmail Boffin with.
Venus however seems to be pricked by his conscience and arranges a secret meeting with Boffin during which they discuss Wegg’s scheme, the Will and also the Dutch bottle that Boffin dug up and removed from the dust mounds.
This bottle has had several mentions so I’m thinking it must have some major significance?
During the meeting Wegg himself turns up and, hiding behind a stuffed crocodile (what else?!), Boffin is able to listen first hand to Wegg’s plotting and malevolence as he tells Venus: “I shall not neglect bringing the grindstone to bear, nor yet bringing Dusty Boffin's nose to it. His nose once brought to it, shall be held to it by these hands, Mr Venus, till the sparks flies out in showers.”
What a rotter!
It would seem that Venus wants nothing more to do with Wegg’s blackmail plot and can’t even be persuaded by Boffin to maintain the facade of involvement to mitigate Boffins losses by handing his own share of the spoils back to Boffin, or by standing between The Golden Dustman and Wegg to ‘take the edge off’ as Boffin puts it.
Indeed so upstanding has Venus become that he can’t even bring himself to hand over the newly discovered Will to Boffin to dispose of as he sees fit, instead he intends to hand the Will back to Wegg, as it was Wegg who first discovered it, telling him he wants nothing more to do with his scheme.
Boffin leaves ruminating on whether Venus intends to allow Wegg to take his share of the spoils before Venus has him ‘all to himself to pick him clean to his bones’.

It’s sad to see the change wealth brings to Boffin, he’s become obsessed with money and paranoid that everyone around him is intent on taking it away from him, even suspecting Rokesmith of ulterior motives:
“If I ask advice of any one else, it's only letting in another person to be bought out, and then I shall be ruined that way, and might as well have given up the property and gone slap to the workhouse. If I was to take advice of my young man, Rokesmith, I should have to buy HIM out. Sooner or later, of course, he'd drop down upon me, like Wegg. I was brought into the world to be dropped down upon, it appears to me.”

Indeed whilst Wegg is a grasping, repugnant creature, intent on biting the hand that feeds, Boffin in his own way has become little better, and it is Venus who is taking the moral high ground here.

On his way home Boffin is waylaid by Mrs Lammel, obviously intent on spilling the beans ref Rokesmith’s marriage proposal to Bella in the hope of usurping Rokesmith’s place in the household and getting her mitts on Boffin’s money - thus proving that just because Boffin is paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t all out to get him!

Chapter 13: Give A Dog A Bad Name and Hang Him
Fledgeby visits Riah and really sticks the boot in, using Riah as a front for his own malevolence and turning Riah’s friend, the dolls dressmaker, Jenny Wren (with her tricks and manners!) against him. Jenny becomes convinced that Riah will betray Lizzie’s whereabouts to Headstone and leaves in disgust thinking him truly evil.
I’ve never read Little Dorrit but I enjoyed the BBC adaptation, the relationship between Fledgeby and Riah really reminds me of the seemingly lovely Landlord Mr Casey and his seemingly grasping rent collector Pancks.
Uncovering the duplicitous nature of people - appearance versus reality - is a favourite device of Dickens.

Chap 12: Meaning Mischief
The Lammels take centre stage, I’m enjoying the reoccurring motif of the skeleton in the cupboard.
They are still of the opinion that it is Fledgeby who has stayed the hand of the Jewish Money Lender, Riah, and knowing that they’re in danger of financial ruin they hatch a plan to solicit funds from the richest, and stupidest, person they know - Boffin.
They scheme to engineer Rokesmith’s fall from grace and replacement with Alfred Lammel as Boffin’s secretary. This is easily done by revealing Rokesmith’s marriage proposal to the unobtainable Bella.
Unfortunately for the Lammels, on hearing their scheming may make them solvent again, Fledgeby does the exact opposite of what he has promised and instructs Riah to begin proceedings against them.

Chapter 11: In The Dark
Opens by beautifully juxtaposing Eugene’s lighthearted dismissal of Headstone at the end of Chapter 10 with the murderous response of the man himself. Some top notch Dickensian writing here:

“There was no sleep for Bradley Headstone on that night when Eugene Wrayburn turned so easily in his bed; ... For, the state of the man was murderous. The state of the man was murderous, and he knew it. More; he irritated it, with a kind of perverse pleasure akin to that which a sick man sometimes has in irritating a wound upon his body. Tied up all day with his disciplined show upon him, subdued to the performance of his routine of educational tricks, encircled by a gabbling crowd, he broke loose at night like an ill-tamed wild animal.”

Headstone is revealed as a total Jekyll and Hyde character (although, having checked, as OMF predates that novel by 22 years no one would have called him that!) and Dickens shows the reader quite clearly that Wraybourne would do well to take the threat Headstone poses a mite more seriously.

In the course of conversation Riderhood tells Headstone that he’s a Deputy Lock, so its at this point that readers may put two and two together and identify Riderhood as Betty’s robber from December’s chapters!
Maybe it comes out later on more overtly that they’re one and the same but I do like the way Dickens doesn’t make this connection totally obvious, letting the reader make the connection for themselves and throwing in an ‘Alfred David’ during Betty and Riderhood’s conversation as an extra clue.

Hello all, I've tried to post my notes but it's not happening I'll try chapter by chapter, maybe I've written too much for it to post in one go
Apologies for the brain dump and for retelling the story!

Afternoon!

Late to the party, sorry, but all caught up with the reading.

I can see why you found these chapters a bit muddy. I know what they're leading to, which I suppose leads to my reading them differently.

One thing that struck me reading this section was the parallel between Jenny Wren and Mrs Lammle. They're both conduits for truth, although far apart in station and experience (externally at least).

Jenny Wren is piercing and astute, although she is fooled by Fledgeby. Mrs Lammle is piercing and astute, and helps to expose Fledgeby. Or at least nudges the process along a bit.

Another illuminating moment was Eugene Wrayburn feeling pity for Jenny Wren as she cries, but doing nothing about it. His whole character is pretty much summed up in that inaction.

The other bit I enjoyed was Tippins' Veneering dinners being expressed as though they are a sickness

'Lady Tippins lives in a chronic state of invitation to dine with the Veneerings, and in a chronic state of inflamation arising from the dinners'. (Chapter 17).

Dickens does make me laugh.

The Victorians were pretty big on dioramas of stuffed kittens going shopping,etc.
There's a scene in one of Mrs.Henry Wood's (Ellen Wood's) novels where a couple of medical students are trying to arrange for a cadaver to be smuggled into their boarding-house so they can catch up on homework.

Attitudes were a bit different back then!

This month’s chapters felt like they were just moving stories along rather than being particularly interesting in their own right, iyswim! Other than Bella and Rokesmith getting together. I’m interested to find out what happens to Headstone.

I agree that Venus’s shop really doesn’t sound attractive! Doesn’t he sell stuffed animals and the like? They are always really dingy places aren’t they, you can’t imagine anyone really wanting to go there.

I don't have anything intelligent to say about the Victorian rag and bone trade sorry Piggy!

I enjoyed this month's chapters and am glad Rokesmith and Bella have got together - it was very sentimental, but satisfying. I'm also happy that Mr Venus is turning out to have some principles, and I hope Pleasant Riderhood changes her mind about him. I also hope Dickens has a very nasty end planned for Fledgeby. I'm not entirely convinced by Mr Boffin's transformation into a mean old miser, and think its more to make a point that 'money corrupts' than an accurate psychological portrait.

Way behind everyone else here but am really enjoying OMF so far. First 10 chapters read and I feel like I'm engaging much more with this than BH or DC. Was confused, like others, about Twemlow initially and only realised he was an actual person after I !ooked up a character list online!

Finished my chapters ages ago and I have soooo many notes, also managed to stop reading at the required point this month, although I can't promise not to read the whole of Book 4 in February!
I'm definitely the school swot on this thread.
(Pity I'm in the slow readers corner on the 50 book thread )

I'll answer to anything And thanks for not telling me off for the spoiler!

Well I've now caught up the end of December (and concur with @DesdamonasHandkerchief's excellent notes).

As an aside, it is very pleasing to see Desdemona nicknamed Des. It would have lightened the atmosphere in Venice a bit, wouldn't it?

Yes, I really wouldn’t have been surprised if a whole chapter was described that I had read but recalled nothing about. There are so many characters and stories to keep track of! I’m sure I’m not reading carefully enough and am missing important points. I really should start making notes about each chapter as I’m going along.

Chessie

Des I think the fact that none of us realised it wasn't familiar tells you everything you need to know.

I'd have still missed it even if you hadn't said anything. I also get carried away when listening and it's easy to do an extra chapter without realising.

No wonder I had missed it!!

Sorry Miss 😔

Oops, the conversation between Bradley Headstone and Riderhood re being a 'Deputy Lock' takes place in Book 3 Chapter 11, I just didn't stop listening where I should have done obviously