The Doctor Returns Unchanged — Washington Square

Dr. Sloper returns from Europe unchanged in purpose and sharper in manner. He gives Mrs. Penniman a velvet gown instead of travel stories, then turns to the matter that interests him: Morris Townsend has been living comfortably in his house. He does not need confession. He reads the chairs, the fire, and Lavinia's face with physician's certainty, and warns her that encouraging Morris will bring the young man reparation, not reward. When she spars back, he calls her irony pugilism and remains as fresh as when the struggle began.

With Mrs. Almond he is more candid. He admits Morris drank his wine, calls the arrangement bad taste, and learns that Catherine still talks of Morris's business success. The Doctor interprets that as Catherine having given him up only in the sense of parental obedience, not romantic attachment. He has moved from curious experiment to exasperation, threatening that if Catherine will not jump from a doomed engagement, she may be shaken off.

Mrs. Almond, gentler, promises carpets and kindness while Mrs. Penniman writes Morris a warning letter. The chapter also explains Lavinia's odd intimacy with Morris: without a child of her own, she has adopted him as the romantic, theatrical son Catherine could never supply. She is afraid of him now, yet still eager to serve him. Everyone in the house seems more animated by Morris than Catherine is, which makes the coming break more dangerous because so few people are thinking of her alone.