Chapters 32-35 Summary

Chapter 32. Several years pass. Catherine receives two more marriage proposals, one from a widower with children and one from a young lawyer who is in love with her, but she turns them both down. Catherine spends the next seventeen years quietly, devoting herself to charities and her embroidery. Catherine has two letters from Mr. Townsend, but nothing else. Mrs. Penniman, however, continues to hear from him.

Chapter 33. When Dr. Sloper is sixty-eight, he asks his daughter to promise she will not marry Mr. Townsend upon his death. Catherine refuses to make that promise. When Dr. Sloper dies a year later, he has changed his will leaving the majority of his money to various hospitals and asylums. Mrs. Penniman urges Catherine to protest the will, but she refuses.

Chapter 34. Two more years pass. Catherine and her aunt are sharing a hot July...