blame steerforth, blame the bank, blame the brutal fall of fate. it was as though this thinking had a life of its own. the only relief from this torment of rage was... vengeance. i was unreachable. i know that now. but you stepped back from the precipice. perhaps at heart you always wanted to survive, to recover. for all your clanging of the bell, some part of you heard a human plea. i am grateful for your intervention, dorcas. but your words were not what pulled me back from self-ruin. it was coming back here, seeing my home. it was as though my wife spoke to me, soothing me, telling me to live, to surrender. none of this matters. all that endures... is my love for liza. your dedication to love is... most moving, mr. cochrane. gabriel. what-- what will you do now? i need employment. and i can think of no better place to begin my life again than the candleford forge. will you have me? ( laughs ) laura: human frailty, the locals claimed, could make the best of us do things that were out of character. however well-intentioned, we might deceive our ne