As Book 8 opens, several years have passed; Aurora still lives with Marian and the child in Florence. Attempting to read Boccaccio, Aurora can only sigh when she hears Marian laugh. Night seems to Aurora like a sea that drowns her. Suddenly, Romney Leigh appears, and the two discuss the news from home contained in Vincent Carrington’s letter. It transpires that a subsequent letter from a different mutual friend has gone astray. Romney tells Aurora that her latest book has “won his soul” (Line 296) and talks about the day on which she first refused his proposal of marriage. He also expounds on the details of his failure in the world. Aurora replies that she too is a failure, for she has become both sad and lovelorn. Romney proposes again, and Aurora responds by emphasizing the centrality of God in man’s life. Romney claims that Aurora’s latest book contained the essence of something sublime beyond Aurora herself; he also complains that society has lost access to God through its fixation on material matters. In response, Aurora idealizes the concept of work and praises Romney’s philanthropy.

Romney describes the civil unrest that has courted him throughout his social work.