Two days pass before Ferdinando confronts Caleb. He says that Caleb “ha[s] said many things in very mysterious ways, and appear[s] to know something more than [Ferdinando] [is] aware of” (194). He says that Caleb should not speak to him about personal matters and must drop all the mystery.

Caleb confesses to reading the letter by Hawkins and leaving it out for Ferdinando to find. Ferdinando asks what Caleb wants from him, saying that he is a miserable man because of his past actions and that he has tried to reform. Upset, Ferdinando asked why Caleb continues to taunt him when he has already punished himself. Caleb is sad to have hurt Ferdinando and begs to be let go since his presence upsets Ferdinando. Ferdinando denies him angrily. 

Caleb is torn about Ferdinando. His “fluctuating state of mind produce[s] a contention of opposite principles” (198): Sometimes he has confidence in Ferdinando and other times he does not. Caleb notices a change in his own demeanor since all the stress with Ferdinando started. Where he previously would have asked Ferdinando about his innocence, he now recognizes that no matter what Ferdinando might say, he will continue to believe that he is guilty (199-00).