Midwinter remains haunted by a fear that he will harm Armadale as a result of their proximity, a fate warned of in his father's letter.

On the vessel, Armadale has a mysterious dream involving three people; Midwinter believes that the events are a prophecy of the future.

As a result, Armadale inherits the estate of Thorpe-Ambrose in Norfolk and relocates there with Midwinter, intending to make him his steward.

Some linking passages consist of letters between the various characters, or of extracts from Lydia Gwilt's diary, but the great majority of the text narrates the events as they occur.

The novel is enlivened by many minor characters including Mr. Bashwood, an old failure of a clerk who is infatuated with Lydia Gwilt; his son, James "Jemmy" Bashwood, a private detective; Mrs. Oldershaw, an unscrupulous associate of Miss Gwilt’s; the Pedgifts (father and son), Armadale’s lawyers; and the Rev.

In the same year that it finished its serial publication, Collins wrote a dramatic version of Armadale in order to protect his rights to later stage the novel.

Armadale first appeared as a serialisation in the Cornhill Magazine, issued in twenty monthly instalments from November 1864 to June 1866.