Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
Cranford and Other Tales
Chapter I
Our Society
In the first place Cranford is in possession of the Amazons all the holders of
houses above a certain rent are women If a married couple come to settle in the
town somehow the gentleman disappears he is either fairly frightened to death
by being the only man in the Cranford evening parties or he is accounted for by
being with his regiment his ship or closely engaged in business all the week
in the great neighbouring commercial town of Drumble distant only twenty miles
on a railroad In short whatever does become of the gentlemen they are not at
Cranford What could they do if they were there The surgeon has his round of
thirty miles and sleeps at Cranford but every man cannot be a surgeon For
keeping the trim gardens full of choice flowers without a weed to speck them
for frightening away little boys who look wistfully at the said flowers through
the railings for rushing out at the geese that occasionally venture into the
gardens if the gates are left open for deciding all questions of literature and
politics without troubling themselves with unnecessary reasons or arguments for
obtaining clear and correct knowledge of everybodys affairs in the parish for
keeping their neat maidservants in admirable order for kindness somewhat
dictatorial to the poor and real tender good offices to each other whenever
they are in distress the ladies of Cranford are quite sufficient »A man« as
one of them observed to me once »is so in the way in the house«
Although the ladies of Cranford know all each others proceedings they are
exceedingly indifferent to each others opinions Indeed as each has her own
individuality not to say eccentricity pretty strongly developed nothing is so
easy as verbal retaliation but somehow goodwill reigns among them to a
considerable degree
The Cranford ladies have only an occasional little quarrel spirted out in a
few peppery words and angry jerks of the head just enough to prevent the even
tenor of their lives from becoming too flat Their dress is very independent of
fashion as they observe »What does it signify how we dress here at Cranford
where everybody knows us« And if they go from home their reason is equally
cogent »What does it signify how we dress here where nobody knows us« The
materials of their clothes are in general good and plain and most of them are
nearly as scrupulous as Miss Tyler of cleanly memory but I will answer for it
the last gigot the last tight and scanty petticoat in wear in England was seen
in Cranford and seen without a smile
I can testify to a magnificent family red silk umbrella under which a
gentle little spinster left alone of many brothers and sisters used to patter
to church on rainy days Have you any red silk umbrellas in London We had a
tradition of the first that had ever been seen in Cranford and the little boys
mobbed it and called it a stick in petticoats It might have been the very red
silk one I have described held by a strong father over a troop of little ones
the poor little lady the survivor of all could scarcely carry it
Then there were rules and regulations for visiting and calls and they were
announced to any young people who might be staying in the town with all the
solemnity with which the old Manx laws were read once a year on the Tinwald
Mount
»Our friends have sent to inquire how you are after your journey tonight
my dear« fifteen miles in a gentlemans carriage »they will give you some
rest tomorrow but the next day I have no doubt they will call so be at
liberty after twelve from twelve to three are our calling hours«
Then after they had called
»It is the third day I dare say your mamma has told you my dear never to
let more than three days elapse between receiving a call and returning it and
also that you are never to stay longer than a quarter of an hour«
»But am I to look at my watch How am I to find out when a quarter of an
hour has passed«
»You must keep thinking about the time my dear and not allow yourself to
forget it in conversation«
As everybody had this rule in their minds whether they received or paid a
call of course no absorbing subject was ever spoken about We kept ourselves to
short sentences of small talk and were punctual to our time
I imagine that a few of the gentlefolks of Cranford were poor and had some
difficulty in making both ends meet but they were like the Spartans and
concealed their smart under a smiling face We none of us spoke of money
because that subject savoured of commerce and trade and though some might be
poor we were all aristocratic The Cranfordians had that kindly esprit de corps
which made them overlook all deficiencies in success when some among them tried
to conceal their poverty When Mrs Forrester for instance gave a party in her
babyhouse of a dwelling and the little maiden disturbed the ladies on the sofa
by a request that she might get the teatray out from underneath every one took
this novel proceeding as the most natural thing in the world and talked on
about household forms and ceremonies as if we all believed that our hostess had
a regular servants hall second table with housekeeper and steward instead of
the one little charityschool maiden whose short ruddy arms could never have
been strong enough to carry the tray upstairs if she had not been assisted in
private by her mistress who now sat in state pretending not to know what cakes
were sent up though she knew and we knew and she knew that we knew and we
knew that she knew that we knew she had been busy all the morning making
teabread and spongecakes
There were one or two consequences arising from this general but
unacknowledged poverty and this very much acknowledged gentility which were
not amiss and which might be introduced into many circles of society to their
great improvement For instance the inhabitants of Cranford kept early hours
and clattered home in their pattens under the guidance of a lanternbearer
about nine oclock at night and the whole town was abed and asleep by halfpast
ten Moreover it was considered vulgar a tremendous word in Cranford to give
anything expensive in the way of eatable or drinkable at the evening
entertainments Wafer breadandbutter and spongebiscuits were all that the
Honourable Mrs Jamieson gave and she was sisterinlaw to the late Earl of
Glenmire although she did practise such elegant economy
»Elegant economy« How naturally one falls back into the phraseology of
Cranford There economy was always elegant and moneyspending always vulgar
and ostentatious a sort of sourgrapeism which made us very peaceful and
satisfied I never shall forget the dismay felt when a certain Captain Brown
came to live at Cranford and openly spoke about his being poor not in a
whisper to an intimate friend the doors and windows being previously closed
but in the public street in a loud military voice alleging his poverty as a
reason for not taking a particular house The ladies of Cranford were already
rather moaning over the invasion of their territories by a man and a gentleman
He was a halfpay captain and had obtained some situation on a neighbouring
railroad which had been vehemently petitioned against by the little town and
if in addition to his masculine gender and his connection with the obnoxious
railroad he was so brazen as to talk of being poor why then indeed he must
be sent to Coventry Death was as true and as common as poverty yet people
never spoke about that loud out in the streets It was a word not to be
mentioned to ears polite We had tacitly agreed to ignore that any with whom we
associated on terms of visiting equality could ever be prevented by poverty from
doing anything that they wished If we walked to or from a party it was because
the night was so fine or the air so refreshing not because sedanchairs were
expensive If we wore prints instead of summer silks it was because we
preferred a washing material and so on till we blinded ourselves to the vulgar
fact that we were all of us people of very moderate means Of course then we
did not know what to make of a man who could speak of poverty as if it was not a
disgrace Yet somehow Captain Brown made himself respected in Cranford and
was called upon in spite of all resolutions to the contrary I was surprised to
hear his opinions quoted as authority at a visit which I paid to Cranford about
a year after he had settled in the town My own friends had been among the
bitterest opponents of any proposal to visit the Captain and his daughters only
twelve months before and now he was even admitted in the tabooed hours before
twelve True it was to discover the cause of a smoking chimney before the fire
was lighted but still Captain Brown walked upstairs nothing daunted spoke in
a voice too large for the room and joked quite in the way of a tame man about
the house He had been blind to all the small slights and omissions of trivial
ceremonies with which he had been received He had been friendly though the
Cranford ladies had been cool he had answered small sarcastic compliments in
good faith and with his manly frankness had overpowered all the shrinking which
met him as a man who was not ashamed to be poor And at last his excellent
masculine common sense and his facility in devising expedients to overcome
domestic dilemmas had gained him an extraordinary place as authority among the
Cranford ladies He himself went on in his course as unaware of his popularity
as he had been of the reverse and I am sure he was startled one day when he
found his advice so highly esteemed as to make some counsel which he had given
in jest to be taken in sober serious earnest
It was on this subject An old lady had an Alderney cow which she looked
upon as a daughter You could not pay the short quarter of an hour call without
being told of the wonderful milk or wonderful intelligence of this animal The
whole town knew and kindly regarded Miss Betsy Barkers Alderney therefore
great was the sympathy and regret when in an unguarded moment the poor cow
tumbled into a limepit She moaned so loudly that she was soon heard and
rescued but meanwhile the poor beast had lost most of her hair and came out
looking naked cold and miserable in a bare skin Everybody pitied the animal
though a few could not restrain their smiles at her droll appearance Miss Betsy
Barker absolutely cried with sorrow and dismay and it was said she thought of
trying a bath of oil This remedy perhaps was recommended by some one of the
number whose advice she asked but the proposal if ever it was made was
knocked on the head by Captain Browns decided »Get her a flannel waistcoat and
flannel drawers maam if you wish to keep her alive But my advice is kill
the poor creature at once«
Miss Betsy Barker dried her eyes and thanked the Captain heartily she set
to work and byandby all the town turned out to see the Alderney meekly going
to her pasture clad in dark grey flannel I have watched her myself many a
time Do you ever see cows dressed in grey flannel in London
Captain Brown had taken a small house on the outskirts of the town where he
lived with his two daughters He must have been upwards of sixty at the time of
the first visit I paid to Cranford after I had left it as a residence But he
had a wiry welltrained elastic figure a stiff military throwback of his
head and a springing step which made him appear much younger than he was His
eldest daughter looked almost as old as himself and betrayed the fact that his
real was more than his apparent age Miss Brown must have been forty she had a
sickly pained careworn expression on her face and looked as if the gaiety of
youth had long faded out of sight Even when young she must have been plain and
hard featured Miss Jessie Brown was ten years younger than her sister and
twenty shades prettier Her face was round and dimpled Miss Jenkyns once said
in a passion against Captain Brown the cause of which I will tell you
presently »that she thought it was time for Miss Jessie to leave off her
dimples and not always to be trying to look like a child« It was true there
was something childlike in her face and there will be I think till she dies
though she should live to a hundred Her eyes were large blue wondering eyes
looking straight at you her nose was unformed and snub and her lips were red
and dewy she wore her hair too in little rows of curls which heightened this
appearance I do not know whether she was pretty or not but I liked her face
and so did everybody and I do not think she could help her dimples She had
something of her fathers jauntiness of gait and manner and any female observer
might detect a slight difference in the attire of the two sisters that of Miss
Jessie being about two pounds per annum more expensive than Miss Browns Two
pounds was a large sum in Captain Browns annual disbursements
Such was the impression made upon me by the Brown family when I first saw
them all together in Cranford Church The Captain I had met before on the
occasion of the smoky chimney which he had cured by some simple alteration in
the flue In church he held his double eyeglass to his eyes during the Morning
Hymn and then lifted up his head erect and sang out loud and joyfully He made
the responses louder than the clerk an old man with a piping feeble voice
who I think felt aggrieved at the Captains sonorous bass and quavered higher
and higher in consequence
On coming out of church the brisk Captain paid the most gallant attention
to his two daughters He nodded and smiled to his acquaintances but he shook
hands with none until he had helped Miss Brown to unfurl her umbrella had
relieved her of her prayerbook and had waited patiently till she with
trembling nervous hands had taken up her gown to walk through the wet roads
I wondered what the Cranford ladies did with Captain Brown at their parties
We had often rejoiced in former days that there was no gentleman to be
attended to and to find conversation for at the cardparties We had
congratulated ourselves upon the snugness of the evenings and in our love for
gentility and distaste of mankind we had almost persuaded ourselves that to be
a man was to be vulgar so that when I found my friend and hostess Miss
Jenkyns was going to have a party in my honour and that Captain and the Miss
Browns were invited I wondered much what would be the course of the evening
Cardtables with green baize tops were set out by daylight just as usual it
was the third week in November so the evenings closed in about four Candles
and clean packs of cards were arranged on each table The fire was made up the
neat maidservant had received her last directions and there we stood dressed
in our best each with a candlelighter in our hands ready to dart at the
candles as soon as the first knock came Parties in Cranford were solemn
festivities making the ladies feel gravely elated as they sat together in their
best dresses As soon as three had arrived we sat down to Preference I being
the unlucky fourth The next four comers were put down immediately to another
table and presently the teatrays which I had seen set out in the storeroom
as I passed in the morning were placed each on the middle of a cardtable The
china was delicate eggshell the oldfashioned silver glittered with polishing
but the eatables were of the slightest description While the trays were yet on
the tables Captain and the Miss Browns came in and I could see that somehow
or other the Captain was a favourite with all the ladies present Ruffled brows
were smoothed sharp voices lowered at his approach Miss Brown looked ill and
depressed almost to gloom Miss Jessie smiled as usual and seemed nearly as
popular as her father He immediately and quietly assumed the mans place in the
room attended to every ones wants lessened the pretty maidservants labour
by waiting on empty cups and breadandbutterless ladies and yet did it all in
so easy and dignified a manner and so much as if it were a matter of course for
the strong to attend to the weak that he was a true man throughout He played
for threepenny points with as grave an interest as if they had been pounds and
yet in all his attention to strangers he had an eye on his suffering daughter
for suffering I was sure she was though to many eyes she might only appear to
be irritable Miss Jessie could not play cards but she talked to the
sittersout who before her coming had been rather inclined to be cross She
sang too to an old cracked piano which I think had been a spinet in its
youth Miss Jessie sang »Jock of Hazeldean« a little out of tune but we were
none of us musical though Miss Jenkyns beat time out of time by way of
appearing to be so
It was very good of Miss Jenkyns to do this for I had seen that a little
before she had been a good deal annoyed by Miss Jessie Browns unguarded
admission à propos of Shetland wool that she had an uncle her mothers
brother who was a shopkeeper in Edinburgh Miss Jenkyns tried to drown this
confession by a terrible cough for the Honourable Mrs Jamieson was sitting at
the cardtable nearest Miss Jessie and what would she say or think if she found
out she was in the same room with a shopkeepers niece But Miss Jessie Brown
who had no tact as we all agreed the next morning would repeat the
information and assure Miss Pole she could easily get her the identical
Shetland wool required »through my uncle who has the best assortment of
Shetland goods of any one in Edinbro« It was to take the taste of this out of
our mouths and the sound of this out of our ears that Miss Jenkyns proposed
music so I say again it was very good of her to beat time to the song
When the trays reappeared with biscuits and wine punctually at a quarter
to nine there was conversation comparing of cards and talking over tricks
but byandby Captain Brown sported a bit of literature
»Have you seen any numbers of The Pickwick Papers« said he They were then
publishing in parts »Capital thing«
Now Miss Jenkyns was daughter of a deceased rector of Cranford and on the
strength of a number of manuscript sermons and a pretty good library of
divinity considered herself literary and looked upon any conversation about
books as a challenge to her So she answered and said »Yes she had seen them
indeed she might say she had read them«
»And what do you think of them« exclaimed Captain Brown »Arent they
famously good«
So urged Miss Jenkyns could not but speak
»I must say I dont think they are by any means equal to Dr Johnson
Still perhaps the author is young Let him persevere and who knows what he
may become if he will take the great Doctor for his model« This was evidently
too much for Captain Brown to take placidly and I saw the words on the tip of
his tongue before Miss Jenkyns had finished her sentence
»It is quite a different sort of thing my clear madam« he began
»I am quite aware of that« returned she »And I make allowances Captain
Brown«
»Just allow me to read you a scene out of this months number« pleaded he
»I had it only this morning and I dont think the company can have read it
yet«
»As you please« said she settling herself with an air of resignation He
read the account of the swarry which Sam Weller gave at Bath Some of us laughed
heartily I did not dare because I was staying in the house Miss Jenkyns sat
in patient gravity When it was ended she turned to me and said with mild
dignity
»Fetch me Rasselas my dear out of the bookroom«
When I brought it to her she turned to Captain Brown
»Now allow me to read you a scene and then the present company can judge
between your favourite Mr Boz and Dr Johnson«
She read one of the conversations between Rasselas and Imlac in a
highpitched majestic voice and when she had ended she said »I imagine I am
now justified in my preference of Dr Johnson as a writer of fiction« The
Captain screwed his lips up and drummed on the table but he did not speak She
thought she would give a finishing blow or two
»I consider it vulgar and below the dignity of literature to publish in
numbers«
»How was the Rambler published maam« asked Captain Brown in a low voice
which I think Miss Jenkyns could not have heard
»Dr Johnsons style is a model for young beginners My father recommended
it to me when I began to write letters I have formed my own style upon it I
recommend it to your favourite«
»I should be very sorry for him to exchange his style for any such pompous
writing« said Captain Brown
Miss Jenkyns felt this as a personal affront in a way of which the Captain
had not dreamed Epistolary writing she and her friends considered as her forte
Many a copy of many a letter have I seen written and corrected on the slate
before she seized the halfhour just previous to posttime to assure her friends
of this or of that and Dr Johnson was as she said her model in these
compositions She drew herself up with dignity and only replied to Captain
Browns last remark by saying with marked emphasis on every syllable »I prefer
Dr Johnson to Mr Boz«
It is said I wont vouch for the fact that Captain Brown was heard to
say sotto voce »Dn Dr Johnson« If he did he was penitent afterwards as he
showed by going to stand near Miss Jenkynss armchair and endeavouring to
beguile her into conversation on some more pleasing subject But she was
inexorable The next day she made the remark I have mentioned about Miss
Jessies dimples
Chapter II
The Captain
It was impossible to live a month at Cranford and not know the daily habits of
each resident and long before my visit was ended I knew much concerning the
whole Brown trio There was nothing new to be discovered respecting their
poverty for they had spoken simply and openly about that from the very first
They made no mystery of the necessity for their being economical All that
remained to be discovered was the Captains infinite kindness of heart and the
various modes in which unconsciously to himself he manifested it Some little
anecdotes were talked about for some time after they occurred As we did not
read much and as all the ladies were pretty well suited with servants there
was a dearth of subjects for conversation We therefore discussed the
circumstance of the Captain taking a poor old womans dinner out of her hands
one very slippery Sunday He had met her returning from the bakehouse as he came
from church and noticed her precarious footing and with the grave dignity
with which he did everything he relieved her of her burden and steered along
the street by her side carrying her baked mutton and potatoes safely home This
was thought very eccentric and it was rather expected that he would pay a round
of calls on the Monday morning to explain and apologise to the Cranford sense
of propriety but he did no such thing and then it was decided that he was
ashamed and was keeping out of sight In a kindly pity for him we began to
say »After all the Sunday mornings occurrence showed great goodness of heart
and it was resolved that he should be comforted on his next appearance amongst
us but lo he came down upon us untouched by any sense of shame speaking
loud and bass as ever his head thrown back his wig as jaunty and wellcurled
as usual and we were obliged to conclude he had forgotten all about Sunday
Miss Pole and Miss Jessie Brown had set up a kind of intimacy on the
strength of the Shetland wool and the new knitting stitches so it happened that
when I went to visit Miss Pole I saw more of the Browns than I had done while
staying with Miss Jenkyns who had never got over what she called Captain
Browns disparaging remarks upon Dr Johnson as a writer of light and agreeable
fiction I found that Miss Brown was seriously ill of some lingering incurable
complaint the pain occasioned by which gave the uneasy expression to her face
that I had taken for unmitigated crossness Cross too she was at times when
the nervous irritability occasioned by her disease became past endurance Miss
Jessie bore with her at these times even more patiently than she did with the
bitter selfupbraidings by which they were invariably succeeded Miss Brown used
to accuse herself not merely of hasty and irritable temper but also of being
the cause why her father and sister were obliged to pinch in order to allow her
the small luxuries which were necessaries in her condition She would so fain
have made sacrifices for them and have lightened their cares that the original
generosity of her disposition added acerbity to her temper All this was borne
by Miss Jessie and her father with more than placidity with absolute
tenderness I forgave Miss Jessie her singing out of tune and her juvenility of
dress when I saw her at home I came to perceive that Captain Browns dark
Brutus wig and padded coat alas too often threadbare were remnants of the
military smartness of his youth which he now wore unconsciously He was a man
of infinite resources gained in his barrack experience As he confessed no one
could black his boots to please him except himself but indeed he was not
above saving the little maidservants labours in every way knowing most
likely that his daughters illness made the place a hard one
He endeavoured to make peace with Miss Jenkyns soon after the memorable
dispute I have named by a present of a wooden fireshovel his own making
having heard her say how much the grating of an iron one annoyed her She
received the present with cool gratitude and thanked him formally When he was
gone she bade me put it away in the lumberroom feeling probably that no
present from a man who preferred Mr Boz to Dr Johnson could be less jarring
than an iron fireshovel
Such was the state of things when I left Cranford and went to Drumble I
had however several correspondents who kept me au fait as to the proceedings
of the dear little town There was Miss Pole who was becoming as much absorbed
in crochet as she had been once in knitting and the burden of whose letter was
something like But dont you forget the white worsted at Flints of the old
song for at the end of every sentence of news came a fresh direction as to some
crochet commission which I was to execute for her Miss Matilda Jenkyns who did
not mind being called Miss Matty when Miss Jenkyns was not by wrote nice
kind rambling letters now and then venturing into an opinion of her own but
suddenly pulling herself up and either begging me not to name what she had
said as Deborah thought differently and she knew or else putting in a
postscript to the effect that since writing the above she had been talking
over the subject with Deborah and was quite convinced that etc here
probably followed a recantation of every opinion she had given in the letter
Then came Miss Jenkyns Deborah as she liked Miss Matty to call her her
father having once said that the Hebrew name ought to be so pronounced I
secretly think she took the Hebrew prophetess for a model in character and
indeed she was not unlike the stern prophetess in some ways making allowance
of course for modern customs and difference in dress Miss Jenkyns wore a
cravat and a little bonnet like a jockeycap and altogether had the appearance
of a strongminded woman although she would have despised the modern idea of
women being equal to men Equal indeed she knew they were superior But to
return to her letters Everything in them was stately and grand like herself I
have been looking them over dear Miss Jenkyns how I honoured her and I will
give an extract more especially because it relates to our friend Captain Brown
The Honourable Mrs Jamieson has only just quitted me and in the course of
conversation she communicated to me the intelligence that she had yesterday
received a call from her revered husbands quondam friend Lord Mauleverer You
will not easily conjecture what brought his lordship within the precincts of our
little town It was to see Captain Brown with whom it appears his lordship
was acquainted in the plumed wars and who had the privilege of averting
destruction from his lordships head when some great peril was impending over
it off the misnomered Cape of Good Hope You know our friend the Honourable
Mrs Jamiesons deficiency in the spirit of innocent curiosity and you will
therefore not be so much surprised when I tell you she was quite unable to
disclose to me the exact nature of the peril in question I was anxious I
confess to ascertain in what manner Captain Brown with his limited
establishment could receive so distinguished a guest and I discovered that his
lordship retired to rest and let us hope to refreshing slumbers at the Angel
Hotel but shared the Brunonian meals during the two days that he honoured
Cranford with his august presence Mrs Johnson our civil butchers wife
informs me that Miss Jessie purchased a leg of lamb but besides this I can
hear of no preparation whatever to give a suitable reception to so distinguished
a visitor Perhaps they entertained him with the feast of reason and the flow of
soul and to us who are acquainted with Captain Browns sad want of relish for
the pure wells of English undefiled it may be matter for congratulation that he
has had the opportunity of improving his taste by holding converse with an
elegant and refined member of the British aristocracy But from some mundane
failings who is altogether free«
Miss Pole and Miss Matty wrote to me by the same post Such a piece of news
as Lord Mauleverers visit was not to be lost on the Cranford letterwriters
they made the most of it Miss Matty humbly apologised for writing at the same
time as her sister who was so much more capable than she to describe the honour
done to Cranford but in spite of a little bad spelling Miss Mattys account
gave me the best idea of the commotion occasioned by his lordships visit after
it had occurred for except the people at the Angel the Browns Mrs Jamieson
and a little lad his lordship had sworn at for driving a dirty hoop against the
aristocratic legs I could not hear of any one with whom his lordship had held
conversation
My next visit to Cranford was in the summer There had been neither births
deaths nor marriages since I was there last Everybody lived in the same house
and wore pretty nearly the same wellpreserved oldfashioned clothes The
greatest event was that Miss Jenkynses had purchased a new carpet for the
drawingroom Oh the busy work Miss Matty and I had in chasing the sunbeams as
they fell in an afternoon right down on this carpet through the blindless
window We spread newspapers over the places and sat down to our book or our
work and lo in a quarter of an hour the sun had moved and was blazing away
on a fresh spot and down again we went on our knees to alter the position of
the newspapers We were very busy too one whole morning before Miss Jenkyns
gave her party in following her directions and in cutting out and stitching
together pieces of newspaper so as to form little paths to every chair set for
the expected visitors lest their shoes might dirty or defile the purity of the
carpet Do you make paper paths for every guest to walk upon in London
Captain Brown and Miss Jenkyns were not very cordial to each other The
literary dispute of which I had seen the beginning was a raw the slightest
touch on which made them wince It was the only difference of opinion they had
ever had but that difference was enough Miss Jenkyns could not refrain from
talking at Captain Brown and though he did not reply he drummed with his
fingers which action she felt and resented as very disparaging to Dr Johnson
He was rather ostentatious in his preference of the writings of Mr Boz would
walk through the streets so absorbed in them that he all but ran against Miss
Jenkyns and though his apologies were earnest and sincere and though he did
not in fact do more than startle her and himself she owned to me she had
rather he had knocked her down if he had only been reading a higher style of
literature The poor brave Captain he looked older and more worn and his
clothes were very threadbare But he seemed as bright and cheerful as ever
unless he was asked about his daughters health
»She suffers a great deal and she must suffer more we do what we can to
alleviate her pain Gods will be done« He took off his hat at these last
words I found from Miss Matty that everything had been done in fact A
medical man of high repute in that country neighbourhood had been sent for
and every injunction he had given was attended to regardless of expense Miss
Matty was sure they denied themselves many things in order to make the invalid
comfortable but they never spoke about it and as for Miss Jessie »I really
think shes an angel« said poor Miss Matty quite overcome »To see her way of
bearing with Miss Browns crossness and the bright face she puts on after shes
been sitting up a whole night and scolded above half of it is quite beautiful
Yet she looks as neat and as ready to welcome the Captain at breakfasttime as
if she had been asleep in the Queens bed all night My dear you could never
laugh at her prim little curls or her pink bows again if you saw her as I have
done« I could only feel very penitent and greet Miss Jessie with double
respect when I met her next She looked faded and pinched and her lips began to
quiver as if she was very weak when she spoke of her sister But she
brightened and sent back the tears that were glittering in her pretty eyes as
she said
»But to be sure what a town Cranford is for kindness I dont suppose any
one has a better dinner than usual cooked but the best part of all comes in a
little covered basin for my sister The poor people will leave their earliest
vegetables at our door for her They speak short and gruff as if they were
ashamed of it but I am sure it often goes to my heart to see their
thoughtfulness« The tears now came back and overflowed but after a minute or
two she began to scold herself and ended by going away the same cheerful Miss
Jessie as ever
»But why does not this Lord Mauleverer do something for the man who saved
his life« said I
»Why you see unless Captain Brown has some reason for it he never speaks
about being poor and he walked along by his lordship looking as happy and
cheerful as a prince and as they never called attention to their dinner by
apologies and as Miss Brown was better that day and all seemed bright I dare
say his lordship never knew how much care there was in the background He did
send game in the winter pretty often but now he is gone abroad«
I had often occasion to notice the use that was made of fragments and small
opportunities in Cranford the roseleaves that were gathered ere they fell to
make into a potpourri for some one who had no garden the little bundles of
lavender flowers sent to strew the drawers of some towndweller or to burn in
the chamber of some invalid Things that many would despise and actions which
it seemed scarcely worth while to perform were all attended to in Cranford
Miss Jenkyns stuck an apple full of cloves to be heated and smell pleasantly in
Miss Browns room and as she put in each clove she uttered a Johnsonian
sentence Indeed she never could think of the Browns without talking Johnson
and as they were seldom absent from her thoughts just then I heard many a
rolling threepiled sentence
Captain Brown called one day to thank Miss Jenkyns for many little
kindnesses which I did not know until then that she had rendered He had
suddenly become like an old man his deep bass voice had a quavering in it his
eyes looked dim and the lines on his face were deep He did not could not
speak cheerfully of his daughters state but he talk with manly pious
resignation and not much Twice over he said »What Jessie has been to us God
only knows« and after the second time he got up hastily shook hands all round
without speaking and left the room
That afternoon we perceived little groups in the street all listening with
faces aghast to some tale or other Miss Jenkyns wondered what could be the
matter for some time before she took the undignified step of sending Jenny out
to inquire
Jenny came back with a white face of terror »Oh maam oh Miss Jenkyns
maam Captain Brown is killed by them nasty cruel railroads« and she burst
into tears She along with many others had experienced the poor Captains
kindness
»How where where Good God Jenny dont waste time in crying but tell
us something« Miss Matty rushed out into the street at once and collared the
man who was telling the tale
»Come in come to my sister at once Miss Jenkyns the rectors daughter
Oh man man say it is not true« she cried as she brought the affrighted
carter sleeking down his hair into the drawingroom where he stood with his
wet boots on the new carpet and no one regarded it
»Please mum it is true I seed it myself« and he shuddered at the
recollection »The Captain was areading some new book as he was deep in
awaiting for the down train and there was a little lass as wanted to come to
its mammy and gave its sister the slip and came toddling across the line And
he looked up sudden at the sound of the train coming and seed the child and
he darted on the line and cotched it up and his foot slipped and the train
came over him in no time O Lord Lord Mum its quite true and theyve come
over to tell his daughters The childs safe though with only a bang on its
shoulder as he threw it to its mammy Poor Captain would be glad of that mum
wouldnt he God bless him« The great rough carter puckered up his manly face
and turned away to hide his tears I turned to Miss Jenkyns She looked very
ill as if she were going to faint and signed to me to open the window
»Matilda bring me my bonnet I must go to those girls God pardon me if
ever I have spoken contemptuously to the Captain«
Miss Jenkyns arrayed herself to go out telling Miss Matilda to give the man
a glass of wine While she was away Miss Matty and I huddled over the fire
talking in a low and awestruck voice I know we cried quietly all the time
Miss Jenkyns came home in a silent mood and we durst not ask her many
questions She told us that Miss Jessie had fainted and that she and Miss Pole
had had some difficulty in bringing her round but that as soon as she
recovered she begged one of them to go and sit with her sister
»Mr Hoggins says she cannot live many days and she shall be spared this
shock« said Miss Jessie shivering with feelings to which she dared not give
way
»But how can you manage my dear« asked Miss Jenkyns »you cannot bear up
she must see your tears«
»God will help me I will not give way she was asleep when the news came
she may be asleep yet She would be so utterly miserable not merely at my
fathers death but to think of what would become of me she is so good to me«
She looked up earnestly in their faces with her soft true eyes and Miss Pole
told Miss Jenkyns afterwards she could hardly bear it knowing as she did how
Miss Brown treated her sister
However it was settled according to Miss Jessies wish Miss Brown was to
be told her father had been summoned to take a short journey on railway
business They had managed it in some way Miss Jenkyns could not exactly say
how Miss Pole was to stop with Miss Jessie Mrs Jamieson had sent to inquire
And this was all we heard that night and a sorrowful night it was The next day
a full account of the fatal accident was in the county paper which Miss Jenkyns
took in Her eyes were very weak she said and she asked me to read it When I
came to the »gallant gentleman was deeply engaged in the perusal of a number of
Pickwick which he had just received« Miss Jenkyns shook her head long and
solemnly and then sighed out »Poor dear infatuated man«
The corpse was to be taken from the station to the parish church there to
be interred Miss Jessie had set her heart on following it to the grave and no
dissuasives could alter her resolve Her restraint upon herself made her almost
obstinate she resisted all Miss Poles entreaties and Miss Jenkynss advice At
last Miss Jenkyns gave up the point and after a silence which I feared
portended some deep displeasure against Miss Jessie Miss Jenkyns said she
should accompany the latter to the funeral
»It is not fit for you to go atone It would be against both propriety and
humanity were I to allow it«
Miss Jessie seemed as if she did not half like this arrangement but her
obstinacy if she had any had been exhausted in her determination to go to the
interment She longed poor thing I have no doubt to cry alone over the grave
of the dear father to whom she had been all in all and to give way for one
little halfhour uninterrupted by sympathy and unobserved by friendship But it
was not to be That afternoon Miss Jenkyns sent out for a yard of black crape
and employed herself busily in trimming the little black silk bonnet I have
spoken about When it was finished she put it on and looked at us for
approbation admiration she despised I was full of sorrow but by one of
those whimsical thoughts which come unbidden into our heads in times of deepest
grief I no sooner saw the bonnet than I was reminded of a helmet and in that
hybrid bonnet half helmet half jockeycap did Miss Jenkyns attend Captain
Browns funeral and I believe supported Miss Jessie with a tender indulgent
firmness which was invaluable allowing her to weep her passionate fill before
they left
Miss Pole Miss Matty and I meanwhile attended to Miss Brown and hard
work we found it to relieve her querulous and neverending complaints But if we
were so weary and dispirited what must Miss Jessie have been Yet she came back
almost calm as if she had gained a new strength She put off her mourning
dress and came in looking pale and gentle thanking us each with a soft long
pressure of the hand She could even smile a faint sweet wintry smile as
if to reassure us of her power to endure but her look made our eyes fill
suddenly with tears more than if she had cried outright
It was settled that Miss Pole was to remain with her all the watching
livelong night and that Miss Matty and I were to return in the morning to
relieve them and give Miss Jessie the opportunity for a few hours of sleep But
when the morning came Miss Jenkyns appeared at the breakfasttable equipped in
her helmetbonnet and ordered Miss Matty to stay at home as she meant to go
and help to nurse She was evidently in a state of great friendly excitement
which she showed by eating her breakfast standing and scolding the household
all round
No nursing no energetic strongminded woman could help Miss Brown now
There was that in the room as we entered which was stronger than us all and
made us shrink into solemn awestruck helplessness Miss Brown was dying We
hardly knew her voice it was so devoid of the complaining tone we had always
associated with it Miss Jessie told me afterwards that it and her face too
were just what they had been formerly when her mothers death left her the
young anxious head of the family of whom only Miss Jessie survived
She was conscious of her sisters presence though not I think of ours We
stood a little behind the curtain Miss Jessie knelt with her face near her
sisters in order to catch the last soft awful whispers
»Oh Jessie Jessie How selfish I have been God forgive me for letting you
sacrifice yourself for me as you did I have so loved you and yet I have
thought only of myself God forgive me«
»Hush love hush« said Miss Jessie sobbing
»And my father my dear dear father I will not complain now if God will
give me strength to be patient But oh Jessie tell my father how I longed and
yearned to see him at last and to ask his forgiveness He can never know now
how I loved him oh if I might but tell him before I die What a life of
sorrow his has been and I have done so little to cheer him«
A light came into Miss Jessies face »Would it comfort you dearest to
think that he does know would it comfort you love to know that his cares
his sorrows« Her voice quivered but she steadied it into calmness »Mary
he has gone before you to the place where the weary are at rest He knows now
how you loved him«
A strange look which was not distress came over Miss Browns face She did
not speak for some time but then we saw her lips form the words rather than
heard the sound »Father mother Harry Archy« then as if it were a new
idea throwing a filmy shadow over her darkened mind »But you will be alone
Jessie«
Miss Jessie had been feeling this all during the silence I think for the
tears rolled down her cheeks like rain at these words and she could not answer
at first Then she put her hands together tight and lifted them up and said
but not to us
»Though He slay me yet will I trust in Him«
In a few moments more Miss Brown lay calm and still never to sorrow or
murmur more
After this second funeral Miss Jenkyns insisted that Miss Jessie should
come to stay with her rather than go back to the desolate house which in fact
we learned from Miss Jessie must now be given up as she had not wherewithal to
maintain it She had something above twenty pounds a year besides the interest
of the money for which the furniture would sell but she could not live upon
that and so we talked over her qualifications for earning money
»I can sew neatly« said she »and I like nursing I think too I could
manage a house if any one would try me as housekeeper or I would go into a
shop as saleswoman if they would have patience with me at first«
Miss Jenkyns declared in an angry voice that she should do no such thing
and talked to herself about »some people having no idea of their rank as a
captains daughter« nearly an hour afterwards when she brought Miss Jessie up
a basin of delicatelymade arrowroot and stood over her like a dragoon until
the last spoonful was finished then she disappeared Miss Jessie began to tell
me some more of the plans which had suggested themselves to her and insensibly
fell into talking of the days that were past and gone and interested me so much
I neither knew nor heeded how time passed We were both startled when Miss
Jenkyns reappeared and caught us crying I was afraid lest she would be
displeased as she often said that crying hindered digestion and I knew she
wanted Miss Jessie to get strong but instead she looked queer and excited
and fidgeted round us without saying anything At last she spoke
»I have been so much startled no Ive not been at all startled dont
mind me my dear Miss Jessie Ive been very much surprised in fact Ive had
a caller whom you knew once my dear Miss Jessie«
Miss Jessie went very white then flushed scarlet and looked eagerly at
Miss Jenkyns
»A gentleman my dear who wants to know if you would see him«
»Is it it is not« stammered out Miss Jessie and got no farther
»This is his card« said Miss Jenkyns giving it to Miss Jessie and while
her head was bent over it Miss Jenkyns went through a series of winks and odd
faces to me and formed her lips into a long sentence of which of course I
could not understand a word
»May he come up« asked Miss Jenkyns at last
»Oh yes certainly« said Miss Jessie as much as to say this is your
house you may show any visitor where you like She took up some knitting of
Miss Mattys and began to be very busy though I could see how she trembled all
over
Miss Jenkyns rang the bell and told the servant who answered it to show
Major Gordon upstairs and presently in walked a tall fine franklooking man
of forty or upwards He shook hands with Miss Jessie but he could not see her
eyes she kept them so fixed on the ground Miss Jenkyns asked me if I would
come and help her to tie up the preserves in the storeroom and though Miss
Jessie plucked at my gown and even looked up at me with begging eye I durst
not refuse to go where Miss Jenkyns asked Instead of tying up preserves in the
storeroom however we went to talk in the diningroom and there Miss Jenkyns
told me what Major Gordon had told her how he had served in the same regiment
with Captain Brown and had become acquainted with Miss Jessie then a
sweetlooking blooming girl of eighteen how the acquaintance had grown into
love on his part though it had been some years before he had spoken how on
becoming possessed through the will of an uncle of a good estate in Scotland
he had offered and been refused though with so much agitation and evident
distress that he was sure she was not indifferent to him and how he had
discovered that the obstacle was the fell disease which was even then too
surely threatening her sister She had mentioned that the surgeons foretold
intense suffering and there was no one but herself to nurse her poor Mary or
cheer and comfort her father during the time of illness They had had long
discussions and on her refusal to pledge herself to him as his wife when all
should be over he had grown angry and broken off entirely and gone abroad
believing that she was a coldhearted person whom he would do well to forget He
had been travelling in the East and was on his return home when at Rome he
saw the account of Captain Browns death in Galignani
Just then Miss Matty who had been out all the morning and had only lately
returned to the house burst in with a face of dismay and outraged propriety
»Oh goodness me« she said »Deborah theres a gentleman sitting in the
drawingroom with his arm round Miss Jessies waist« Miss Mattys eyes looked
large with terror
Miss Jenkyns snubbed her down in an instant
»The most proper place in the world for his arm to be in Go away Matilda
and mind your own business« This from her sister who had hitherto been a model
of feminine decorum was a blow for poor Miss Matty and with a double shock she
left the room
The last time I ever saw poor Miss Jenkyns was many years after this Mrs
Gordon had kept up a warm and affectionate intercourse with all at Cranford
Miss Jenkyns Miss Matty and Miss Pole had all been to visit her and returned
with wonderful accounts of her house her husband her dress and her looks
For with happiness something of her early bloom returned she had been a year
or two younger than we had taken her for Her eyes were always lovely and as
Mrs Gordon her dimples were not out of place At the time to which I have
referred when I last saw Miss Jenkyns that lady was old and feeble and had
lost something of her strong mind Little Flora Gordon was staying with the
Misses Jenkyns and when I came in she was reading aloud to Miss Jenkyns who
lay feeble and changed on the sofa Flora put down the Rambler when I came in
»Ah« said Miss Jenkyns »you find me changed my dear I cant see as I
used to do If Flora were not here to read to me I hardly know how I should get
through the day Did you ever read the Rambler Its a wonderful book
wonderful and the most improving reading for Flora« which I dare say it would
have been if she could have read half the words without spelling and could
have understood the meaning of a third »better than that strange old book
with the queer name poor Captain Brown was killed for reading that book by
Mr Boz you know Old Poz when I was a girl but thats a long time ago I
acted Lucy in Old Poz« She babbled on long enough for Flora to get a good long
spell at the Christmas Carol which Miss Matty had left on the table
Chapter III
A Love Affair of Long Ago
I thought that probably my connection with Cranford would cease after Miss
Jenkynss death at least that it would have to be kept up by correspondence
which bears much the same relation to personal intercourse that the books of
dried plants I sometimes see Hortus Siccus I think they call the thing do to
the living and fresh flowers in the lanes and meadows I was pleasantly
surprised therefore by receiving a letter from Miss Pole who had always come
in for a supplementary week after my annual visit to Miss Jenkyns proposing
that I should go and stay with her and then in a couple of days after my
acceptance came a note from Miss Matty in which in a rather circuitous and
very humble manner she told me how much pleasure I should confer if I could
spend a week or two with her either before or after I had been at Miss Poles
»for« she said »since my dear sisters death I am well aware I have no
attractions to offer it is only to the kindness of my friends that I can owe
their company«
Of course I promised to come to dear Miss Matty as soon as I had ended my
visit to Miss Pole and the day after my arrival at Cranford I went to see her
much wondering what the house would be like without Miss Jenkyns and rather
dreading the changed aspect of things Miss Matty began to cry as soon as she
saw me She was evidently nervous from having anticipated my call I comforted
her as well as I could and I found the best consolation I could give was the
honest praise that came from my heart as I spoke of the deceased Miss Matty
slowly shook her head over each virtue as it was named and attributed to her
sister and at last she could not restrain the tears which had long been
silently flowing but hid her face behind her handkerchief and sobbed aloud
»Dear Miss Matty« said I taking her hand for indeed I did not know in
what way to tell her how sorry I was for her left deserted in the world She
put down her handkerchief and said
»My dear Id rather you did not call me Matty She did not like it but I
did many a thing she did not like Im afraid and now shes gone If you
please my love will you call me Matilda«
I promised faithfully and began to practise the new name with Miss Pole
that very day and by degrees Miss Matildas feeling on the subject was known
through Cranford and we all tried to drop the more familiar name but with so
little success that byandby we gave up the attempt
My visit to Miss Pole was very quiet Miss Jenkyns had so long taken the
lead in Cranford that now she was gone they hardly knew how to give a party
The Honourable Mrs Jamieson to whom Miss Jenkyns herself had always yielded
the post of honour was fat and inert and very much at the mercy of her old
servants If they chose that she should give a party they reminded her of the
necessity for so doing if not she let it alone There was all the more time
for me to hear oldworld stories from Miss Pole while she sat knitting and I
making my fathers shirts I always took a quantity of plain sewing to Cranford
for as we did not read much or walk much I found it a capital time to get
through my work One of Miss Poles stories related to a shadow of a love affair
that was dimly perceived or suspected long years before
Presently the time arrived when I was to remove to Miss Matildas house I
found her timid and anxious about the arrangements for my comfort Many a time
while I was unpacking did she come backwards and forwards to stir the fire
which burned all the worse for being so frequently poked
»Have you drawers enough dear« asked she »I dont know exactly how my
sister used to arrange them She had capital methods I am sure she would have
trained a servant in a week to make a better fire than this and Fanny has been
with me four months«
This subject of servants was a standing grievance and I could not wonder
much at it for if gentlemen were scarce and almost unheard of in the genteel
society of Cranford they or their counterparts handsome young men abounded
in the lower classes The pretty neat servantmaids had their choice of
desirable followers and their mistresses without having the sort of mysterious
dread of men and matrimony that Miss Matilda had might well feel a little
anxious lest the heads of their comely maids should be turned by the joiner or
the butcher or the gardener who were obliged by their callings to come to
the house and who as illluck would have it were generally handsome and
unmarried Fannys lovers if she had any and Miss Matilda suspected her of so
many flirtations that if she had not been very pretty I should have doubted
her having one were a constant anxiety to her mistress She was forbidden by
the articles of her engagement to have followers and though she had answered
innocently enough doubling up the hem of her apron as she spoke »Please
maam I never had more than one at a time« Miss Matty prohibited that one But
a vision of a man seemed to haunt the kitchen Fanny assured me that it was all
fancy or else I should have said myself that I had seen a mans coattails
whisk into the scullery once when I went on an errand into the storeroom at
night and another evening when our watches having stopped I went to look at
the clock there was a very odd appearance singularly like a young man squeezed
up between the clock and the back of the open kitchendoor and I thought Fanny
snatched up the candle very hastily so as to throw the shadow on the clock
face while she very positively told me the time halfanhour too early as we
found out afterwards by the church clock But I did not add to Miss Mattys
anxieties by naming my suspicions especially as Fanny said to me the next day
that it was such a queer kitchen for having odd shadows about it she really was
almost afraid to stay »for you know miss« she added »I dont see a creature
from six oclock tea till Missus rings the bell for prayers at ten«
However it so fell out that Fanny had to leave and Miss Matilda begged me
to stay and settle her with the new maid to which I consented after I had
heard from my father that he did not want me at home The new servant was a
rough honestlooking country girl who had only lived in a farm place before
but I liked her looks when she came to be hired and I promised Miss Matilda to
put her in the ways of the house The said ways were religiously such as Miss
Matilda thought her sister would approve Many a domestic rule and regulation
had been a subject of plaintive whispered murmur to me during Miss Jenkynss
life but now that she was gone I do not think that even I who was a
favourite durst have suggested an alteration To give an instance we
constantly adhered to the forms which were observed at mealtimes in my
father the rectors house Accordingly we had always wine and dessert but the
decanters were only filled when there was a party and what remained was seldom
touched though we had two wineglasses apiece every day after dinner until the
next festive occasion arrived when the state of the remainder wine was examined
into in a family council The dregs were often given to the poor but
occasionally when a good deal had been left at the last party five months ago
it might be it was added to some of a fresh bottle brought up from the
cellar I fancy poor Captain Brown did not much like wine for I noticed he
never finished his first glass and most military men take several Then as to
our dessert Miss Jenkyns used to gather currants and gooseberries for it
herself which I sometimes thought would have tasted better fresh from the
trees but then as Miss Jenkyns observed there would have been nothing for
dessert in summertime As it was we felt very genteel with our two glasses
apiece and a dish of gooseberries at the top of currants and biscuits at the
sides and two decanters at the bottom When oranges came in a curious
proceeding was gone through Miss Jenkyns did not like to cut the fruit for as
she observed the juice all ran out nobody knew where sucking only I think she
used some more recondite word was in fact the only way of enjoying oranges but
then there was the unpleasant association with a ceremony frequently gone
through by little babies and so after dessert in orange season Miss Jenkyns
and Miss Matty used to rise up possess themselves each of an orange in silence
and withdraw to the privacy of their own rooms to indulge in sucking oranges
I had once or twice tried on such occasions to prevail on Miss Matty to
stay and had succeeded in her sisters lifetime I held up a screen and did
not look and as she said she tried not to make the noise very offensive but
now that she was left alone she seemed quite horrified when I begged her to
remain with me in the warm diningparlour and enjoy her orange as she liked
best And so it was in everything Miss Jenkynss rules were made more stringent
than ever because the framer of them was gone where there could be no appeal
In all things else Miss Matilda was meek and undecided to a fault I have heard
Fanny turn her round twenty times in a morning about dinner just as the little
hussy chose and I sometimes fancied she worked on Miss Matildas weakness in
order to bewilder her and to make her feel more in the power of her clever
servant I determined that I would not leave her till I had seen what sort of a
person Martha was and if I found her trustworthy I would tell her not to
trouble her mistress with every little decision
Martha was blunt and plainspoken to a fault otherwise she was a brisk
wellmeaning but very ignorant girl She had not been with us a week before
Miss Matilda and I were astounded one morning by the receipt of a letter from a
cousin of hers who had been twenty or thirty years in India and who had
lately as we had seen by the »Army List« returned to England bringing with
him an invalid wife who had never been introduced to her English relations
Major Jenkyns wrote to propose that he and his wife should spend a night at
Cranford on his way to Scotland at the inn if it did not suit Miss Matilda
to receive them into her house in which case they should hope to be with her as
much as possible during the day Of course it must suit her as she said for
all Cranford knew that she had her sisters bedroom at liberty but I am sure
she wished the Major had stopped in India and forgotten his cousins out and out
»Oh how must I manage« asked she helplessly »If Deborah had been alive
she would have known what to do with a gentlemanvisitor Must I put razors in
his dressingroom Dear dear and Ive got none Deborah would have had them
And slippers and coatbrushes« I suggested that probably he would bring all
these things with him »And after dinner how am I to know when to get up and
leave him to his wine Deborah would have done it so well she would have been
quite in her element Will he want coffee do you think« I undertook the
management of the coffee and told her I would instruct Martha in the art of
waiting in which it must be owned she was terribly deficient and that I had
no doubt Major and Mrs Jenkyns would understand the quiet mode in which a lady
lived by herself in a country town But she was sadly fluttered I made her
empty her decanters and bring up two fresh bottles of wine I wished I could
have prevented her from being present at my instructions to Martha for she
frequently cut in with some fresh direction muddling the poor girls mind as
she stood openmouthed listening to us both
»Hand the vegetables round« said I foolishly I see now for it was
aiming at more than we could accomplish with quietness and simplicity and
then seeing her look bewildered I added »take the vegetables round to people
and let them help themselves«
»And mind you go first to the ladies« put in Miss Matilda »Always go to
the ladies before gentlemen when you are waiting«
»Ill do it as you tell me maam« said Martha »but I like lads best«
We felt very uncomfortable and shocked at this speech of Marthas yet I
dont think she meant any harm and on the whole she attended very well to our
directions except that she nudged the Major when he did not help himself as
soon as she expected to the potatoes while she was handing them round
The Major and his wife were quiet unpretending people enough when they did
come languid as all East Indians are I suppose We were rather dismayed at
their bringing two servants with them a Hindoo bodyservant for the Major and
a steady elderly maid for his wife but they slept at the inn and took off a
good deal of the responsibility by attending carefully to their masters and
mistresss comfort Martha to be sure had never ended her staring at the East
Indians white turban and brown complexion and I saw that Miss Matilda shrunk
away from him a little as he waited at dinner Indeed she asked me when they
were gone if he did not remind me of Blue Beard On the whole the visit was
most satisfactory and is a subject of conversation even now with Miss Matilda
at the time it greatly excited Cranford and even stirred up the apathetic and
Honourable Mrs Jamieson to some expression of interest when I went to call and
thank her for the kind answers she had vouchsafed to Miss Matildas inquiries as
to the arrangement of a gentlemans dressingroom answers which I must confess
she had given in the wearied manner of the Scandinavian prophetess
»Leave me leave me to repose«
And now I come to the love affair
It seems that Miss Pole had a cousin once or twice removed who had offered
to Miss Matty long ago Now this cousin lived four or five miles from Cranford
on his own estate but his property was not large enough to entitle him to rank
higher than a yeoman or rather with something of the pride which apes
humility he had refused to push himself on as so many of his class had done
into the ranks of the squires He would not allow himself to be called Thomas
Holbrook Esq he even sent back letters with this address telling the
postmistress at Cranford that his name was Mr Thomas Holbrook yeoman He
rejected all domestic innovations he would have the house door stand open in
summer and shut in winter without knocker or bell to summon a servant The
closed fist or the knob of the stick did this office for him if he found the
door locked He despised every refinement which had not its root deep down in
humanity If people were not ill he saw no necessity for moderating his voice
He spoke the dialect of the country in perfection and constantly used it in
conversation although Miss Pole who gave me these particulars added that he
read aloud more beautifully and with more feeling than any one she had ever
heard except the late rector
»And how came Miss Matilda not to marry him« asked I
»Oh I dont know She was willing enough I think but you know Cousin
Thomas would not have been enough of a gentleman for the rector and Miss
Jenkyns«
»Well but they were not to marry him« said I impatiently
»No but they did not like Miss Matty to marry below her rank You know she
was the rectors daughter and somehow they are related to Sir Peter Arley Miss
Jenkyns thought a deal of that«
»Poor Miss Matty« said I
»Nay now I dont know anything more than that he offered and was refused
Miss Matty might not like him and Miss Jenkyns might never have said a word
it is only a guess of mine«
»Has she never seen him since« I inquired
»No I think not You see Woodley Cousin Thomass house lies halfway
between Cranford and Misselton and I know he made Misselton his markettown
very soon after he had offered to Miss Matty and I dont think he has been into
Cranford above once or twice since once when I was walking with Miss Matty
in High Street and suddenly she darted from me and went up Shire Lane A few
minutes after I was startled by meeting Cousin Thomas«
»How old is he« I asked after a pause of castlebuilding
»He must be about seventy I think my dear« said Miss Pole blowing up my
castle as if by gunpowder into small fragments
Very soon after at least during my long visit to Miss Matilda I had the
opportunity of seeing Mr Holbrook seeing too his first encounter with his
former love after thirty or forty years separation I was helping to decide
whether any of the new assortment of coloured silks which they had just received
at the shop would do to match a grey and black mousselinedelaine that wanted a
new breadth when a tall thin Don Quixotelooking old man came into the shop
for some woollen gloves I had never seen the person who was rather striking
before and I watched him rather attentively while Miss Matty listened to the
shopman The stranger wore a blue coat with brass buttons drab breeches and
gaiters and drummed with his fingers on the counter until he was attended to
When he answered the shopboys question »What can I have the pleasure of
showing you today sir« I saw Miss Matilda start and then suddenly sit down
and instantly I guessed who it was She had made some inquiry which had to be
carried round to the other shopman
»Miss Jenkyns wants the black sarsenet twoandtwopence the yard« and Mr
Holbrook had caught the name and was across the shop in two strides
»Matty Miss Matilda Miss Jenkyns God bless my soul I should not have
known you How are you how are you« He kept shaking her hand in a way which
proved the warmth of his friendship but he repeated so often as if to himself
»I should not have known you« that any sentimental romance which I might be
inclined to build was quite done away with by his manner
However he kept talking to us all the time we were in the shop and then
waving the shopman with the unpurchased gloves on one side with »Another time
sir another time« he walked home with us I am happy to say my client Miss
Matilda also left the shop in an equally bewildered state not having purchased
either green or red silk Mr Holbrook was evidently full with honest
loudspoken joy at seeing his old love again he touched on the changes that had
taken place he even spoke of Miss Jenkyns as »Your poor sister Well well we
have all our faults« and bade us goodbye with many a hope that he should soon
see Miss Matty again She went straight to her room and never came back till
our early teatime when I thought she looked as if she had been crying
Chapter IV
A Visit to an Old Bachelor
A few days after a note came from Mr Holbrook asking us impartially asking
both of us in a formal oldfashioned style to spend a day at his house a
long June day for it was June now He named that he had also invited his
cousin Miss Pole so that we might join in a fly which could be put up at his
house
I expected Miss Matty to jump at this invitation but no Miss Pole and I
had the greatest difficulty in persuading her to go She thought it was
improper and was even half annoyed when we utterly ignored the idea of any
impropriety in her going with two other ladies to see her old lover Then came a
more serious difficulty She did not think Deborah would have liked her to go
This took us half a days good hard talking to get over but at the first
sentence of relenting I seized the opportunity and wrote and despatched an
acceptance in her name fixing day and hour that all might be decided and done
with
The next morning she asked me if I would go down to the shop with her and
there after much hesitation we chose out three caps to be sent home and tried
on that the most becoming might be selected to take with us on Thursday
She was in a state of silent agitation all the way to Woodley She had
evidently never been there before and although she little dreamt I knew
anything of her early story I could perceive she was in a tremor at the thought
of seeing the place which might have been her home and round which it is
probable that many of her innocent girlish imaginations had clustered It was a
long drive there through paved jolting lanes Miss Matilda sat bolt upright
and looked wistfully out of the windows as we drew near the end of our journey
The aspect of the country was quiet and pastoral Woodley stood among fields
and there was an oldfashioned garden where roses and currantbushes touched
each other and where the feathery asparagus formed a pretty background to the
pinks and gillyflowers there was no drive up to the door We got out at a
little gate and walked up a straight boxedged path
»My cousin might make a drive I think« said Miss Pole who was afraid of
earache and had only her cap on
»I think it is very pretty« said Miss Matty with a soft plaintiveness in
her voice and almost in a whisper for just then Mr Holbrook appeared at the
door rubbing his hands in very effervescence of hospitality He looked more
like my idea of Don Quixote than ever and yet the likeness was only external
His respectable housekeeper stood modestly at the door to bid us welcome and
while she led the elder ladies upstairs to a bedroom I begged to look about the
garden My request evidently pleased the old gentleman who took me all round
the place and showed me his sixandtwenty cows named after the different
letters of the alphabet As we went along he surprised me occasionally by
repeating apt and beautiful quotations from the poets ranging easily from
Shakespeare and George Herbert to those of our own day He did this as naturally
as if he were thinking aloud and their true and beautiful words were the best
expression he could find for what he was thinking or feeling To be sure he
called Byron my Lord Byrron and pronounced the name of Goethe strictly in
accordance with the English sound of the letters »As Goethe says Ye
eververdant palaces« etc Altogether I never met with a man before or since
who had spent so long a life in a secluded and not impressive country with
everincreasing delight in the daily and yearly change of season and beauty
When he and I went in we found that dinner was nearly ready in the kitchen
for so I suppose the room ought to be called as there were oak dressers and
cupboards all round all over by the side of the fireplace and only a small
Turkey carpet in the middle of the flagfloor The room might have been easily
made into a handsome dark oak diningparlour by removing the oven and a few
other appurtenances of a kitchen which were evidently never used the real
cookingplace being at some distance The room in which we were expected to sit
was a stifflyfurnished ugly apartment but that in which we did sit was what
Mr Holbrook called the countinghouse when he paid his labourers their weekly
wages at a great desk near the door The rest of the pretty sittingroom
looking into the orchard and all covered over with dancing treeshadows was
filled with books They lay on the ground they covered the walls they strewed
the table He was evidently half ashamed and half proud of his extravagance in
this respect They were of all kinds poetry and wild weird tales prevailing
He evidently chose his books in accordance with his own tastes not because such
and such were classical or established favourites
»Ah« he said »we farmers ought not to have much time for reading yet
somehow one cant help it«
»What a pretty room« said Miss Matty sotto voce
»What a pleasant place« said I aloud almost simultaneously
»Nay if you like it« replied he »but can you sit on these great black
leather threecornered chairs I like it better than the best parlour but I
thought ladies would take that for the smarter place«
It was the smarter place but like most smart things not at all pretty or
pleasant or homelike so while we were at dinner the servantgirl dusted and
scrubbed the countinghouse chairs and we sat there all the rest of the day
We had pudding before meat and I thought Mr Holbrook was going to make
some apology for his oldfashioned ways for he began
»I dont know whether you like newfangled ways«
»Oh not at all« said Miss Matty
»No more do I« said he »My housekeeper will have these in her new fashion
or else I tell her that when I was a young man we used to keep strictly to my
fathers rule No broth no ball no ball no beef and always began dinner with
broth Then we had suet puddings boiled in the broth with the beef and then
the meat itself If we did not sup our broth we had no ball which we liked a
deal better and the beef came last of all and only those had it who had done
justice to the broth and the ball Now folks begin with sweet things and turn
their dinners topsyturvy«
When the ducks and green peas came we looked at each other in dismay we
had only twopronged blackhandled forks It is true the steel was as bright as
silver but what were we to do Miss Matty picked up her peas one by one on
the point of the prongs much as Aminé ate her grains of rice after her previous
feast with the Ghoul Miss Pole sighed over her delicate young peas as she left
them on one side of her plate untasted for they would drop between the prongs
I looked at my host the peas were going wholesale into his capacious mouth
shovelled up by his large roundended knife I saw I imitated I survived My
friends in spite of my precedent could not muster up courage enough to do an
ungenteel thing and if Mr Holbrook had not been so heartily hungry he would
probably have seen that the good peas went away almost untouched
After dinner a clay pipe was brought in and a spittoon and asking us to
retire to another room where he would soon join us if we disliked
tobaccosmoke he presented his pipe to Miss Matty and requested her to fill
the bowl This was a compliment to a lady in his youth but it was rather
inappropriate to propose it as an honour to Miss Matty who had been trained by
her sister to hold smoking of every kind in utter abhorrence But if it was a
shock to her refinement it was also a gratification to her feelings to be thus
selected so she daintily stuffed the strong tobacco into the pipe and then we
withdrew
»It is very pleasant dining with a bachelor« said Miss Matty softly as we
settled ourselves in the countinghouse »I only hope it is not improper so
many pleasant things are«
»What a number of books he has« said Miss Pole looking round the room
»And how dusty they are«
»I think it must be like one of the great Dr Johnsons rooms« said Miss
Matty »What a superior man your cousin must be«
»Yes« said Miss Pole »hes a great reader but I am afraid he has got into
very uncouth habits with living alone«
»Oh uncouth is too hard a word I should call him eccentric very clever
people always are« replied Miss Matty
When Mr Holbrook returned he proposed a walk in the fields but the two
elder ladies were afraid of damp and dirt and had only very unbecoming
calashes to put on over their caps so they declined and I was again his
companion in a turn which he said he was obliged to take to see after his men
He strode along either wholly forgetting my existence or soothed into silence
by his pipe and yet it was not silence exactly He walked before me with a
stooping gait his hands clasped behind him and as some tree or cloud or
glimpse of distant upland pastures struck him he quoted poetry to himself
saying it out loud in a grand sonorous voice with just the emphasis that true
feeling and appreciation give We came upon an old cedar tree which stood at
one end of the house
»The cedar spreads his darkgreen layers of shade«
»Capital term layers Wonderful man« I did not know whether he was speaking
to me or not but I put in an assenting wonderful although I knew nothing about
it just because I was tired of being forgotten and of being consequently
silent
He turned sharp round »Ay you may say wonderful Why when I saw the
review of his poems in Blackwood I set off within an hour and walked seven
miles to Misselton for the horses were not in the way and ordered them Now
what colour are ashbuds in March«
Is the man going mad thought I He is very like Don Quixote
»What colour are they I say« repeated he vehemently
»I am sure I dont know sir« said I with the meekness of ignorance
»I knew you didnt No more did I an old fool that I am till this young
man comes and tells me Black as ashbuds in March And Ive lived all my life
in the country more shame for me not to know Black they are jetblack
madam« And he went off again swinging along to the music of some rhyme he had
got hold of
When we came back nothing would serve him but he must read us the poems he
had been speaking of and Miss Pole encouraged him in his proposal I thought
because she wished me to hear his beautiful reading of which she had boasted
but she afterwards said it was because she had got to a difficult part of her
crochet and wanted to count her stitches without having to talk Whatever he
had proposed would have been right to Miss Matty although she did fall sound
asleep within five minutes after he had begun a long poem called »Locksley
Hall« and had a comfortable nap unobserved till he ended when the cessation
of his voice wakened her up and she said feeling that something was expected
and that Miss Pole was counting
»What a pretty book«
»Pretty madam its beautiful Pretty indeed«
»Oh yes I meant beautiful« said she fluttered at his disapproval of her
word »It is so like that beautiful poem of Dr Johnsons my sister used to read
I forget the name of it what was it my dear« turning to me
»Which do you mean maam What was it about«
»I dont remember what it was about and Ive quite forgotten what the name
of it was but it was written by Dr Johnson and was very beautiful and very
like what Mr Holbrook has just been reading«
»I dont remember it« said he reflectively »But I dont know Dr Johnsons
poems well I must read them«
As we were getting into the fly to return I heard Mr Holbrook say he
should call on the ladies soon and inquire how they got home and this
evidently pleased and fluttered Miss Matty at the time he said it but after we
had lost sight of the old house among the trees her sentiments towards the
master of it were gradually absorbed into a distressing wonder as to whether
Martha had broken her word and seized on the opportunity of her mistresss
absence to have a follower Martha looked good and steady and composed enough
as she came to help us out she was always careful of Miss Matty and tonight
she made use of this unlucky speech
»Eh dear maam to think of your going out in an evening in such a thin
shawl Its no better than muslin At your age maam you should be careful«
»My age« said Miss Matty almost speaking crossly for her for she was
usually gentle »My age Why how old do you think I am that you talk about my
age«
»Well maam I should say you were not far short of sixty but folks looks
is often against them and Im sure I meant no harm«
»Martha Im not yet fiftytwo« said Miss Matty with grave emphasis for
probably the remembrance of her youth had come very vividly before her this day
and she was annoyed at finding that golden time so far away in the past
But she never spoke of any former and more intimate acquaintance with Mr
Holbrook She had probably met with so little sympathy in her early love that
she had shut it up close in her heart and it was only by a sort of watching
which I could hardly avoid since Miss Poles confidence that I saw how faithful
her poor heart had been in its sorrow and its silence
She gave me some good reason for wearing her best cap every day and sat
near the window in spite of her rheumatism in order to see without being
seen down into the street
He came He put his open palms upon his knees which were far apart as he
sat with his head bent down whistling after we had replied to his inquiries
about our safe return Suddenly he jumped up
»Well madam have you any commands for Paris I am going there in a week or
two«
»To Paris« we both exclaimed
»Yes madam Ive never been there and always had a wish to go and I
think if I dont go soon I maynt go at all so as soon as the hay is got in I
shall go before harvest time«
We were so much astonished that we had no commissions
Just as he was going out of the room he turned back with his favourite
exclamation
»God bless my soul madam but I nearly forgot half my errand Here are the
poems for you you admired so much the other evening at my house« He tugged away
at a parcel in his coatpocket »Goodbye miss« said he »goodbye Matty
take care of yourself« And he was gone But he had given her a book and he had
called her Matty just as he used to do thirty years ago
»I wish he would not go to Paris« said Miss Matilda anxiously »I dont
believe frogs will agree with him he used to have to be very careful what he
ate which was curious in so stronglooking a young man«
Soon after this I took my leave giving many an injunction to Martha to look
after her mistress and to let me know if she thought that Miss Matilda was not
so well in which case I would volunteer a visit to my old friend without
noticing Marthas intelligence to her
Accordingly I received a line or two from Martha every now and then and
about November I had a note to say her mistress was »very low and sadly off her
food« and the account made me so uneasy that although Martha did not decidedly
summon me I packed up my things and went
I received a warm welcome in spite of the little flurry produced by an
impromptu visit for I had only been able to give a days notice Miss Matilda
looked miserably ill and I prepared to comfort and cosset her
I went down to have a private talk with Martha
»How long has your mistress been so poorly« I asked as I stood by the
kitchen fire
»Well I think its better than a fortnight it is I know it was one
Tuesday after Miss Pole had been that she went into this moping way I thought
she was tired and it would go off with a nights rest but no she has gone on
and on ever since till I thought it my duty to write to you maam«
»You did quite right Martha It is a comfort to think she has so faithful a
servant about her And I hope you find your place comfortable«
»Well maam missus is very kind and theres plenty to eat and drink and
no more work but what I can do easily but« Martha hesitated
»But what Martha«
»Why it seems so hard of missus not to let me have any followers theres
such lots of young fellows in the town and many a one has as much as offered to
keep company with me and I may never be in such a likely place again and its
like wasting an opportunity Many a girl as I know would have em unbeknownst to
missus but Ive given my word and Ill stick to it or else this is just the
house for missus never to be the wiser if they did come and its such a capable
kitchen theres such good dark corners in it Id be bound to hide any one I
counted up last Sunday night for Ill not deny I was crying because I had to
shut the door in Jem Hearns face and hes a steady young man fit for any
girl only I had given missus my word« Martha was all but crying again and I
had little comfort to give her for I knew from old experience of the horror
with which both the Miss Jenkynses looked upon followers and in Miss Mattys
present nervous state this dread was not likely to be lessened
I went to see Miss Pole the next day and took her completely by surprise
for she had not been to see Miss Matilda for two days
»And now I must go back with you my dear for I promised to let her know
how Thomas Holbrook went on and Im sorry to say his housekeeper has sent me
word today that he hasnt long to live Poor Thomas that journey to Paris was
quite too much for him His housekeeper says he has hardly ever been round his
fields since but just sits with his hands on his knees in the countinghouse
not reading or anything but only saying what a wonderful city Paris was Paris
has much to answer for if its killed my cousin Thomas for a better man never
lived«
»Does Miss Matilda know of his illness« asked I a new light as to the
cause of her indisposition dawning upon me
»Dear to be sure yes Has not she told you I let her know a fortnight
ago or more when first I heard of it How odd she shouldnt have told you«
Not at all I thought but I did not say anything I felt almost guilty of
having spied too curiously into that tender heart and I was not going to speak
of its secrets hidden Miss Matty believed from all the world I ushered Miss
Pole into Miss Matildas little drawingroom and then left them alone But I
was not surprised when Martha came to my bedroom door to ask me to go down to
dinner alone for that missus had one of her bad headaches She came into the
drawingroom at teatime but it was evidently an effort to her and as if to
make up for some reproachful feeling against her late sister Miss Jenkyns
which had been troubling her all the afternoon and for which she now felt
penitent she kept telling me how good and how clever Deborah was in her youth
how she used to settle what gowns they were to wear at all the parties faint
ghostly ideas of grim parties far away in the distance when Miss Matty and
Miss Pole were young and how Deborah and her mother had started the benefit
society for the poor and taught girls cooking and plain sewing and how Deborah
had once danced with a lord and how she used to visit at Sir Peter Arleys and
try to remodel the quiet rectory establishment on the plans of Arley Hall where
they kept thirty servants and how she had nursed Miss Matty through a long
long illness of which I had never heard before but which I now dated in my own
mind as following the dismissal of the suit of Mr Holbrook So we talked softly
and quietly of old times through the long November evening
The next day Miss Pole brought us word that Mr Holbrook was dead Miss
Matty heard the news in silence in fact from the account of the previous day
it was only what we had to expect Miss Pole kept calling upon us for some
expression of regret by asking if it was not sad that he was gone and saying
»To think of that pleasant day last June when he seemed so well And he
might have lived this dozen years if he had not gone to that wicked Paris where
they are always having revolutions«
She paused for some demonstration on our part I saw Miss Matty could not
speak she was trembling so nervously so I said what I really felt and after a
call of some duration all the time of which I have no doubt Miss Pole thought
Miss Matty received the news very calmly our visitor took her leave
Miss Matty made a strong effort to conceal her feelings a concealment she
practised even with me for she has never alluded to Mr Holbrook again
although the book he gave her lies with her Bible on the little table by her
bedside She did not think I heard her when she asked the little milliner of
Cranford to make her caps something like the Honourable Mrs Jamiesons or that
I noticed the reply
»But she wears widows caps maam«
»Oh I only meant something in that style not widows of course but
rather like Mrs Jamiesons«
This effort at concealment was the beginning of the tremulous motion of head
and hands which I have seen ever since in Miss Matty
The evening of the day on which we heard of Mr Holbrooks death Miss
Matilda was very silent and thoughtful after prayers she called Martha back
and then she stood uncertain what to say
»Martha« she said at last »you are young« and then she made so long a
pause that Martha to remind her of her halffinished sentence dropped a
curtsey and said
»Yes please maam twoandtwenty last third of October please maam«
»And perhaps Martha you may some time meet with a young man you like and
who likes you I did say you were not to have followers but if you meet with
such a young man and tell me and I find he is respectable I have no objection
to his coming to see you once a week God forbid« said she in a low voice
»that I should grieve any young hearts« She spoke as if she were providing for
some distant contingency and was rather startled when Martha made her ready
eager answer
»Please maam theres Jem Hearn and hes a joiner making
threeandsixpence aday and six foot one in his stockingfeet please maam
and if youll ask about him tomorrow morning every one will give him a
character for steadiness and hell be glad enough to come tomorrow night Ill
be bound«
Though Miss Matty was startled she submitted to Fate and Love
Chapter V
Old Letters
I have often noticed that almost every one has his own individual small
economies careful habits of saving fractions of pennies in some one peculiar
direction any disturbance of which annoys him more than spending shillings or
pounds on some real extravagance An old gentleman of my acquaintance who took
the intelligence of the failure of a JointStock Bank in which some of his
money was invested with stoical mildness worried his family all through a long
summers day because one of them had torn instead of cutting out the written
leaves of his now useless bankbook of course the corresponding pages at the
other end came out as well and this little unnecessary waste of paper his
private economy chafed him more than all the loss of his money Envelopes
fretted his soul terribly when they first came in the only way in which he
could reconcile himself to such waste of his cherished article was by patiently
turning inside out all that were sent to him and so making them serve again
Even now though tamed by age I see him casting wistful glances at his
daughters when they send a whole inside of a halfsheet of notepaper with the
three lines of acceptance to an invitation written on only one of the sides I
am not above owning that I have this human weakness myself String is my foible
My pockets get full of little hanks of it picked up and twisted together ready
for uses that never come I am seriously annoyed if any one cuts the string of a
parcel instead of patiently and faithfully undoing it fold by fold How people
can bring themselves to use indiarubber rings which are a sort of deification
of string as lightly as they do I cannot imagine To me an indiarubber ring
is a precious treasure I have one which is not new one that I picked up off
the floor nearly six years ago I have really tried to use it but my heart
failed me and I could not commit the extravagance
Small pieces of butter grieve others They cannot attend to conversation
because of the annoyance occasioned by the habit which some people have of
invariably taking more butter than they want Have you not seen the anxious look
almost mesmeric which such persons fix on the article They would feel it a
relief if they might bury it out of their sight by popping it into their own
mouths and swallowing it down and they are really made happy if the person on
whose plate it lies unused suddenly breaks off a piece of toast which he does
not want at all and eats up his butter They think that this is not waste
Now Miss Matty Jenkyns was chary of candles We had many devices to use as
few as possible In the winter afternoons she would sit knitting for two or
three hours she could do this in the dark or by firelight and when I asked
if I might not ring for candles to finish stitching my wristbands she told me
to keep blind mans holiday They were usually brought in with tea but we only
burnt one at a time As we lived in constant preparation for a friend who might
come in any evening but who never did it required some contrivance to keep
our two candles of the same length ready to be lighted and to look as if we
burnt two always The candles took it in turns and whatever we might be
talking about or doing Miss Mattys eyes were habitually fixed upon the candle
ready to jump up and extinguish it and to light the other before they had become
too uneven in length to be restored to equality in the course of the evening
One night I remember this candle economy particularly annoyed me I had
been very much tired of my compulsory blind mans holiday especially as Miss
Matty had fallen asleep and I did not like to stir the fire and run the risk of
awakening her so I could not even sit on the rug and scorch myself with sewing
by firelight according to my usual custom I fancied Miss Matty must be
dreaming of her early life for she spoke one or two words in her uneasy sleep
bearing reference to persons who were dead long before When Martha brought in
the lighted candle and tea Miss Matty started into wakefulness with a strange
bewildered look around as if we were not the people she expected to see about
her There was a little sad expression that shadowed her face as she recognised
me but immediately afterwards she tried to give me her usual smile All through
teatime her talk ran upon the days of her childhood and youth Perhaps this
reminded her of the desirableness of looking over all the old family letters
and destroying such as ought not to be allowed to fall into the hands of
strangers for she had often spoken of the necessity of this task but had
always shrunk from it with a timid dread of something painful Tonight
however she rose up after tea and went for them in the dark for she piqued
herself on the precise neatness of all her chamber arrangements and used to
look uneasily at me when I lighted a bedcandle to go to another room for
anything When she returned there was a faint pleasant smell of Tonquin beans
in the room I had always noticed this scent about any of the things which had
belonged to her mother and many of the letters were addressed to her yellow
bundles of loveletters sixty or seventy years old
Miss Matty undid the packet with a sigh but she stifled it directly as if
it were hardly right to regret the flight of time or of life either We agreed
to look them over separately each taking a different letter out of the same
bundle and describing its contents to the other before destroying it I never
knew what sad work the reading of old letters was before that evening though I
could hardly tell why The letters were as happy as letters could be at least
those early letters were There was in them a vivid and intense sense of the
present time which seemed so strong and full as if it could never pass away
and as if the warm living hearts that so expressed themselves could never die
and be as nothing to the sunny earth I should have felt less melancholy I
believe if the letters had been more so I saw the tears stealing down the
wellworn furrows of Miss Mattys cheeks and her spectacles often wanted
wiping I trusted at last that she would light the other candle for my own eyes
were rather dim and I wanted more light to see the pale faded ink but no
even through her tears she saw and remembered her little economical ways
The earliest set of letters were two bundles tied together and ticketed in
Miss Jenkynss handwriting »Letters interchanged between my everhonoured
father and my dearlybeloved mother prior to their marriage in July 1774« I
should guess that the rector of Cranford was about twentyseven years of age
when he wrote those letters and Miss Matty told me that her mother was just
eighteen at the time of her wedding With my idea of the rector derived from a
picture in the diningparlour stiff and stately in a huge fullbottomed wig
with gown cassock and bands and his hand upon a copy of the only sermon he
ever published it was strange to read these letters They were full of eager
passionate ardour short homely sentences right fresh from the heart very
different from the grand Latinised Johnsonian style of the printed sermon
preached before some judge at assize time His letters were a curious contrast
to those of his girlbride She was evidently rather annoyed at his demands upon
her for expressions of love and could not quite understand what he meant by
repeating the same thing over in so many different ways but what he was quite
clear about was a longing for a white Paduasoy whatever that might be and six
or seven letters were principally occupied in asking her lover to use his
influence with her parents who evidently kept her in good order to obtain this
or that article of dress more especially the white Paduasoy He cared nothing
how she was dressed she was always lovely enough for him as he took pains to
assure her when she begged him to express in his answers a predilection for
particular pieces of finery in order that she might show what he said to her
parents But at length he seemed to find out that she would not be married till
she had a trousseau to her mind and then he sent her a letter which had
evidently accompanied a whole box full of finery and in which he requested that
she might be dressed in everything her heart desired This was the first letter
ticketed in a frail delicate hand »From my dearest John« Shortly afterwards
they were married I suppose from the intermission in their correspondence
»We must bum them I think« said Miss Matty looking doubtfully at me »No
one will care for them when I am gone« And one by one she dropped them into the
middle of the fire watching each blaze up die out and rise away in faint
white ghostly semblance up the chimney before she gave another to the same
fate The room was light enough now but I like her was fascinated into
watching the destruction of those letters into which the honest warmth of a
manly heart had been poured forth
The next letter likewise docketed by Miss Jenkyns was endorsed »Letter of
pious congratulation and exhortation from my venerable grandfather to my beloved
mother on occasion of my own birth Also some practical remarks on the
desirability of keeping warm the extremities of infants from my excellent
grandmother«
The first part was indeed a severe and forcible picture of the
responsibilities of mothers and a warning against the evils that were in the
world and lying in ghastly wait for the little baby of two days old His wife
did not write said the old gentleman because he had forbidden it she being
indisposed with a sprained ankle which he said quite incapacitated her from
holding a pen However at the foot of the page was a small TO and on turning
it over sure enough there was a letter to »my dear dearest Molly« begging
her when she left her room whatever she did to go up stairs before going
down and telling her to wrap her babys feet up in flannel and keep it warm by
the fire although it was summer for babies were so tender
It was pretty to see from the letters which were evidently exchanged with
some frequency between the young mother and the grandmother how the girlish
vanity was being weeded out of her heart by love for her baby The white
Paduasoy figured again in the letters with almost as much vigour as before In
one it was being made into a christening cloak for the baby It decked it when
it went with its parents to spend a day or two at Arley Hall It added to its
charms when it was »the prettiest little baby that ever was seen Dear mother
I wish you could see her Without any parshality I do think she will grow up a
regular bewty« I thought of Miss Jenkyns grey withered and wrinkled and I
wondered if her mother had known her in the courts of heaven and then I knew
that she had and that they stood there in angelic guise
There was a great gap before any of the rectors letters appeared And then
his wife had changed her mode of endorsement It was no longer from »My dearest
John« it was from »My honoured Husband« The letters were written on occasion
of the publication of the same sermon which was represented in the picture The
preaching before »My Lord Judge« and the »publishing by request« was evidently
the culminating point the event of his life It had been necessary for him to
go up to London to superintend it through the press Many friends had to be
called upon and consulted before he could decide on any printer fit for so
onerous a task and at length it was arranged that J and J Rivingtons were to
have the honourable responsibility The worthy rector seemed to be strung up by
the occasion to a high literary pitch for he could hardly write a letter to his
wife without cropping out into Latin I remember the end of one of his letters
ran thus »I shall ever hold the virtuous qualities of my Molly in remembrance
dum memor ipse mei dum spiritus hos regit artus« which considering that the
English of his correspondent was sometimes at fault in grammar and often in
spelling might be taken as a proof of how much he idealised his Molly and as
Miss Jenkyns used to say »People talk a great deal about idealising nowadays
whatever that may mean« But this was nothing to a fit of writing classical
poetry which soon seized him in which his Molly figured away as Maria The
letter containing the carmen was endorsed by her »Hebrew verses sent me by my
honoured husband I thowt to have had a letter about killing the pig but must
wait Mem to send the poetry to Sir Peter Arley as my husband desires« And
in a postscriptum note in his handwriting it was stated that the Ode had
appeared in the Gentlemans Magazine December 1782
Her letters back to her husband treasured as fondly by him as if they had
been MT Ciceronis Epistolæ were more satisfactory to an absent husband and
father than his could ever have been to her She told him how Deborah sewed her
seam very neatly every day and read to her in the books he had set her how she
was a very forrard good child but would ask questions her mother could not
answer but how she did not let herself down by saying she did not know but
took to stirring the fire or sending the forrard child on an errand Matty was
now the mothers darling and promised like her sister at her age to be a
great beauty I was reading this aloud to Miss Matty who smiled and sighed a
little at the hope so fondly expressed that »little Matty might not be vain
even if she were a bewty«
»I had very pretty hair my dear« said Miss Matilda »and not a bad mouth«
And I saw her soon afterwards adjust her cap and draw herself up
But to return to Mrs Jenkynss letters She told her husband about the poor
in the parish what homely domestic medicines she had administered what kitchen
physic she had sent She had evidently held his displeasure as a rod in pickle
over the heads of all the neerdowells She asked for his directions about the
cows and pigs and did not always obtain them as I have shown before
The kind old grandmother was dead when a little boy was born soon after the
publication of the sermon but there was another letter of exhortation from the
grandfather more stringent and admonitory than ever now that there was a boy
to be guarded from the snares of the world He described all the various sins
into which men might fall until I wondered how any man ever came to a natural
death The gallows seemed as if it must have been the termination of the lives
of most of the grandfathers friends and acquaintance and I was not surprised
at the way in which he spoke of this life being a vale of tears
It seemed curious that I should never have heard of this brother before but
I concluded that he had died young or else surely his name would have been
alluded to by his sisters
Byandby we came to packets of Miss Jenkynss letters These Miss Matty did
regret to burn She said all the others had been only interesting to those who
loved the writers and that it seemed as if it would have hurt her to allow them
to fall into the hands of strangers who had not known her dear mother and how
good she was although she did not always spell quite in the modern fashion but
Deborahs letters were so very superior Any one might profit by reading them
It was a long time since she had read Mrs Chapone but she knew she used to
think that Deborah could have said the same things quite as well and as for
Mrs Carter people thought a deal of her letters just because she had written
»Epictetus« but she was quite sure Deborah would never have made use of such a
common expression as »I canna be fashed«
Miss Matty did grudge burning these letters it was evident She would not
let them be carelessly passed over with any quiet reading and skipping to
myself She took them from me and even lighted the second candle in order to
read them aloud with a proper emphasis and without stumbling over the big
words Oh dear how I wanted facts instead of reflections before those letters
were concluded They lasted us two nights and I wont deny that I made use of
the time to think of many other things and yet I was always at my post at the
end of each sentence
The rectors letters and those of his wife and motherinlaw had all been
tolerably short and pithy written in a straight hand with the lines very close
together Sometimes the whole letter was contained on a mere scrap of paper The
paper was very yellow and the ink very brown some of the sheets were as Miss
Matty made me observe the old original post with the stamp in the corner
representing a postboy riding for life and twanging his horn The letters of
Mrs Jenkyns and her mother were fastened with a great round red wafer for it
was before Miss Edgeworths »Patronage« had banished wafers from polite society
It was evident from the tenor of what was said that franks were in great
request and were even used as a means of paying debts by needy members of
Parliament The rector sealed his epistles with an immense coat of arms and
showed by the care with which he had performed this ceremony that he expected
they should be cut open not broken by any thoughtless or impatient hand Now
Miss Jenkynss letters were of a later date in form and writing She wrote on
the square sheet which we have learned to call oldfashioned Her hand was
admirably calculated together with her use of manysyllabled words to fill up
a sheet and then came the pride and delight of crossing Poor Miss Matty got
sadly puzzled with this for the words gathered size like snowballs and towards
the end of her letter Miss Jenkyns used to become quite sesquipedalian In one
to her father slightly theological and controversial in its tone she had
spoken of Herod Tetrach of Idumea Miss Matty read it »Herod Petrarch of
Etruria« and was just as well pleased as if she had been right
I cant quite remember the date but I think it was in 1805 that Miss
Jenkyns wrote the longest series of letters on occasion of her absence on a
visit to some friends near NewcastleuponTyne These friends were intimate with
the commandant of the garrison there and heard from him of all the preparations
that were being made to repel the invasion of Buonaparte which some people
imagined might take place at the mouth of the Tyne Miss Jenkyns was evidently
very much alarmed and the first part of her letters was often written in pretty
intelligible English conveying particulars of the preparations which were made
in the family with whom she was residing against the dreaded event the bundles
of clothes that were packed up ready for a flight to Alston Moor a wild hilly
piece of ground between Northumberland and Cumberland the signal that was to
be given for this flight and for the simultaneous turning out of the volunteers
under arms which said signal was to consist if I remember rightly in ringing
the church bells in a particular and ominous manner One day when Miss Jenkyns
and her hosts were at a dinnerparty in Newcastle this warning summons was
actually given not a very wise proceeding if there be any truth in the moral
attached to the fable of the Boy and the Wolf but so it was and Miss Jenkyns
hardly recovered from her fright wrote the next day to describe the sound the
breathless shock the hurry and alarm and then taking breath she added »How
trivial my dear father do all our apprehensions of the last evening appear at
the present moment to calm and inquiring minds« And here Miss Matty broke in
with
»But indeed my dear they were not at all trivial or trifling at the time
I know I used to wake up in the night many a time and think I heard the tramp of
the French entering Cranford Many people talked of hiding themselves in the
salt mines and meat would have kept capitally down there only perhaps we
should have been thirsty And my father preached a whole set of sermons on the
occasion one set in the mornings all about David and Goliath to spirit up the
people to fighting with spades or bricks if need were and the other set in the
afternoons proving that Napoleon that was another name for Bony as we used to
call him was all the same as an Apollyon and Abaddon I remember my father
rather thought he should be asked to print this last set but the parish had
perhaps had enough of them with hearing«
Peter Marmaduke Arley Jenkyns »poor Peter« as Miss Matty began to call
him was at school at Shrewsbury by this time The rector took up his pen and
rubbed up his Latin once more to correspond with his boy It was very clear
that the lads were what are called show letters They were of a highly mental
description giving an account of his studies and his intellectual hopes of
various kinds with an occasional quotation from the classics but now and
then the animal nature broke out in such a little sentence as this evidently
written in a trembling hurry after the letter had been inspected »Mother dear
do send me a cake and put plenty of citron in« The mother dear probably
answered her boy in the form of cakes and goody for there were none of her
letters among this set but a whole collection of the rectors to whom the
Latin in his boys letters was like a trumpet to the old warhorse I do not
know much about Latin certainly and it is perhaps an ornamental language
but not very useful I think at least to judge from the bits I remember out of
the rectors letters One was »You have not got that town in your map of
Ireland but Bonus Bernardus non videt omnia as the Proverbia say« Presently
it became very evident that poor Peter got himself into many scrapes There were
letters of stilted penitence to his father for some wrongdoing and among them
all was a badlywritten badlysealed badlydirected blotted note »My dear
dear dear dearest mother I will be a better boy I will indeed but dont
please be ill for me I am not worth it but I will be good darling mother«
Miss Matty could not speak for crying after she had read this note She
gave it to me in silence and then got up and took it to her sacred recesses in
her own room for fear by any chance it might get burnt »Poor Peter« she
said »he was always in scrapes he was too easy They led him wrong and then
left him in the lurch But he was too fond of mischief He could never resist a
joke Poor Peter«
Chapter VI
Poor Peter
Poor Peters career lay before him rather pleasantly mapped out by kind friends
but Bonus Bernardus non videt omnia in this map too He was to win honours at
Shrewsbury School and carry them thick to Cambridge and after that a living
awaited him in the gift of his godfather Sir Peter Arley Poor Peter his lot
in life was very different to what his friends had hoped and planned Miss Matty
told me all about it and I think it was a relief to her when she had done so
He was the darling of his mother who seemed to dote on all her children
though she was perhaps a little afraid of Deborahs superior acquirements
Deborah was the favourite of her father and when Peter disappointed him she
became his pride The sole honour Peter brought away from Shrewsbury was the
reputation of being the best good fellow that ever was and of being the captain
of the school in the art of practical joking His father was disappointed but
set about remedying the matter in a manly way He could not afford to send Peter
to read with any tutor but he could read with him himself and Miss Matty told
me much of the awful preparations in the way of dictionaries and lexicons that
were made in her fathers study the morning Peter began
»My poor mother« said she »I remember how she used to stand in the hall
just near enough the studydoor to catch the tone of my fathers voice I could
tell in a moment if all was going right by her face And it did go right for a
long time«
»What went wrong at last« said I »That tiresome Latin I dare say«
»No it was not the Latin Peter was in high favour with my father for he
worked up well for him But he seemed to think that the Cranford people might be
joked about and made fun of and they did not like it nobody does He was
always hoaxing them hoaxing is not a pretty word my dear and I hope you wont
tell your father I used it for I should not like him to think that I was not
choice in my language after living with such a woman as Deborah And be sure
you never use it yourself I dont know how it slipped out of my mouth except
it was that I was thinking of poor Peter and it was always his expression But
he was a very gentlemanly boy in many things He was like dear Captain Brown in
always being ready to help any old person or a child Still he did like joking
and making fun and he seemed to think the old ladies in Cranford would believe
anything There were many old ladies living here then we are principally ladies
now I know but we are not so old as the ladies used to be when I was a girl I
could laugh to think of some of Peters jokes No my dear I wont tell you of
them because they might not shock you as they ought to do and they were very
shocking He even took in my father once by dressing himself up as a lady that
was passing through the town and wished to see the Rector of Cranford who had
published that admirable Assize Sermon Peter said he was awfully frightened
himself when he saw how my father took it all in and even offered to copy out
all his Napoleon Buonaparte sermons for her him I mean no her for Peter
was a lady then He told me he was more terrified than he ever was before all
the time my father was speaking He did not think my father would have believed
him and yet if he had not it would have been a sad thing for Peter As it
was he was none so glad of it for my father kept him hard at work copying out
all those twelve Buonaparte sermons for the lady that was for Peter himself
you know He was the lady And once when he wanted to go fishing Peter said
Confound the woman very bad language my dear but Peter was not always so
guarded as he should have been my father was so angry with him it nearly
frightened me out of my wits and yet I could hardly keep from laughing at the
little curtseys Peter kept making quite slyly whenever my father spoke of the
ladys excellent taste and sound discrimination«
»Did Miss Jenkyns know of these tricks« said I
»Oh no Deborah would have been too much shocked No no one knew but me I
wish I had always known of Peters plans but sometimes he did not tell me He
used to say the old ladies in the town wanted something to talk about but I
dont think they did They had the St Jamess Chronicle three times a week
just as we have now and we have plenty to say and I remember the clacking
noise there always was when some of the ladies got together But probably
schoolboys talk more than ladies At last there was a terrible sad thing
happened« Miss Matty got up went to the door and opened it no one was there
She rang the bell for Martha and when Martha came her mistress told her to go
for eggs to a farm at the other end of the town
»I will lock the door after you Martha You are not afraid to go are you«
»No maam not at all Jem Hearn will be only too proud to go with me«
Miss Matty drew herself up and as soon as we were alone she wished that
Martha had more maidenly reserve
»Well put out the candle my dear We can talk just as well by firelight
you know There Well you see Deborah had gone from home for a fortnight or
so it was a very still quiet day I remember overhead and the lilacs were
all in flower so I suppose it was spring My father had gone out to see some
sick people in the parish I recollect seeing him leave the house with his wig
and shovelhat and cane What possessed our poor Peter I dont know he had the
sweetest temper and yet he always seemed to like to plague Deborah She never
laughed at his jokes and thought him ungenteel and not careful enough about
improving his mind and that vexed him
Well he went to her room it seems and dressed himself in her old gown
and shawl and bonnet just the things she used to wear in Cranford and was
known by everywhere and he made the pillow into a little you are sure you
locked the door my dear for I should not like any one to hear into into a
little baby with white long clothes It was only as he told me afterwards to
make something to talk about in the town he never thought of it as affecting
Deborah And he went and walked up and down in the Filbert walk just
halfhidden by the rails and halfseen and he cuddled his pillow just like a
baby and talked to it all the nonsense people do Oh dear and my father came
stepping stately up the street as he always did and what should he see but a
little black crowd of people I dare say as many as twenty all peeping
through his garden rails So he thought at first they were only looking at a
new rhododendron that was in full bloom and that he was very proud of and he
walked slower that they might have more time to admire And he wondered if he
could make out a sermon from the occasion and thought perhaps there was some
relation between the rhododendrons and the lilies of the field My poor father
When he came nearer he began to wonder that they did not see him but their
heads were all so close together peeping and peeping My father was amongst
them meaning he said to ask them to walk into the garden with him and admire
the beautiful vegetable production when oh my dear I tremble to think of it
he looked through the rails himself and saw I dont know what he thought he
saw but old Clare told me his face went quite greywhite with anger and his
eyes blazed out under his frowning black brows and he spoke out oh so
terribly and bade them all stop where they were not one of them to go not
one to stir a step and swift as light he was in at the garden door and down
the Filbert walk and seized hold of poor Peter and tore his clothes off his
back bonnet shawl gown and all and threw the pillow among the people over
the railings and then he was very very angry indeed and before all the people
he lifted up his cane and flogged Peter
My dear that boys trick on that sunny day when all seemed going straight
and well broke my mothers heart and changed my father for life It did
indeed Old Clare said Peter looked as white as my father and stood as still
as a statue to be flogged and my father struck hard When my father stopped to
take breath Peter said Have you done enough sir quite hoarsely and still
standing quite quiet I dont know what my father said or if he said anything
But old Clare said Peter turned to where the people outside the railing were
and made them a low bow as grand and as grave as any gentleman and then walked
slowly into the house I was in the storeroom helping my mother to make cowslip
wine I cannot abide the wine now nor the scent of the flowers they turn me
sick and faint as they did that day when Peter came in looking as haughty as
any man indeed looking like a man not like a boy Mother he said I am come
to say God bless you for ever I saw his lips quiver as he spoke and I think
he durst not say anything more loving for the purpose that was in his heart
She looked at him rather frightened and wondering and asked him what was to
do He did not smile or speak but put his arms round her and kissed her as if
he did not know how to leave off and before she could speak again he was gone
We talked it over and could not understand it and she bade me go and seek my
father and ask what it was all about I found him walking up and down looking
very highly displeased
Tell your mother I have flogged Peter and that he richly deserved it
I durst not ask any more questions When I told my mother she sat down
quite faint for a minute I remember a few days after I saw the poor
withered cowslip flowers thrown out to the leaf heap to decay and die there
There was no making of cowslip wine that year at the rectory nor indeed ever
after
Presently my mother went to my father I know I thought of Queen Esther and
King Ahasuerus for my mother was very pretty and delicatelooking and my
father looked as terrible as King Ahasuerus Some time after they came out
together and then my mother told me what had happened and that she was going
up to Peters room at my fathers desire though she was not to tell Peter this
to talk the matter over with him But no Peter was there We looked over the
house no Peter was there Even my father who had not liked to join in the
search at first helped us before long The rectory was a very old house steps
up into a room steps down into a room all through At first my mother went
calling low and soft as if to reassure the poor boy Peter Peter dear its
only me but byandby as the servants came back from the errands my father
had sent them in different directions to find where Peter was as we found he
was not in the garden nor the hayloft nor anywhere about my mothers cry
grew louder and wilder Peter Peter my darling where are you for then she
felt and understood that that long kiss meant some sad kind of goodbye The
afternoon went on my mother never resting but seeking again and again in
every possible place that had been looked into twenty times before nay that
she had looked into over and over again herself My father sat with his head in
his hands not speaking except when his messengers came in bringing no tidings
then he lifted up his face so strong and sad and told them to go again in some
new direction My mother kept passing from room to room in and out of the
house moving noiselessly but never ceasing Neither she nor my father durst
leave the house which was the meetingplace for all the messengers At last
and it was nearly dark my father rose up He took hold of my mothers arm as
she came with wild sad pace through one door and quickly towards another She
started at the touch of his hand for she had forgotten all in the world but
Peter
Molly said he I did not think all this would happen He looked into her
face for comfort her poor face all wild and white for neither she nor my
father had dared to acknowledge much less act upon the terror that was in
their hearts lest Peter should have made away with himself My father saw no
conscious look in his wifes hot dreary eyes and he missed the sympathy that
she had always been ready to give him strong man as he was and at the dumb
despair in her face his tears began to flow But when she saw this a gentle
sorrow came over her countenance and she said Dearest John dont cry come
with me and well find him almost as cheerfully as if she knew where he was
And she took my fathers great hand in her little soft one and led him along
the tears dropping as he walked on that same unceasing weary walk from room to
room through house and garden
Oh how I wished for Deborah I had no time for crying for now all seemed
to depend on me I wrote for Deborah to come home I sent a message privately to
that same Mr Holbrooks house poor Mr Holbrook you know who I mean I
dont mean I sent a message to him but I sent one that I could trust to know if
Peter was at his house For at one time Mr Holbrook was an occasional visitor
at the rectory you know he was Miss Poles cousin and he had been very kind
to Peter and taught him how to fish he was very kind to everybody and I
thought Peter might have gone off there But Mr Holbrook was from home and
Peter had never been seen It was night now but the doors were all wide open
and my father and mother walked on and on it was more than an hour since he had
joined her and I dont believe they had ever spoken all that time I was
getting the parlour fire lighted and one of the servants was preparing tea for
I wanted them to have something to eat and drink and warm them when old Clare
asked to speak to me
I have borrowed the nets from the weir Miss Matty Shall we drag the ponds
tonight or wait for the morning
I remember staring in his face to gather his meaning and when I did I
laughed out loud The horror of that new thought our bright darling Peter
cold and stark and dead I remember the ring of my own laugh now
The next day Deborah was at home before I was myself again She would not
have been so weak as to give way as I had done but my screams my horrible
laughter had ended in crying had roused my sweet dear mother whose poor
wandering wits were called back and collected as soon as a child needed her
care She and Deborah sat by my bedside I knew by the looks of each that there
had been no news of Peter no awful ghastly news which was what I most had
dreaded in my dull state between sleeping and waking
The same result of all the searching had brought something of the same
relief to my mother to whom I am sure the thought that Peter might even then
be hanging dead in some of the familiar home places had caused that neverending
walk of yesterday Her soft eyes never were the same again after that they had
always a restless craving look as if seeking for what they could not find Oh
it was an awful time coming down like a thunderbolt on the still sunny day when
the lilacs were all in bloom«
»Where was Mr Peter« said I
»He had made his way to Liverpool and there was war then and some of the
kings ships lay off the mouth of the Mersey and they were only too glad to
have a fine likely boy such as him five foot nine he was come to offer
himself The captain wrote to my father and Peter wrote to my mother Stay
those letters will be somewhere here«
We lighted the candle and found the captains letter and Peters too And
we also found a little simple begging letter from Mrs Jenkyns to Peter
addressed to him at the house of an old schoolfellow whither she fancied he
might have gone They had returned it unopened and unopened it had remained
ever since having been inadvertently put by among the other letters of that
time This is it
»My dearest Peter You did not think we should be so sorry as we are
I know or you would never have gone away You are too good Your father
sits and sighs till my heart aches to hear him He cannot hold up his
head for grief and yet he only did what he thought was right Perhaps
he has been too severe and perhaps I have not been kind enough but God
knows how we love you my dear only boy Don looks so sorry you are
gone Come back and make us happy who love you so much I know you
will come back«
But Peter did not come back That spring day was the last time he ever saw his
mothers face The writer of the letter the last the only person who had
ever seen what was written in it was dead long ago and I a stranger not born
at the time when this occurrence took place was the one to open it
The captains letter summoned the father and mother to Liverpool instantly
if they wished to see their boy and by some of the wild chances of life the
captains letter had been detained somewhere somehow
Miss Matty went on »And it was racetime and all the posthorses at
Cranford were gone to the races but my father and mother set off in our own gig
and oh my dear they were too late the ship was gone And now read Peters
letter to my mother«
It was full of love and sorrow and pride in his new profession and a sore
sense of his disgrace in the eyes of the people at Cranford but ending with a
passionate entreaty that she would come and see him before he left the Mersey
»Mother we may go into battle I hope we shall and lick those French but I
must see you again before that time«
»And she was too late« said Miss Matty »too late«
We sat in silence pondering on the full meaning of those sad sad words At
length I asked Miss Matty to tell me how her mother bore it
»Oh« she said »she was patience itself She had never been strong and
this weakened her terribly My father used to sit looking at her far more sad
than she was He seemed as if he could look at nothing else when she was by and
he was so humble so very gentle now He would perhaps speak in his old way
laying down the law as it were and then in a minute or two he would come
round and put his hand on our shoulders and ask us in a low voice if he had
said anything to hurt us I did not wonder at his speaking so to Deborah for
she was so clever but I could not bear to hear him talking so to me
But you see he saw what we did not that it was killing my mother Yes
killing her put out the candle my dear I can talk better in the dark for
she was but a frail woman and illfitted to stand the fright and shock she had
gone through and she would smile at him and comfort him not in words but in
her looks and tones which were always cheerful when he was there And she would
speak of how she thought Peter stood a good chance of being admiral very soon
he was so brave and clever and how she thought of seeing him in his navy
uniform and what sort of hats admirals wore and how much more fit he was to be
a sailor than a clergyman and all in that way just to make my father think she
was quite glad of what came of that unlucky mornings work and the flogging
which was always in his mind as we all knew But oh my dear the bitter
bitter crying she had when she was alone and at last as she grew weaker she
could not keep her tears in when Deborah or me was by and would give us message
after message for Peter his ship had gone to the Mediterranean or somewhere
down there and then he was ordered off to India and there was no overland
route then but she still said that no one knew where their death lay in wait
and that we were not to think hers was near We did not think it but we knew
it as we saw her fading away
Well my dear its very foolish of me I know when in all likelihood I am
so near seeing her again
And only think love the very day after her death for she did not live
quite a twelvemonth after Peter went away the very day after came a parcel
for her from India from her poor boy It was a large soft white India shawl
with just a litlte narrow border all round just what my mother would have
liked
We thought it might rouse my father for he had sat with her hand in his all
night long so Deborah took it in to him and Peters letter to her and all At
first he took no notice and we tried to make a kind of light careless talk
about the shawl opening it out and admiring it Then suddenly he got up and
spoke She shall be buried in it he said Peter shall have that comfort and
she would have liked it
Well perhaps it was not reasonable but what could we do or say One gives
people in grief their own way He took it up and felt it It is just such a
shawl as she wished for when she was married and her mother did not give it
her I did not know of it till after or she should have had it she should
but she shall have it now
My mother looked so lovely in her death She was always pretty and now she
looked fair and waxen and young younger than Deborah as she stood trembling
and shivering by her We decked her in the long soft folds she lay smiling as
if pleased and people came all Cranford came to beg to see her for they
had loved her dearly as well they might and the countrywomen brought posies
old Clares wife brought some white violets and begged they might lie on her
breast
Deborah said to me the day of my mothers funeral that if she had a
hundred offers she never would marry and leave my father It was not very likely
she would have so many I dont know that she had one but it was not less to
her credit to say so She was such a daughter to my father as I think there
never was before or since His eyes failed him and she read book after book
and wrote and copied and was always at his service in any parish business She
could do many more things than my poor mother could she even once wrote a
letter to the bishop for my father But he missed my mother sorely the whole
parish noticed it Not that he was less active I think he was more so and more
patient in helping every one I did all I could to set Deborah at liberty to be
with him for I knew I was good for little and that my best work in the world
was to do odd jobs quietly and set others at liberty But my father was a
changed man«
»Did Mr Peter ever come home«
»Yes once He came home a lieutenant he did not get to be admiral And he
and my father were such friends My father took him into every house in the
parish he was so proud of him He never walked out without Peters arm to lean
upon Deborah used to smile I dont think we ever laughed again after my
mothers death and say she was quite put in a corner Not but what my father
always wanted her when there was letterwriting or reading to be done or
anything to be settled«
»And then« said I after a pause
»Then Peter went to sea again and byandby my father died blessing us
both and thanking Deborah for all she had been to him and of course our
circumstances were changed and instead of living at the rectory and keeping
three maids and a man we had to come to this small house and be content with a
servantofallwork but as Deborah used to say we have always lived
genteelly even if circumstances have compelled us to simplicity Poor Deborah«
»And Mr Peter« asked I
»Oh there was some great war in India I forget what they call it and we
have never heard of Peter since then I believe he is dead myself and it
sometimes fidgets me that we have never put on mourning for him And then again
when I sit by myself and all the house is still I think I hear his step coming
up the street and my heart begins to flutter and beat but the sound always
goes past and Peter never comes«
»Thats Martha back No Ill go my dear I can always find my way in the
dark you know And a blow of fresh air at the door will do my head good and
its rather got a trick of aching«
So she pattered off I had lighted the candle to give the room a cheerful
appearance against her return
»Was it Martha« asked I
»Yes And I am rather uncomfortable for I heard such a strange noise just
as I was opening the door«
»Where« I asked for her eyes were round with affright
»In the street just outside it sounded like«
»Talking« I put in as she hesitated a little
»No kissing«
Chapter VII
Visiting
One morning as Miss Matty and I sat at our work it was before twelve oclock
and Miss Matty had not changed the cap with yellow ribbons that had been Miss
Jenkynss best and which Miss Matty was now wearing out in private putting on
the one made in imitation of Mrs Jamiesons at all times when she expected to
be seen Martha came up and asked if Miss Betty Barker might speak to her
mistress Miss Matty assented and quickly disappeared to change the yellow
ribbons while Miss Barker came upstairs but as she had forgotten her
spectacles and was rather flurried by the unusual time of the visit I was not
surprised to see her return with one cap on the top of the other She was quite
unconscious of it herself and looked at us with bland satisfaction Nor do I
think Miss Barker perceived it for putting aside the little circumstance that
she was not so young as she had been she was very much absorbed in her errand
which she delivered herself of with an oppressive modesty that found vent in
endless apologies
Miss Betty Barker was the daughter of the old clerk at Cranford who had
officiated in Mr Jenkynss time She and her sister had had pretty good
situations as ladies maids and had saved money enough to set up a milliners
shop which had been patronised by the ladies in the neighbourhood Lady Arley
for instance would occasionally give Miss Barkers the pattern of an old cap of
hers which they immediately copied and circulated among the élite of Cranford
I say the élite for Miss Barkers had caught the trick of the place and piqued
themselves upon their aristocratic connection They would not sell their caps
and ribbons to any one without a pedigree Many a farmers wife or daughter
turned away huffed from Miss Barkers select millinery and went rather to the
universal shop where the profits of brown soap and moist sugar enabled the
proprietor to go straight to Paris he said until he found his customers too
patriotic and John Bullish to wear what the Mounseers wore London where as he
often told his customers Queen Adelaide had appeared only the very week
before in a cap exactly like the one he showed them trimmed with yellow and
blue ribbons and had been complimented by King William on the becoming nature
of her headdress
Miss Barkers who confined themselves to truth and did not approve of
miscellaneous customers throve notwithstanding They were selfdenying good
people Many a time have I seen the eldest of them she that had been maid to
Mrs Jamieson carrying out some delicate mess to a poor person They only aped
their betters in having nothing to do with the class immediately below theirs
And when Miss Barker died their profits and income were found to be such that
Miss Betty was justified in shutting up shop and retiring from business She
also as I think I have before said set up her cow a mark of respectability in
Cranford almost as decided as setting up a gig is among some people She dressed
finer than any lady in Cranford and we did not wonder at it for it was
understood that she was wearing out all the bonnets and caps and outrageous
ribbons which had once formed her stockintrade It was five or six years since
she had given up shop so in any other place than Cranford her dress might have
been considered passée
And now Miss Betty Barker had called to invite Miss Matty to tea at her
house on the following Tuesday She gave me also an impromptu invitation as I
happened to be a visitor though I could see she had a little fear lest since
my father had gone to live in Drumble he might have engaged in that horrid
cotton trade and so dragged his family down out of aristocratic society She
prefaced this invitation with so many apologies that she quite excited my
curiosity Her presumption was to be excused What had she been doing She
seemed so overpowered by it I could only think that she had been writing to
Queen Adelaide to ask for a receipt for washing lace but the act which she so
characterised was only an invitation she had carried to her sisters former
mistress Mrs Jamieson »Her former occupation considered could Miss Matty
excuse the liberty« Ah thought I she has found out that double cap and is
going to rectify Miss Mattys headdress No it was simply to extend her
invitation to Miss Matty and to me Miss Matty bowed acceptance and I wondered
that in the graceful action she did not feel the unusual weight and
extraordinary height of her headdress But I do not think she did for she
recovered her balance and went on talking to Miss Betty in a kind
condescending manner very different from the fidgety way she would have had if
she had suspected how singular her appearance was
»Mrs Jamieson is coming I think you said« asked Miss Matty
»Yes Mrs Jamieson most kindly and condescendingly said she would be happy
to come One little stipulation she made that she should bring Carlo I told
her that if I had a weakness it was for dogs«
»And Miss Pole« questioned Miss Matty who was thinking of her pool at
Preference in which Carlo would not be available as a partner
»I am going to ask Miss Pole Of course I could not think of asking her
until I had asked you madam the rectors daughter madam Believe me I do
not forget the situation my father held under yours«
»And Mrs Forrester of course«
»And Mrs Forrester I thought in fact of going to her before I went to
Miss Pole Although her circumstances are changed madam she was born at
Tyrrell and we can never forget her alliance to the Bigges of Bigelow Hall«
Miss Matty cared much more for the little circumstance of her being a very
good cardplayer
»Mrs FitzAdam I suppose«
»No madam I must draw a line somewhere Mrs Jamieson would not I think
like to meet Mrs FitzAdam I have the greatest respect for Mrs FitzAdam
but I cannot think her fit society for such ladies as Mrs Jamieson and Miss
Matilda Jenkyns«
Miss Betty Barker bowed low to Miss Matty and pursed up her mouth She
looked at me with sidelong dignity as much as to say although a retired
milliner she was no democrat and understood the difference of ranks
»May I beg you to come as near halfpast six to my little dwelling as
possible Miss Matilda Mrs Jamieson dines at five but has kindly promised not
to delay her visit beyond that time halfpast six« And with a swimming
curtsey Miss Betty Barker took her leave
My prophetic soul foretold a visit that afternoon from Miss Pole who
usually came to call on Miss Matilda after any event or indeed in sight of any
event to talk it over with her
»Miss Betty told me it was to be a choice and select few« said Miss Pole
as she and Miss Matty compared notes
»Yes so she said Not even Mrs FitzAdam«
Now Mrs FitzAdam was the widowed sister of the Cranford surgeon whom I
have named before Their parents were respectable farmers content with their
station The name of these good people was Hoggins Mr Hoggins was the Cranford
doctor now we disliked the name and considered it coarse but as Miss Jenkyns
said if he changed it to Piggins it would not be much better We had hoped to
discover a relationship between him and that Marchioness of Exeter whose name
was Molly Hoggins but the man careless of his own interests utterly ignored
and denied any such relationship although as dear Miss Jenkyns had said he
had a sister called Mary and the same Christian names were very apt to run in
families
Soon after Miss Mary Hoggins married Mr FitzAdam she disappeared from the
neighbourhood for many years She did not move in a sphere in Cranford society
sufficiently high to make any of us care to know what Mr FitzAdam was He died
and was gathered to his fathers without our ever having thought about him at
all And then Mrs FitzAdam reappeared in Cranford »as bold as a lion« Miss
Pole said a welltodo widow dressed in rustling black silk so soon after
her husbands death that poor Miss Jenkyns was justified in the remark she made
that »bombazine would have shown a deeper sense of her loss«
I remember the convocation of ladies who assembled to decide whether or not
Mrs FitzAdam should be called upon by the old blueblooded inhabitants of
Cranford She had taken a large rambling house which had been usually
considered to confer a patent of gentility upon its tenant because once upon a
time seventy or eighty years before the spinster daughter of an earl had
resided in it I am not sure if the inhabiting this house was not also believed
to convey some unusual power of intellect for the earls daughter Lady Jane
had a sister Lady Anne who had married a general officer in the time of the
American war and this general officer had written one or two comedies which
were still acted on the London boards and which when we saw them advertised
made us all draw up and feel that Drury Lane was paying a very pretty
compliment to Cranford Still it was not all a settled thing that Mrs
FitzAdam was to be visited when dear Miss Jenkyns died and with her
something of the clear knowledge of the strict code of gentility went out too
As Miss Pole observed »As most of the ladies of good family in Cranford were
elderly spinsters or widows without children if we did not relax a little and
become less exclusive byandby we should have no society at all«
Mrs Forrester continued on the same side
»She had always understood that Fitz meant something aristocratic there was
FitzRoy she thought that some of the Kings children had been called
FitzRoy and there was FitzClarence now they were the children of dear good
King William the Fourth FitzAdam it was a pretty name and she thought it
very probably meant Child of Adam No one who had not some good blood in their
veins would dare to be called Fitz there was a deal in a name she had had a
cousin who spelt his name with two little ffs ffoulkes and he always looked
down upon capital letters and said they belonged to latelyinvented families
She had been afraid he would die a bachelor he was so very choice When he met
a Mrs ffarringdon at a wateringplace he took to her immediately and a very
pretty genteel woman she was a widow with a very good fortune and my cousin
Mr ffoulkes married her and it was all owing to her two little ffs«
Mrs FitzAdam did not stand a chance of meeting with a Mr Fitzanything in
Cranford so that could not have been her motive for settling there Miss Matty
thought it might have been the hope of being admitted into the society of the
place which would certainly be a very agreeable rise for cidevant Miss
Hoggins and if this had been her hope it would be cruel to disappoint her
So everybody called upon Mrs FitzAdam everybody but Mrs Jamieson who
used to show how honourable she was by never seeing Mrs FitzAdam when they met
at the Cranford parties There would be only eight or ten ladies in the room
and Mrs FitzAdam was the largest of all and she invariably used to stand up
when Mrs Jamieson came in and curtsey very low to her whenever she turned in
her direction so low in fact that I think Mrs Jamieson must have looked at
the wall above her for she never moved a muscle of her face no more than if
she had not seen her Still Mrs FitzAdam persevered
The spring evenings were getting bright and long when three or four ladies
in calashes met at Miss Barkers door Do you know what a calash is It is a
covering worn over caps not unlike the heads fastened on oldfashioned gigs
but sometimes it is not quite so large This kind of headgear always made an
awful impression on the children in Cranford and now two or three left off
their play in the quiet sunny little street and gathered in wondering silence
round Miss Pole Miss Matty and myself We were silent too so that we could
hear loud suppressed whispers inside Miss Barkers house »Wait Peggy wait
till Ive run upstairs and washed my hands When I cough open the door Ill
not be a minute«
And true enough it was not a minute before we heard a noise between a
sneeze and a crow on which the door flew open Behind it stood a roundeyed
maiden all aghast at the honourable company of calashes who marched in without
a word She recovered presence of mind enough to usher us into a small room
which had been the shop but was now converted into a temporary dressingroom
There we unpinned and shook ourselves and arranged our features before the
glass into a sweet and gracious companyface and then bowing backwards with
»After you maam« we allowed Mrs Forrester to take precedence up the narrow
staircase that led to Miss Barkers drawingroom There she sat as stately and
composed as though we had never heard that odd cough from which her throat
must have been even then sore and rough Kind gentle shabbilydressed Mrs
Forrester was immediately conducted to the second place of honour a seat
arranged something like Prince Alberts near the Queens good but not so
good The place of preeminence was of course reserved for the Honourable Mrs
Jamieson who presently came panting up the stairs Carlo rushing round her on
her progress as if he meant to trip her up
And now Miss Betty Barker was a proud and happy woman She stirred the fire
and shut the door and sat as near to it as she could quite on the edge of her
chair When Peggy came in tottering under the weight of the teatray I noticed
that Miss Barker was sadly afraid lest Peggy should not keep her distance
sufficiently She and her mistress were on very familiar terms in their
everyday intercourse and Peggy wanted now to make several little confidences
to her which Miss Barker was on thorns to hear but which she thought it her
duty as a lady to repress So she turned away from all Peggys asides and
signs but she made one or two very malapropos answers to what was said and at
last seized with a bright idea she exclaimed »Poor sweet Carlo Im
forgetting him Come downstairs with me poor ittie doggie and it shall have
its tea it shall«
In a few minutes she returned bland and benignant as before but I thought
she had forgotten to give the poor ittie doggie anything to eat judging by the
avidity with which he swallowed down chance pieces of cake The teatray was
abundantly loaded I was pleased to see it I was so hungry but I was afraid
the ladies present might think it vulgarly heaped up I know they would have
done at their own houses but somehow the heaps disappeared here I saw Mrs
Jamieson eating seedcake slowly and considerately as she did everything and
I was rather surprised for I knew she had told us on the occasion of her last
party that she never had it in her house it reminded her so much of scented
soap She always gave us Savoy biscuits However Mrs Jamieson was kindly
indulgent to Miss Barkers want of knowledge of the customs of high life and
to spare her feelings ate three large pieces of seedcake with a placid
ruminating expression of countenance not unlike a cows
After tea there was some little demur and difficulty We were six in number
four could play at Preference and for the other two there was Cribbage But
all except myself I was rather afraid of the Cranford ladies at cards for it
was the most earnest and serious business they ever engaged in were anxious to
be of the pool Even Miss Barker while declaring she did not know Spadille form
Manille was evidently hankering to take a hand The dilemma was soon put an end
to by a singular kind of noise If a barons daughterinlaw could ever be
supposed to snore I should have said Mrs Jamieson did so then for overcome
by the heat of the room and inclined to doze by nature the temptation of that
very comfortable armchair had been too much for her and Mrs Jamieson was
nodding Once or twice she opened her eyes with an effort and calmly but
unconsciously smiled upon us but byandby even her benevolence was not equal
to this exertion and she was sound asleep
»It is very gratifying to me« whispered Miss Barker at the cardtable to
her three opponents whom notwithstanding her ignorance of the game she was
basting most unmercifully »very gratifying indeed to see how completely Mrs
Jamieson feels at home in my poor little dwelling she could not have paid me a
greater compliment«
Miss Barker provided me with some literature in the shape of three or four
handsomelybound fashionbooks ten or twelve years old observing as she put a
little table and a candle for my especial benefit that she knew young people
liked to look at pictures Carlo lay and snorted and started at his mistresss
feet He too was quite at home
The cardtable was an animated scene to watch four ladies heads with
niddlenoddling caps all nearly meeting over the middle of the table in their
eagerness to whisper quick enough and loud enough and every now and then came
Miss Barkers »Hush ladies if you please hush Mrs Jamieson is asleep«
It was very difficult to steer clear between Mrs Forresters deafness and
Mrs Jamiesons sleepiness But Miss Barker managed her arduous task well She
repeated the whisper to Mrs Forrester distorting her face considerably in
order to show by the motions of her lips what was said and then she smiled
kindly all round at us and murmured to herself »Very gratifying indeed I
wish my poor sister had been alive to see this day«
Presently the door was thrown wide open Carlo started to his feet with a
loud snapping bark and Mrs Jamieson awoke or perhaps she had not been
asleep as she said almost directly the room had been so light she had been
glad to keep her eyes shut but had been listening with great interest to all
our amusing and agreeable conversation Peggy came in once more red with
importance Another tray »Oh gentility« thought I »can you endure this last
shock« For Miss Barker had ordered nay I doubt not prepared although she
did say »Why Peggy what have you brought us« and looked pleasantly surprised
at the unexpected pleasure all sorts of good things for supper scalloped
oysters potted lobsters jelly a dish called little Cupids which was in great
favour with the Cranford ladies although too expensive to be give except on
solemn and state occasions maccaroons sopped in brandy I should have called
it if I had not known its more refined and classical name In short we were
evidently to be feasted with all that was sweetest and best and we thought it
better to submit graciously even at the cost of our gentility which never ate
suppers in general but which like most nonsuppereaters was particularly
hungry on all special occasions
Miss Barker in her former sphere had I dare say been made acquainted
with the beverage they call cherrybrandy We none of us had ever seen such a
thing and rather shrank back when she proffered it us »just a little leetle
glass ladies after the oysters and lobsters you know Shellfish are sometimes
thought not very wholesome« We all shook our heads like female mandarins but
at last Mrs Jamieson suffered herself to be persuaded and we followed her
lead It was not exactly unpalatable though so hot and so strong that we
thought ourselves bound to give evidence that we were not accustomed to such
things by coughing terribly almost as strangely as Miss Barker had done
before we were admitted by Peggy
»Its very strong« said Miss Pole as she put down her empty glass »I do
believe theres spirit in it«
»Only a little drop just necessary to make it keep« said Miss Barker
»You know we put brandypaper over preserves to make them keep I often feel
tipsy myself from eating damson tart«
I question whether damson tart would have opened Mrs Jamiesons heart as
the cherrybrandy did but she told us of a coming event respecting which she
had been quite silent till that moment
»My sisterinlaw Lady Glenmire is coming to stay with me«
There was a chorus of »Indeed« and then a pause Each one rapidly reviewed
her wardrobe as to its fitness to appear in the presence of a barons widow
for of course a series of small festivals were always held in Cranford on the
arrival of a visitor at any of our friends houses We felt very pleasantly
excited on the present occasion
Not long after this the maids and the lanterns were announced Mrs Jamieson
had the sedanchair which had squeezed itself into Miss Barkers narrow lobby
with some difficulty and most literally stopped the way It required some
skilful manoeuvring on the part of the old chairmen shoemakers by day but when
summoned to carry the sedan dressed up in a strange old livery long
greatcoats with small capes coeval with the sedan and similar to the dress
of the class in Hogarths pictures to edge and back and try at it again and
finally to succeed in carrying their burden out of Miss Barkers front door
Then we heard their quick pitapat along the quiet little street as we put on
our calashes and pinned up our gowns Miss Barker hovering about us with offers
of help which if she had not remembered her former occupation and wished us
to forget it would have been much more pressing
Chapter VIII
»Your Ladyship«
Early the next morning directly after twelve Miss Pole made her appearance
at Miss Mattys Some very trifling piece of business was alleged as a reason
for the call but there was evidently something behind At last out it came
»By the way youll think Im strangely ignorant but do you really know I
am puzzled how we ought to address Lady Glenmire Do you say Your ladyship
where you would say you to a common person I have been puzzling all morning
and are we to say My lady instead of Maam Now you knew Lady Arley will you
kindly tell me the most correct way of speaking to the peerage«
Poor Miss Matty she took off her spectacles and she put them on again but
how Lady Arley was addressed she could not remember
»It is so long ago« she said »Dear dear how stupid I am I dont think I
ever saw her more than twice I know we used to call Sir Peter Sir Peter but
he came much oftener to see us than Lady Arley did Deborah would have known in
a minute My lady your ladyship It sounds very strange and as if it was not
natural I never thought of it before but now you have named it I am all in a
puzzle«
It was very certain Miss Pole would obtain no wise decision from Miss Matty
who got more bewildered every moment and more perplexed as to etiquettes of
address
»Well I really think« said Miss Pole »I had better just go and tell Mrs
Forrester about our little difficulty One sometimes grows nervous and yet one
would not have Lady Glenmire think we were quite ignorant of the etiquettes of
high life in Cranford«
»And will you just step in here dear Miss Pole as you come back please
and tell me what you decide upon Whatever you and Mrs Forrester fix upon will
be quite right Im sure Lady Arley Sir Peter« said Miss Matty to herself
trying to recall the old forms of words
»Who is Lady Glenmire« asked I
»Oh shes the widow of Mr Jamieson thats Mrs Jamiesons late husband
you know widow of his eldest brother Mrs Jamieson was a Miss Walker
daughter of Governor Walker Your ladyship My dear if they fix on that way of
speaking you must just let me practise a little on you first for I shall feel
so foolish and hot saying it the first time to Lady Glenmire«
It was really a relief to Miss Matty when Mrs Jamieson came on a very
unpolite errand I notice that apathetic people have more quiet impertinence
than others and Mrs Jamieson came now to insinuate pretty plainly that she did
not particularly wish that the Cranford ladies should call upon her
sisterinlaw I can hardly say how she made this clear for I grew very
indignant and warm while with slow deliberation she was explaining her wishes
to Miss Matty who a true lady herself could hardly understand the feeling
which made Mrs Jamieson wish to appear to her noble sisterinlaw as if she
only visited county families Miss Matty remained puzzled and perplexed long
after I had found out the object of Mrs Jamiesons visit
When she did understand the drift of the honourable ladys call it was
pretty to see with what quiet dignity she received the intimation thus
uncourteously given She was not in the least hurt she was of too gentle a
spirit for that nor was she exactly conscious of disapproving of Mrs
Jamiesons conduct but there was something of this feeling in her mind I am
sure which made her pass from the subject to others in a less flurried and more
composed manner than usual Mrs Jamieson was indeed the more flurried of the
two and I could see she was glad to take her leave
A little while afterwards Miss Pole returned red and indignant »Well to
be sure Youve had Mrs Jamieson here I find from Martha and we are not to
call on Lady Glenmire Yes I met Mrs Jamieson halfway between here and Mrs
Forresters and she told me she took me so by surprise I had nothing to say
I wish I had thought of something very sharp and sarcastic I dare say I shall
tonight And Lady Glenmire is but the widow of a Scotch baron after all I went
on to look at Mrs Forresters Peerage to see who this lady was that is to be
kept under a glass case widow of a Scotch peer never sat in the House of
Lords and as poor as Job I dare say and she fifth daughter of some Mr
Campbell or other You are the daughter of a rector at any rate and related to
the Arleys and Sir Peter might have been Viscount Arley every one says«
Miss Matty tried to soothe Miss Pole but in vain That lady usually so
kind and goodhumoured was now in a full flow of anger
»And I went and ordered a cap this morning to be quite ready« said she at
last letting out the secret which gave sting to Mrs Jamiesons intimation
»Mrs Jamieson shall see if it is so easy to get me to make fourth at a pool
when she has none of her fine Scotch relations with her«
In coming out of church the first Sunday on which Lady Glenmire appeared in
Cranford we sedulously talked together and turned our backs on Mrs Jamieson
and her guest If we might not call on her we would not even look at her
though we were dying with curiosity to know what she was like We had the
comfort of questioning Martha in the afternoon Martha did not belong to a
sphere of society whose observation could be an implied compliment to Lady
Glenmire and Martha had made good use of her eyes
»Well maam is it the little lady with Mrs Jamieson you mean I thought
you would like more to know how young Mrs Smith was dressed her being a
bride« Mrs Smith was the butchers wife
Miss Pole said »Good gracious me as if we cared about a Mrs Smith« but
was silent as Martha resumed her speech
»The little lady in Mrs Jamiesons pew had on maam rather an old black
silk and a shepherds plaid cloak maam and very bright black eyes she had
maam and a pleasant sharp face not over young maam but yet I should
guess younger than Mrs Jamieson herself She looked up and down the church
like a bird and nipped up her petticoats when she came out as quick and sharp
as ever I see Ill tell you what maam shes more like Mrs Deacon at the
Coach and Horses nor any one«
»Hush Martha« said Miss Matty »thats not respectful«
»Isnt it maam I beg pardon Im sure but Jem Hearn said so as well He
said she was just such a sharp stirring sort of a body«
»Lady« said Miss Pole
»Lady as Mrs Deacon«
Another Sunday passed away and we still averted our eyes from Mrs Jamieson
and her guest and made remarks to ourselves that we thought were very severe
almost too much so Miss Matty was evidently uneasy at our sarcastic manner of
speaking
Perhaps by this time Lady Glenmire had found out that Mrs Jamiesons was
not the gayest liveliest house in the world perhaps Mrs Jamieson had found
out that most of the county families were in London and that those who remained
in the country were not so alive as they might have been to the circumstance of
Lady Glenmire being in their neighbourhood Great events spring out of small
causes so I will not pretend to say what induced Mrs Jamieson to alter her
determination of excluding the Cranford ladies and send notes of invitation all
round for a small party on the following Tuesday Mr Mulliner himself brought
them round He would always ignore the fact of there being a backdoor to any
house and gave a louder rattat than his mistress Mrs Jamieson He had three
little notes which he carried in a large basket in order to impress his
mistress with an idea of their great weight though they might easily have gone
into his waistcoat pocket
Miss Matty and I quietly decided we would have a previous engagement at
home it was the evening on which Miss Matty usually made candlelighters of all
the notes and letters of the week for on Mondays her accounts were always made
straight not a penny owing from the week before so by a natural arrangement
making candlelighters fell upon a Tuesday evening and gave us a legitimate
excuse for declining Mrs Jamiesons invitation But before our answer was
written in came Miss Pole with an open note in her hand
»So« she said »Ah I see you have got your note too Better late than
never I could have told my Lady Glenmire she would be glad enough of our
society before a fortnight was over«
»Yes« said Miss Matty »were asked for Tuesday evening And perhaps you
would just kindly bring your work across and drink tea with us that night It is
my usual regular time for looking over the last weeks bills and notes and
letters and making candlelighters of them but that does not seem quite reason
enough for saying I have a previous engagement at home though I meant to make
it do Now if you would come my conscience would be quite at ease and luckily
the note is not written yet«
I saw Miss Poles countenance change while Miss Matty was speaking
»Dont you mean to go then« asked she
»Oh no« said Miss Matty quietly »You dont either I suppose«
»I dont know« replied Miss Pole »Yes I think I do« said she rather
briskly and on seeing Miss Matty looked surprised she added »You see one
would not like Mrs Jamieson to think that anything she could do or say was of
consequence enough to give offence it would be a kind of letting down of
ourselves that I for one should not like It would be too flattering to Mrs
Jamieson if we allowed her to suppose that what she had said affected us a week
nay ten days afterwards«
»Well I suppose it is wrong to be hurt and annoyed so long about anything
and perhaps after all she did not mean to vex us But I must say I could not
have brought myself to say the things Mrs Jamieson did about our not calling I
really dont think I shall go«
»Oh come Miss Matty you must go you know our friend Mrs Jamieson is
much more phlegmatic than most people and does not enter into the little
delicacies of feeling which you possess in so remarkable a degree«
»I thought you possessed them too that day Mrs Jamieson called to tell us
not to go« said Miss Matty innocently
But Miss Pole in addition to her delicacies of feeling possessed a very
smart cap which she was anxious to show to an admiring world and so she seemed
to forget all her angry words uttered not a fortnight before and to be ready to
act on what she called the great Christian principle of Forgive and forget and
she lectured dear Miss Matty so long on this head that she absolutely ended by
assuring her it was her duty as a deceased rectors daughter to buy a new cap
and go to the party at Mrs Jamiesons So »we were most happy to accept«
instead of »regretting that we were obliged to decline«
The expenditure on dress in Cranford was principally in that one article
referred to If the heads were buried in smart new caps the ladies were like
ostriches and cared not what became of their bodies Old gowns white and
venerable collars any number of brooches up and down and everywhere some with
dogs eyes painted in them some that were like small pictureframes with
mausoleums and weepingwillows neatly executed in hair inside some again with
miniatures of ladies and gentlemen sweetly smiling out of a nest of stiff
muslin old brooches for a permanent ornament and new caps to suit the fashion
of the day the ladies of Cranford always dressed with chaste elegance and
propriety as Miss Barker once prettily expressed it
And with three new caps and a greater array of brooches than had ever been
seen together at one time since Cranford was a town did Mrs Forresterand
Miss Matty and Miss Pole appear on that memorable Tuesday evening I counted
seven brooches myself on Miss Poles dress Two were fixed negligently in her
cap one was a butterfly made of Scotch pebbles which a vivid imagination might
believe to be the real insect one fastened her net neckkerchief one her
collar one ornamented the front of her gown midway between her throat and
waist and another adorned the point of her stomacher Where the seventh was I
have forgotten but it was somewhere about her I am sure
But I am getting on too fast in describing the dresses of the company I
should first relate the gathering on the way to Mrs Jamiesons That lady lived
in a large house just outside the town A road which had known what it was to be
a street ran right before the house which opened out upon it without any
intervening garden or court Whatever the sun was about he never shone on the
front of that house To be sure the livingrooms were at the back looking on
to a pleasant garden the front windows only belonged to kitchens and
housekeepers rooms and pantries and in one of them Mr Mulliner was reported
to sit Indeed looking askance we often saw the back of a head covered with
hair powder which also extended itself over his coatcollar down to his very
waist and this imposing back was always engaged in reading the St Jamess
Chronicle opened wide which in some degree accounted for the length of time
the said newspaper was in reaching us equal subscribers with Mrs Jamieson
though in right of her honourableness she always had the reading of it first
This very Tuesday the delay in forwarding the last number had been particularly
aggravating just when both Miss Pole and Miss Matty the former more
especially had been wanting to see it in order to coach up the Court news
ready for the evenings interview with aristocracy Miss Pole told us she had
absolutely taken time by the forelock and been dressed by five oclock in
order to be ready if the St Jamess Chronicle should come in at the last moment
the very St Jamess Chronicle which the powdered head was tranquilly and
composedly reading as we passed the accustomed window this evening
»The impudence of the man« said Miss Pole in a low indignant whisper »I
should like to ask him whether his mistress pays her quartershare for his
exclusive use«
We looked at her in admiration of the courage of her thought for Mr
Mulliner was an object of great awe to all of us He seemed never to have
forgotten his condescension in coming to live at Cranford Miss Jenkyns at
times had stood forth as the undaunted champion of her sex and spoken to him
on terms of equality but even Miss Jenkyns could get no higher In his
pleasantest and most gracious moods he looked like a sulky cockatoo He did not
speak except in gruff monosyllables He would wait in the hall when we begged
him not to wait and then look deeply offended because we had kept him there
while with trembling hasty hands we prepared ourselves for appearing in
company
Miss Pole ventured on a small joke as we went upstairs intended though
addressed to us to afford Mr Mulliner some slight amusement We all smiled in
order to seem as if we felt at our ease and timidly looked for Mr Mulliners
sympathy Not a muscle of that wooden face had relaxed and we were grave in an
instant
Mrs Jamiesons drawingroom was cheerful the evening sun came streaming
into it and the large square window was clustered round with flowers The
furniture was white and gold not the later style Louis Quatorze I think they
call it all shells and twirls no Mrs Jamiesons chairs and tables had not a
curve or bend about them The chair and table legs diminished as they neared the
ground and were straight and square in all their corners The chairs were all
arow against the walls with the exception of four or five which stood in a
circle round the fire They were railed with white bars across the back and
knobbed with gold neither the railings nor the knobs invited to ease There was
a japanned table devoted to literature on which lay a Bible a Peerage and a
PrayerBook There was another square Pembroke table dedicated to the Fine Arts
on which were a kaleidoscope conversationcards puzzlecards tied together to
an interminable length with faded pink satin ribbon and a box painted in fond
imitation of the drawings which decorate teachests Carlo lay on the
worstedworked rug and ungraciously barked at us as we entered Mrs Jamieson
stood up giving us each a torpid smile of welcome and looking helplessly
beyond us at Mr Mulliner as if she hoped he would place us in chairs for if
he did not she never could I suppose he thought we could find our way to the
circle round the fire which reminded me of Stonehenge I dont know why Lady
Glenmire came to the rescue of our hostess and somehow or other we found
ourselves for the first time placed agreeably and not formally in Mrs
Jamiesons house Lady Glenmire now we had time to look at her proved to be a
bright little woman of middle age who had been very pretty in the days of her
youth and who was even yet very pleasantlooking I saw Miss Pole appraising
her dress in the first five minutes and I take her word when she said the next
day
»My dear ten pounds would have purchased every stitch she had on lace and
all«
It was pleasant to suspect that a peeress could be poor and partly
reconciled us to the fact that her husband had never sat in the House of Lords
which when we first heard of it seemed a kind of swindling us out of our
respect on false pretences a sort of A Lord and No Lord business
We were all very silent at first We were thinking what we could talk about
that should be high enough to interest My Lady There had been a rise in the
price of sugar which as preservingtime was near was a piece of intelligence
to all our housekeeping hearts and would have been the natural topic if Lady
Glenmire had not been by But we were not sure if the peerage ate preserves
much less knew how they were made At last Miss Pole who had always a great
deal of courage and savoir faire spoke to Lady Glenmire who on her part had
seemed just as much puzzled to know how to break the silence as we were
»Has your ladyship been to Court lately« asked she and then gave a little
glance round at us half timid and half triumphant as much as to say »See how
judiciously I have chosen a subject befitting the rank of the stranger«
»I never was there in my life« said Lady Glenmire with a broad Scotch
accent but in a very sweet voice And then as if she had been too abrupt she
added »We very seldom went to London only twice in fact during all my
married life and before I was married my father had far too large a family«
fifth daughter of Mr Campbell was in all our minds, I am sure »to take us
often from our home even to Edinburgh Yell have been in Edinburgh maybe«
said she suddenly brightening up with the hope of a common interest We had
none of us been there but Miss Pole had an uncle who once had passed a night
there which was very pleasant
Mrs Jamieson meanwhile was absorbed in wonder why Mr Mulliner did not
bring the tea and at length the wonder oozed out of her mouth
»I had better ring the bell my dear had not I« said Lady Glenmire
briskly
»No I think not Mulliner does not like to be hurried«
We should have liked our tea for we dined at an earlier hour than Mrs
Jamieson I suspect Mr Mulliner had to finish the St Jamess Chronicle before
he chose to trouble himself about tea His mistress fidgeted and fidgeted and
kept saying »I cant think why Mulliner does not bring tea I cant think what
he can be about« And Lady Glenmire at last grew quite impatient but it was a
pretty kind of impatience after all and she rang the bell rather sharply on
receiving a halfpermission from her sisterinlaw to do so Mr Mulliner
appeared in dignified surprise »Oh« said Mrs Jamieson »Lady Glenmire rang
the bell I believe it was for tea«
In a few minutes tea was brought Very delicate was the china very old the
plate very thin the bread and butter and very small the lumps of sugar Sugar
was evidently Mrs Jamiesons favourite economy I question if the little
filigree sugartongs made something like scissors could have opened themselves
wide enough to take up an honest vulgar goodsized piece and when I tried to
seize two little minnikin pieces at once so as not to be detected in too many
returns to the sugarbasin they absolutely dropped one with a little sharp
clatter quite in a malicious and unnatural manner But before this happened we
had had a slight disappointment In the little silver jug was cream in the
larger one was milk As soon as Mr Mulliner came in Carlo began to beg which
was a thing our manners forbade us to do though I am sure we were just as
hungry and Mrs Jamieson said she was certain we would excuse her if she gave
her poor dumb Carlo his tea first She accordingly mixed a saucerful for him
and put it down for him to lap and then she told us how intelligent and
sensible the dear little fellow was he knew cream quite well and constantly
refused tea with only milk in it so the milk was left for us but we silently
thought we were quite as intelligent and sensible as Carlo and felt as if
insult were added to injury when we were called upon to admire the gratitude
evinced by his wagging his tail for the cream which should have been ours
After tea we thawed down into commonlife subjects We were thankful to Lady
Glenmire for having proposed some more bread and butter and this mutual want
made us better acquainted with her than we should ever have been with talking
about the Court though Miss Pole did say she had hoped to know how the dear
Queen was from some one who had seen her
The friendship begun over bread and butter extended on to cards Lady
Glenmire played Preference to admiration and was a complete authority as to
Ombre and Quadrille Even Miss Pole quite forgot to say »my lady« and »your
ladyship« and said »Basto maam« »you have Spadille I believe« just as
quietly as if we had never held the great Cranford parliament on the subject of
the proper mode of addressing a peeress
As a proof of how thoroughly we had forgotten that we were in the presence
of one who might have sat down to tea with a coronet instead of a cap on her
head Mrs Forrester related a curious little fact to Lady Glenmire an
anecdote known to the circle of her intimate friends but of which even Mrs
Jamieson was not aware It related to some fine old lace the sole relic of
better days which Lady Glenmire was admiring on Mrs Forresters collar
»Yes« said that lady »such lace cannot be got now for either love or
money made by the nuns abroad they tell me They say that they cant make it
now even there But perhaps they can now theyve passed the Catholic
Emancipation Bill I should not wonder But in the meantime I treasure up my
lace very much I darent even trust the washing of it to my maid« the little
charity schoolgirl I have named before but who sounded well as my maid »I
always wash it myself And once it had a narrow escape Of course your ladyship
knows that such lace must never be starched or ironed Some people wash it in
sugar and water and some in coffee to make it the right yellow colour but I
myself have a very good receipt for washing it in milk which stiffens it
enough and gives it a very good creamy colour Well maam I had tacked it
together and the beauty of this fine lace is that when it is wet it goes into
a very little space), and put it to soak in milk when unfortunately I left
the room on my return I found pussy on the table looking very like a thief
but gulping very uncomfortably as if she was halfchoked with something she
wanted to swallow and could not And would you believe it At first I pitied
her and said Poor pussy poor pussy till all at once I looked and saw the
cup of milk empty cleaned out You naughty cat said I and I believe I was
provoked enough to give her a slap which did no good but only helped the lace
down just as one slaps a choking child on the back I could have cried I was
so vexed but I determined I would not give the lace up without a struggle for
it I hoped the lace might disagree with her at any rate but it would have
been too much for Job if he had seen as I did that cat come in quite placid
and purring not a quarter of an hour after and almost expecting to be stroked
No pussy said I if you have any conscience you ought not to expect that And
then a thought struck me and I rang the bell for my maid and sent her to Mr
Hoggins with my compliments and would he be kind enough to lend me one of his
topboots for an hour I did not think there was anything odd in the message
but Jenny said the young men in the surgery laughed as if they would be ill at
my wanting a topboot When it came Jenny and I put pussy in with her fore
straight down so that they were fastened and could not scratch and we gave
her a teaspoonful of currantjelly in which your ladyship must excuse me I had
mixed some tartar emetic I shall never forget how anxious I was for the next
halfhour I took pussy to my own room and spread a clean towel on the floor I
could have kissed her when she returned the lace to sight very much as it had
gone down Jenny had boiling water ready and we soaked it and soaked it and
spread it on a lavenderbush in the sun before I could touch it again even to
put it in milk But now your ladyship would never guess that it had been in
pussys inside«
We found out in the course of the evening that Lady Glenmire was going to
pay Mrs Jamieson a long visit as she had given up her apartments in Edinburgh
and had no ties to take her back there in a hurry On the whole we were rather
glad to hear this for she had made a pleasant impression upon us and it was
also very comfortable to find from things which dropped out in the course of
conversation that in addition to many other genteel qualities she was far
removed from the vulgarity of wealth
»Dont you find it very unpleasant walking« asked Mrs Jamieson as our
respective servants were announced It was a pretty regular question from Mrs
Jamieson who had her own carriage in the coach and always went out in a
sedanchair to the very shortest distances The answers were nearly as much a
matter of course
»Oh dear no it is so pleasant and still at night« »Such a refreshment
after the excitement of a party« »The stars are so beautiful« This last was
from Miss Matty
»Are you fond of astronomy« Lady Glenmire asked
»Not very« replied Miss Matty rather confused at the moment to remember
which was astronomy and which was astrology but the answer was true under
either circumstance for she read and was slightly alarmed at Francis Moores
astrological predictions and as to astronomy in a private and confidential
conversation she had told me she never could believe that the earth was moving
constantly and that she would not believe it if she could it made her feel so
tired and dizzy whenever she thought about it
In our pattens we picked our way home with extra care that night so refined
and delicate were our perceptions after drinking tea with my lady
Chapter IX
Signor Brunoni
Soon after the events of which I gave an account in my last paper I was
summoned home by my fathers illness and for a time I forgot in anxiety about
him to wonder how my dear friends at Cranford were getting on or how Lady
Glenmire could reconcile herself to the dulness of the long visit which she was
still paying to her sisterinlaw Mrs Jamieson When my father grew a little
stronger I accompanied him to the seaside so that altogether I seemed banished
from Cranford and was deprived of the opportunity of hearing any chance
intelligence of the dear little town for the greater part of that year
Late in November when we had returned home again and my father was once
more in good health I received a letter from Miss Matty and a very mysterious
letter it was She began many sentences without ending them running them one
into another in much the same confused sort of way in which written words run
together on blottingpaper All I could make out was that if my father was
better which she hoped he was and would take warning and wear a greatcoat
from Michaelmas to Ladyday if turbans were in fashion could I tell her Such
a piece of gaiety was going to happen as had not been seen or known of since
Wombwells lions came when one of them ate a little childs arm and she was
perhaps too old to care about dress but a new cap she must have and having
heard that turbans were worn and some of the county families likely to come
she would like to look tidy if I would bring her a cap from the milliner I
employed and oh dear how careless of her to forget that she wrote to beg I
would come and pay her a visit next Tuesday when she hoped to have something to
offer me in the way of amusement which she would not now more particularly
describe only seagreen was her favourite colour So she ended her letter but
in a PS she added she thought she might as well tell me what was the peculiar
attraction to Cranford just now Signor Brunoni was going to exhibit his
wonderful magic in the Cranford Assembly Rooms on Wednesday and Friday evening
in the following week
I was very glad to accept the invitation from my dear Miss Matty
independently of the conjuror and most particularly anxious to prevent her from
disfiguring her small gentle mousey face with a great Saracens head turban
and accordingly I bought her a pretty neat middleaged cap which however
was rather a disappointment to her when on my arrival she followed me into my
bedroom ostensibly to poke the fire but in reality I do believe to see if
the seagreen turban was not inside the capbox with which I had travelled It
was in vain that I twirled the cap round on my hand to exhibit back and side
fronts her heart had been set upon a turban and all she could do was to say
with resignation in her look and voice
»I am sure you did your best my dear It is just like the caps all the
ladies in Cranford are wearing and they have had theirs for a year I dare say
I should have liked something newer I confess something more like the turbans
Miss Betty Barker tells me Queen Adelaide wears but it is very pretty my dear
And I dare say lavender will wear better than seagreen Well after all what
is dress that we should care about it Youll tell me if you want anything my
dear Here is the bell I suppose turbans have not got down to Drumble yet«
So saying the dear old lady gently bemoaned herself out of the room
leaving me to dress for the evening when as she informed me she expected Miss
Pole and Mrs Forrester and she hoped I should not feel myself too much tired
to join the party Of course I should not and I made some haste to unpack and
arrange my dress but with all my speed I heard the arrivals and the buzz of
conversation in the next room before I was ready Just as I opened the door I
caught the words »I was foolish to expect anything very genteel out of the
Drumble shops poor girl she did her best Ive no doubt« But for all that I
had rather that she blamed Drumble and me than disfigured herself with a turban
Miss Pole was always the person in the trio of Cranford ladies now
assembled to have had adventures She was in the habit of spending the morning
in rambling from shop to shop not to purchase anything except an occasional
reel of cotton or a piece of tape but to see the new articles and report upon
them and to collect all the stray pieces of intelligence in the town She had a
way too of demurely popping hither and thither into all sorts of places to
gratify her curiosity on any point a way which if she had not looked so very
genteel and prim might have been considered impertinent And now by the
expressive way in which she cleared her throat and waited for all minor
subjects such as caps and turbans to be cleared off the course we knew she
had something very particular to relate when the due pause came and I defy
any people possessed of common modesty to keep up a conversation long where one
among them sits up aloft in silence looking down upon all the things they
chance to say as trivial and contemptible compared to what they could disclose
if properly entreated Miss Pole began
»As I was stepping out of Gordons shop today I chanced to go into the
George my Betty has a secondcousin who is chambermaid there and I thought
Betty would like to hear how she was and not seeing any one about I strolled
up the staircase and found myself in the passage leading to the Assembly Room
you and I remember the Assembly Room I am sure Miss Matty and the menuets de
la cour so I went on not thinking of what I was about when all at once I
perceived that I was in the middle of the preparations for tomorrow night the
room being divided with great clothesmaids over which Crosbys men were
tacking red flannel very dark and odd it seemed it quite bewildered me and I
was going on behind the screens in my absence of mind when a gentleman quite
the gentleman I can assure you stepped forwards and asked if I had any
business he could arrange for me He spoke such pretty broken English I could
not help thinking of Thaddeus of Warsaw and the Hungarian Brothers and Santo
Sebastiani and while I was busy picturing his past life to myself he had
bowed me out of the room But wait a minute You have not heard half my story
yet I was going downstairs when who should I meet but Bettys secondcousin
So of course I stopped to speak to her for Bettys sake and she told me that
I had really seen the conjuror the gentleman who spoke broken English was
Signor Brunoni himself Just at this moment he passed us on the stairs making
such a graceful bow in reply to which I dropped a curtsey all foreigners have
such polite manners one catches something of it But when he had gone
downstairs I bethought me that I had dropped my glove in the Assembly Room it
was safe in my muff all the time but I never found it till afterwards so I
went back and just as I was creeping up the passage left on one side of the
great screen that goes nearly across the room who should I see but the very
same gentleman that had met me before and passed me on the stairs coming now
forwards from the inner part of the room to which there is no entrance you
remember Miss Matty and just repeating in his pretty broken English the
inquiry if I had any business there I dont mean that he put it quite so
bluntly but he seemed very determined that I should not pass the screen so
of course I explained about my glove which curiously enough I found at that
very moment«
Miss Pole then had seen the conjuror the real live conjuror and
numerous were the questions we all asked her »Had he a beard« »Was he young
or old« »Fair or dark« »Did he look« unable to shape my question
prudently I put it in another form »How did he look« In short Miss Pole
was the heroine of the evening owing to her mornings encounter If she was not
the rose that is to say the conjuror she had been near it
Conjuration sleight of hand magic witchcraft were the subjects of the
evening Miss Pole was slightly sceptical and inclined to think there might be
a scientific solution found for even the proceedings of the Witch of Endor Mrs
Forrester believed everything from ghosts to deathwatches Miss Matty ranged
between the two always convinced by the last speaker I think she was
naturally more inclined to Mrs Forresters side but a desire of proving
herself a worthy sister to Miss Jenkyns kept her equally balanced Miss
Jenkyns who would never allow a servant to call the little rolls of tallow that
formed themselves round candles windingsheets but insisted on their being
spoken of as roleypoleys A sister of hers to be superstitious It would never
do
After tea I was despatched downstairs into the diningparlour for that
volume of the old Encyclopædia which contained the nouns beginning with C in
order that Miss Pole might prime herself with scientific explanations for the
tricks of the following evening It spoilt the pool at Preference which Miss
Matty and Mrs Forrester had been looking forward to for Miss Pole became so
much absorbed in her subject and the plates by which it was illustrated that
we felt it would be cruel to disturb her otherwise than by one or two welltimed
yawns which I threw in now and then for I was really touched by the meek way
in which the two ladies were bearing their disappointment But Miss Pole only
read the more zealously imparting to us no more interesting information than
this
»Ah I see I comprehend perfectly A represents the ball Put A between B
and D no between C and F and turn the second joint of the third finger of
your left hand over the wrist of your right H Very clear indeed My dear Mrs
Forrester conjuring and witchcraft is a mere affair of the alphabet Do let me
read you this one passage«
Mrs Forrester implored Miss Pole to spare her saying from a child
upwards she never could understand being read aloud to and I dropped the pack
of cards which I had been shuffling very audibly and by this discreet movement
I obliged Miss Pole to perceive that Preference was to have been the order of
the evening and to propose rather unwillingly that the pool should commence
The pleasant brightness that stole over the other two ladies faces on this
Miss Matty had one or two twinges of self-reproach for having interrupted Miss
Pole in her studies and did not remember her cards well or give her full
attention to the game until she had soothed her conscience by offering to lend
the volume of the Encyclopædia to Miss Pole who accepted it thankfully and
said Betty should take it home when she came with the lantern
The next evening we were all in a little gentle flutter at the idea of the
gaiety before us Miss Matty went up to dress betimes and hurried me until I
was ready when we found we had an hourandahalf to wait before the doors
opened at seven precisely And we had only twenty yards to go However as Miss
Matty said it would not do to get too much absorbed in anything and forget the
time so she thought we had better sit quietly without lighting the candles
till five minutes to seven So Miss Matty dozed and I knitted
At length we set off and at the door under the carriageway at the George
we met Mrs Forrester and Miss Pole the latter was discussing the subject of
the evening with more vehemence than ever and throwing As and B's at our heads
like hailstones She had even copied one or two of the receipts as she called
them for the different tricks on backs of letters ready to explain and to
detect Signor Brunonis arts
We went into the cloakroom adjoining the Assembly Room Miss Matty gave a
sigh or two to her departed youth and the remembrance of the last time she had
been there as she adjusted her pretty new cap before the strange quaint old
mirror in the cloakroom The Assembly Room had been added to the inn about a
hundred years before by the different county families who met together there
once a month during the winter to dance and play at cards Many a county beauty
had first swung through the minuet that she afterwards danced before Queen
Charlotte in this very room It was said that one of the Gunnings had graced the
apartment with her beauty it was certain that a rich and beautiful widow Lady
Williams had here been smitten with the noble figure of a young artist who was
staying with some family in the neighbourhood for professional purposes and
accompanied his patrons to the Cranford Assembly And a pretty bargain poor Lady
Williams had of her handsome husband if all tales were true Now no beauty
blushed and dimpled along the sides of the Cranford Assembly Room no handsome
artist won hearts by his bow chapeau bras in hand the old room was dingy the
salmoncoloured paint had faded into a drab great pieces of plaster had chipped
off from the white wreaths and festoons on its walls but still a mouldy odour
of aristocracy lingered about the place and a dusty recollection of the days
that were gone made Miss Matty and Mrs Forrester bridle up as they entered and
walk mincingly up the room as if there were a number of genteel observers
instead of two little boys with a stick of toffy between them with which to
beguile the time
We stopped short at the second front row I could hardly understand why
until I heard Miss Pole ask a stray waiter if any of the county families were
expected and when he shook his head and believed not Mrs Forrester and Miss
Matty moved forwards and our party represented a conversational square The
front row was soon augmented and enriched by Lady Glenmire and Mrs Jamieson We
six occupied the two front rows and our aristocratic seclusion was respected by
the groups of shopkeepers who strayed in from time to time and huddled together
on the back benches At least I conjectured so from the noise they made and
the sonorous bumps they gave in sitting down but when in weariness of the
obstinate green curtain that would not draw up but would stare at me with two
odd eyes seen through holes as in the old tapestry story I would fain have
looked round at the merry chattering people behind me Miss Pole clutched my
arm and begged me not to turn for it was not the thing What the thing was I
never could find out but it must have been something eminently dull and
tiresome However we all sat eyes right square front gazing at the
tantalising curtain and hardly speaking intelligibly we were so afraid of
being caught in the vulgarity of making any noise in a place of public
amusement Mrs Jamieson was the most fortunate for she fell asleep
At length the eyes disappeared the curtain quivered one side went up
before the other which stuck fast it was dropped again and with a fresh
effort and a vigorous pull from some unseen hand it flew up revealing to our
sight a magnificent gentleman in the Turkish costume seated before a little
table gazing at us I should have said with the same eyes that I had last seen
through the hole in the curtain with calm and condescending dignity »like a
being of another sphere« as I heard a sentimental voice ejaculate behind me
»Thats not Signor Brunoni« said Miss Pole decidedly and so audibly that I
am sure he heard for he glanced down over his flowing beard at our party with
an air of mute reproach »Signor Brunoni had no beard but perhaps hell come
soon« So she lulled herself into patience Meanwhile Miss Matty had
reconnoitred through her eyeglass wiped it and looked again Then she turned
round and said to me in a kind mild sorrowful tone
»You see my dear turbans are worn«
But we had no time for more conversation The Grand Turk as Miss Pole chose
to call him arose and announced himself as Signor Brunoni
»I dont believe him« exclaimed Miss Pole in a defiant manner He looked
at her again with the same dignified upbraiding in his countenance »I dont«
she repeated more positively than ever »Signor Brunoni had not got that muffy
sort of thing about his chin but looked like a closeshaved Christian
gentleman«
Miss Poles energetic speeches had the good effect of wakening up Mrs
Jamieson who opened her eyes wide in sign of the deepest attention a
proceeding which silenced Miss Pole and encouraged the Grand Turk to proceed
which he did in very broken English so broken that there was no cohesion
between the parts of his sentences a fact which he himself perceived at last
and so left off speaking and proceeded to action
Now we were astonished How he did his tricks I could not imagine no not
even when Miss Pole pulled out her pieces of paper and began reading aloud or
at least in a very audible whisper the separate receipts for the most common
of his tricks If ever I saw a man frown and look enraged I saw the Grand Turk
frown at Miss Pole but as she said what could be expected but unchristian
looks from a Mussulman If Miss Pole were sceptical and more engrossed with her
receipts and diagrams than with his tricks Miss Matty and Mrs Forrester were
mystified and perplexed to the highest degree Mrs Jamieson kept taking her
spectacles off and wiping them as if she thought it was something defective in
them which made the legerdemain and Lady Glenmire who had seen many curious
sights in Edinburgh was very much struck with the tricks and would not at all
agree with Miss Pole who declared that anybody could do them with a little
practice and that she would herself undertake to do all he did with two
hours given to study the Encyclopædia and make her third finger flexible
At last Miss Matty and Mrs Forrester became perfectly awestricken They
whispered together I sat just behind them so I could not help hearing what
they were saying Miss Matty asked Mrs Forrester »if she thought it was quite
right to have come to see such things She could not help fearing they were
lending encouragement to something that was not quite« A little shake of the
head filled up the blank Mrs Forrester replied that the same thought had
crossed her mind she too was feeling very uncomfortable it was so very
strange She was quite certain that it was her pockethandkerchief which was in
that loaf just now and it had been in her own hand not five minutes before She
wondered who had furnished the bread She was sure it could not be Dakin
because he was the churchwarden Suddenly Miss Matty halfturned towards me
»Will you look my dear you are a stranger in the town and it wont give
rise to unpleasant reports will you just look round and see if the rector is
here If he is I think we may conclude that this wonderful man is sanctioned by
the Church and that will be a great relief to my mind«
I looked and I saw the tall thin dry dusty rector sitting surrounded by
National School boys guarded by troops of his own sex from any approach of the
many Cranford spinsters His kind face was all agape with broad smiles and the
boys around him were in chinks of laughing I told Miss Matty that the Church
was smiling approval which set her mind at ease
I have never named Mr Hayter the rector because I as a welltodo and
happy young woman never came in contact with him He was an old bachelor but
as afraid of matrimonial reports getting abroad about him as any girl of
eighteen and he would rush into a shop or dive down an entry sooner than
encounter any of the Cranford ladies in the street and as for the Preference
parties I did not wonder at his not accepting invitations to them To tell the
truth I always suspected Miss Pole of having given very vigorous chase to Mr
Hayter when he first came to Cranford and not the less because now she
appeared to share so vividly in his dread lest her name should ever be coupled
with his He found all his interests among the poor and helpless he had treated
the National School boys this very night to the performance and virtue was for
once its own reward for they guarded him right and left and clung round him as
if he had been the queenbee and they the swarm He felt so safe in their
environment that he could even afford to give our party a bow as we filed out
Miss Pole ignored his presence and pretended to be absorbed in convincing us
that we had been cheated and had not seen Signor Brunoni after all
Chapter X
The Panic
I think a series of circumstances dated from Signor Brunonis visit to Cranford
which seemed at the time connected in our minds with him though I dont know
that he had anything really to do with them All at once all sorts of
uncomfortable rumours got afloat in the town There were one or two robberies
real bonâ fide robberies men had up before the magistrates and committed for
trial and that seemed to make us all afraid of being robbed and for a long
time at Miss Mattys I know we used to make a regular expedition all round the
kitchens and cellars every night Miss Matty leading the way armed with the
poker I following with the hearthbrush and Martha carrying the shovel and
fireirons with which to sound the alarm and by the accidental hitting together
of them she often frightened us so much that we bolted ourselves up all three
together in the backkitchen or storeroom or wherever we happened to be
till when our affright was over we recollected ourselves and set out afresh
with double valiance By day we heard strange stories from the shopkeepers and
cottagers of carts that went about in the dead of night drawn by horses shod
with felt and guarded by men in dark clothes going round the town no doubt in
search of some unwatched house or some unfastened door
Miss Pole who affected great bravery herself was the principal person to
collect and arrange these reports so as to make them assume their most fearful
aspect But we discovered that she had begged one of Mr Hoggings wornout hats
to hang up in her lobby and we at least I had doubts as to whether she really
would enjoy the little adventure of having her house broken into as she
protested she should Miss Matty made no secret of being an arrant coward but
she went regularly through her housekeepers duty of inspection only the hour
for this became earlier and earlier till at last we went the rounds at
halfpast six and Miss Matty adjourned to bed soon after seven in order to get
the night over the sooner
Cranford had so long piqued itself on being an honest and moral town that it
had grown to fancy itself too genteel and wellbred to be otherwise and felt
the stain upon its character at this time doubly But we comforted ourselves
with the assurance which we gave to each other that the robberies could never
have been committed by any Cranford person it must have been a stranger or
strangers who brought this disgrace upon the town and occasioned as many
precautions as if we were living among the Red Indians or the French
This last comparison of our nightly state of defence and fortification was
made by Mrs Forrester whose father had served under General Burgoyne in the
American war and whose husband had fought the French in Spain She indeed
inclined to the idea that in some way the French were connected with the small
thefts which were ascertained facts and the burglaries and highway robberies
which were rumours She had been deeply impressed with the idea of French spies
at some time in her life and the notion could never be fairly eradicated but
sprang up again from time to time And now her theory was this The Cranford
people respected themselves too much and were too grateful to the aristocracy
who were so kind as to live near the town ever to disgrace their bringing up by
being dishonest or immoral therefore we must believe that the robbers were
strangers if strangers why not foreigners if foreigners who so likely as
the French Signor Brunoni spoke broken English like a Frenchman and though he
wore a turban like a Turk Mrs Forrester had seen a print of Madame de Staël
with a turban on and another of Mr Denon in just such a dress as that in which
the conjuror had made his appearance showing clearly that the French as well
as the Turks wore turbans There could be no doubt Signor Brunoni was a
Frenchman a French spy come to discover the weak and undefended places of
England and doubtless he had his accomplices For her part she Mrs
Forrester had always had her own opinion of Miss Poles adventure at the George
Inn seeing two men where only one was believed to be French people had ways
and means which she was thankful to say the English knew nothing about and
she had never felt quite easy in her mind about going to see that conjuror it
was rather too much like a forbidden thing though the rector was there In
short Mrs Forrester grew more excited than we had ever known her before and
being an officers daughter and widow we looked up to her opinion of course
Really I do not know how much was true or false in the reports which flew
about like wildfire just at this time but it seemed to me then that there was
every reason to believe that at Mardon a small town about eight miles from
Cranford houses and shops were entered by holes made in the walls the bricks
being silently carried away in the dead of the night and all done so quietly
that no sound was heard either in or out of the house Miss Matty gave it up in
despair when she heard of this »What was the use« said she »of locks and
bolts and bells to the windows and going round the house every night That
last trick was fit for a conjuror Now she did believe that Signor Brunoni was
at the bottom of it«
On afternoon about five oclock we were startled by a hasty knock at the
door Miss Matty bade me run and tell Martha on no account to open the door till
she Miss Matty had reconnoitred through the window and she armed herself with
a footstool to drop down on the head of the visitor in case he should show a
face covered with black crape as he looked up in answer to her inquiry of who
was there But it was nobody but Miss Pole and Betty The former came upstairs
carrying a little handbasket and she was evidently in a state of great
agitation
»Take care of that« said she to me as I offered to relieve her of her
basket »Its my plate I am sure there is a plan to rob my house tonight I am
come to throw myself on your hospitality Miss Matty Betty is going to sleep
with her cousin at the George I can sit up here all night if you will allow me
but my house is so far from any neighbours and I dont believe we could be
heard if we screamed ever so«
»But« said Miss Matty »what has alarmed you so much Have you seen any men
lurking about the house«
»Oh yes« answered Miss Pole »Two very badlooking men have gone three
times past the house very slowly and an Irish beggarwoman came not
halfanhour ago and all but forced herself in past Betty saying her children
were starving and she must speak to the mistress You see she said mistress
though there was a hat hanging up in the hall and it would have been more
natural to have said master But Betty shut the door in her face and came up to
me and we got the spoons together and sat in the parlourwindow watching till
we saw Thomas Jones going from his work when we called to him and asked him to
take care of us into the town«
We might have triumphed over Miss Pole who had professed such bravery until
she was frightened but we were too glad to perceive that she shared in the
weaknesses of humanity to exult over her and I gave up my room to her very
willingly and shared Miss Mattys bed for the night But before we retired the
two ladies rummaged up out of the recesses of their memory such horrid stories
of robbery and murder that I quite quaked in my shoes Miss Pole was evidently
anxious to prove that such terrible events had occurred within her experience
that she was justified in her sudden panic and Miss Matty did not like to be
outdone and capped every story with one yet more horrible till it reminded me
oddly enough of an old story I had read somewhere of a nightingale and a
musician who strove one against the other which could produce the most
admirable music till poor Philomel dropped down dead
One of the stories that haunted me for a long time afterwards was of a girl
who was left in charge of a great house in Cumberland on some particular
fairday when the other servants all went off to the gaieties The family were
away in London and a pedlar came by and asked to leave his large and heavy
pack in the kitchen saying he would call for it again at night and the girl a
gamekeepers daughter roaming about in search of amusement chanced to hit
upon a gun hanging up in the hall and took it down to look at the chasing and
it went off through the open kitchen door hit the pack and a slow dark thread
of blood came oozing out How Miss Pole enjoyed this part of the story
dwelling on each word as if she loved it She rather hurried over the further
account of the girls bravery and I have but a confused idea that somehow she
baffled the robbers with Italian irons heated redhot and then restored to
blackness by being dipped in grease
We parted for the night with an awestricken wonder as to what we should
hear of in the morning and on my part with a vehement desire for the night
to be over and gone I was so afraid lest the robbers should have seen from
some dark lurkingplace that Miss Pole had carried off her plate and thus have
a double motive for attacking our house
But until Lady Glenmire came to call next day we heard of nothing unusual
The kitchen fireirons were in exactly the same position against the back door
as when Martha and I had skilfully piled them up like spillikins ready to fall
with an awful clatter if only a cat had touched the outside panels I had
wondered what we should all do if thus awakened and alarmed and had proposed to
Miss Matty that we should cover up our faces under the bedclothes so that
there should be no danger of the robbers thinking that we could identify them
but Miss Matty who was trembling very much scouted this idea and said we owed
it to society to apprehend them and that she should certainly do her best to
lay hold of them and lock them up in the garret till morning
When Lady Glenmire came we almost felt jealous of her Mrs Jamiesons
house had really been attacked at least there were mens footsteps to be seen
on the flower borders underneath the kitchen windows where nae men should be
and Carlo had barked all through the night as if strangers were abroad Mrs
Jamieson had been awakened by Lady Glenmire and they had rung the bell which
communicated with Mr Mulliners room in the third storey and when his
nightcapped head had appeared over the bannisters in answer to the summons
they had told him of their alarm and the reasons for it whereupon he retreated
into his bedroom and locked the door for fear of draughts as he informed them
in the morning and opened the window and called out valiantly to say if the
supposed robbers would come to him he would fight them but as Lady Glenmire
observed that was but poor comfort since they would have to pass by Mrs
Jamiesons room and her own before they could reach him and must be of a very
pugnacious disposition indeed if they neglected the opportunities of robbery
presented by the unguarded lower storeys to go up to a garret and there force
a door in order to get at the champion of the house Lady Glenmire after
waiting and listening for some time in the drawingroom had proposed to Mrs
Jamieson that they should go to bed but that lady said she should not feel
comfortable unless she sat up and watched and accordingly she packed herself
warmly up on the sofa where she was found by the housemaid when she came into
the room at six oclock fast asleep but Lady Glenmire went to bed and kept
awake all night
When Miss Pole heard of this she nodded her head in great satisfaction She
had been sure we should hear of something happening in Cranford that night and
we had heard It was clear enough they had first proposed to attack her house
but when they saw that she and Betty were on their guard and had carried off
the plate they had changed their tactics and gone to Mrs Jamiesons and no
one knew what might have happened if Carlo had not barked like a good dog as he
was
Poor Carlo his barking days were nearly over Whether the gang who infested
the neighbourhood were afraid of him or whether they were revengeful enough
for the way in which he had baffled them on the night in question to poison
him or whether as some among the more uneducated people thought he died of
apoplexy brought on by too much feeding and too little exercise at any rate
it is certain that two days after this eventful night Carlo was found dead
with his poor little legs stretched out stiff in the attitude of running as if
by such unusual exertion he could escape the sure pursuer Death
We were all sorry for Carlo the old familiar friend who had snapped at us
for so many years and the mysterious mode of his death made us very
uncomfortable Could Signor Brunoni be at the bottom of this He had apparently
killed a canary with only a word of command his will seemed of deadly force
who knew but what he might yet be lingering in the neighbourhood willing all
sorts of awful things
We whispered these fancies among ourselves in the evenings but in the
mornings our courage came back with the daylight and in a weeks time we had
got over the shock of Carlos death all but Mrs Jamieson She poor thing
felt it as she had felt no event since her husbands death indeed Miss Pole
said that as the Honourable Mr Jamieson drank a good deal and occasioned her
much uneasiness it was possible that Carlos death might be the greater
affliction But there was always a tinge of cynicism in Miss Poles remarks
However one thing was clear and certain it was necessary for Mrs Jamieson to
have some change of scene and Mr Mulliner was very impressive on this point
shaking his head whenever we inquired after his mistress and speaking of her
loss of appetite and bad nights very ominously and with justice too for if she
had two characteristics in her natural state of health they were a facility of
eating and sleeping If she could neither eat nor sleep she must be indeed out
of spirits and out of health
Lady Glenmire who had evidently taken very kindly to Cranford did not like
the idea of Mrs Jamieson going to Cheltenham and more than once insinuated
pretty plainly that it was Mr Mulliners doing who had been much alarmed on
the occasion of the house being attacked and since had said more than once
that he felt it a very responsible charge to have to defend so many women Be
that as it might Mrs Jamieson went to Cheltenham escorted by Mr Mulliner
and Lady Glenmire remained in possession of the house her ostensible office
being to take care that the maidservants did not pick up followers She made a
very pleasantlooking dragon and as soon as it was arranged for her stay in
Cranford she found out that Mrs Jamiesons visit to Cheltenham was just the
best thing in the world She had let her house in Edinburgh and was for the
time houseless so the charge of her sisterinlaws comfortable abode was very
convenient and acceptable
Miss Pole was very much inclined to instal herself as a heroine because of
the decided steps she had taken in flying from the two men and one woman whom
she entitled that murderous gang She described their appearance in glowing
colours and I noticed that every time she went over the story some fresh trait
of villainy was added to their appearance One was tall he grew to be gigantic
in height before we had done with him he of course had black hair and
byandby it hung in elflocks over his forehead and down his back The other
was short and broad and a hump sprouted out on his shoulder before we heard
the last of him he had red hair which deepened into carroty and she was
almost sure he had a cast in the eye a decided squint As for the woman her
eyes glared and she was masculinelooking a perfect virago most probably a
man dressed in womans clothes afterwards we heard of a beard on her chin and
a manly voice and a stride
If Miss Pole was delighted to recount the events of that afternoon to all
inquirers others were not so proud of their adventures in the robbery line Mr
Hoggins the surgeon had been attacked at his own door by two ruffians who
were concealed in the shadow of the porch and so effectually silenced him that
he was robbed in the interval between ringing his bell and the servants
answering it Miss Pole was sure it would turn out that this robbery had been
committed by her men and went the very day she heard the report to have her
teeth examined and to question Mr Hoggins She came to us afterwards so we
heard what she had heard straight and direct from the source while we were yet
in the excitement and flutter of the agitation caused by the first intelligence
for the event had only occurred the night before
»Well« said Miss Pole sitting down with the decision of a person who has
made up her mind as to the nature of life and the world and such people never
tread lightly or seat themselves without a bump »well Miss Matty men will
be men Every mothers son of them wishes to be considered Samson and Solomon
rolled into one too strong ever to be beaten or discomfited too wise ever to
be outwitted If you will notice they have always foreseen events though they
never tell one for ones warning before the events happen My father was a man
and I know the sex pretty well«
She had talked herself out of breath and we should have been very glad to
fill up the necessary pause as chorus but we did not exactly know what to say
or which man had suggested this diatribe against the sex so we only joined in
generally with a grave shake of the head and a soft murmur of »They are very
incomprehensible certainly«
»Now only think« said she »There I have undergone the risk of having one
of my remaining teeth drawn for one is terribly at the mercy of any
surgeondentist and I for one always speak them fair till I have got my mouth
out of their clutches and after all Mr Hoggins is too much of a man to own
that he was robbed last night«
»Not robbed« exclaimed the chorus
»Dont tell me« Miss Pole exclaimed angry that we could be for a moment
imposed upon »I believe he was robbed just as Betty told me and he is ashamed
to own it and to be sure it was very silly of him to be robbed just at his
own door I dare say he feels that such a thing wont raise him in the eyes of
Cranford society and is anxious to conceal it but he need not have tried to
impose upon me by saying I must have heard an exaggerated account of some petty
theft of a neck of mutton which it seems was stolen out of the safe in his
yard last week he had the impertinence to add he believed that that was taken
by the cat I have no doubt if I could get at the bottom of it it was that
Irishman dressed up in womans clothes who came spying about my house with the
story about the starving children«
After we had duly condemned the want of candour which Mr Hoggins had
evinced and abused men in general taking him for the representative and type
we got round to the subject about which we had been talking when Miss Pole came
in namely how far in the present disturbed state of the country we could
venture to accept an invitation which Miss Matty had just received from Mrs
Forrester to come as usual and keep the anniversary of her weddingday by
drinking tea with her at five oclock and playing a quiet pool afterwards Mrs
Forrester had said that she asked us with some diffidence because the roads
were she feared very unsafe But she suggested that perhaps one of us would
not object to take the sedan and that the others by walking briskly might
keep up with the long trot of the chairmen and so we might all arrive safely at
Over Place a suburb of the town No that is too large an expression a small
cluster of houses separated from Cranford by about two hundred yards of a dark
and lonely lane There was no doubt but that a similar note was awaiting Miss
Pole at home so her call was a very fortunate affair as it enabled us to
consult together We would all much rather have declined this invitation
but we felt that it would not be quite kind to Mrs Forrester who would
otherwise be left to a solitary retrospect of her not very happy or fortunate
life Miss Matty and Miss Pole had been visitors on this occasion for many
years and now they gallantly determined to nail their colours to the mast and
to go through Darkness Lane rather than fail in loyalty to their friend
But when the evening came Miss Matty for it was she who was voted into the
chair as she had a cold before being shut down in the sedan like
jackinabox implored the chairmen whatever might befall not to run away and
leave her fastened up there to be murdered and even after they had promised I
saw her tighten her features into the stern determination of a martyr and she
gave me a melancholy and ominous shake of the head through the glass However
we got there safely only rather out of breath for it was who could trot
hardest through Darkness Lane and I am afraid poor Miss Matty was sadly jolted
Mrs Forrester had made extra preparations in acknowledgment of our
exertion in coming to see her through such dangers The usual forms of genteel
ignorance as to what her servants might send up were all gone through and
harmony and Preference seemed likely to be the order of the evening but for an
interesting conversation that began I dont know how but which had relation, of
course to the robbers who infested the neighbourhood of Cranford
Having braved the dangers of Darkness Lane and thus having a little stock
of reputation for courage to fall back upon and also I dare say desirous of
proving ourselves superior to men videlicet Mr Hoggins in the article of
candour we began to relate our individual fears and the private precautions we
each of us took I owned that my pet apprehension was eyes eyes looking at me
and watching me glittering out from some dull flat wooden surface and that
if I dared to go up to my lookingglass when I was panicstricken I should
certainly turn it round with its back towards me for fear of seeing eyes
behind me looking out of the darkness I saw Miss Matty nerving herself up for a
confession and at last out it came She owned that ever since she had been a
girl she had dreaded being caught by her last leg just as she was getting into
bed by some one concealed under it She said when she was younger and more
active she used to take a flying leap from a distance and so bring both her
legs up safely into bed at once but that this had always annoyed Deborah who
piqued herself upon getting into bed gracefully and she had given it up in
consequence But now the old terror would often come over her especially since
Miss Poles house had been attacked we had got quite to believe in the fact of
the attack having taken place and yet it was very unpleasant to think of
looking under a bed and seeing a man concealed with a great fierce face
staring out at you so she had bethought herself of something perhaps I had
noticed that she had told Martha to buy her a penny ball such as children play
with and now she rolled this ball under the bed every night if it came out on
the other side well and good if not she always took care to have her hand on
the bellrope and meant to call out John and Harry just as if she expected
menservants to answer her ring
We all applauded this ingenious contrivance and Miss Matty sank back into
satisfied silence with a look at Mrs Forrester as if to ask for her private
weakness
Mrs Forrester looked askance at Miss Pole and tried to change the subject
a little by telling us that she had borrowed a boy from one of the neighbouring
cottages and promised his parents a hundredweight of coals at Christmas and his
supper every evening for the loan of him at nights She had instructed him in
his possible duties when he first came and finding him sensible she had given
him the Majors sword the Major was her late husband and desired him to put
it very carefully behind his pillow at night turning the edge towards the head
of the pillow He was a sharp lad she was sure for spying out the Majors
cocked hat he had said if he might have that to wear he was sure he could
frighten two Englishmen or four Frenchmen any day But she had impressed upon
him anew that he was to lose no time in putting on hats or anything else but
if he heard any noise he was to run at it with his drawn sword On my
suggesting that some accident might occur from such slaughterous and
indiscriminate directions and that he might rush on Jenny getting up to wash
and have spitted her before he had discovered that she was not a Frenchman Mrs
Forrester said she did not think that that was likely for he was a very sound
sleeper and generally had to be well shaken or coldpigged in a morning before
they could rouse him She sometimes thought such dead sleep must be owing to the
hearty suppers the poor lad ate for he was halfstarved at home and she told
Jenny to see that he got a good meal at night
Still this was no confession of Mrs Forresters peculiar timidity and we
urged her to tell us what she thought would frighten her more than anything She
paused and stirred the fire and snuffed the candles and then she said in a
sounding whisper
»Ghosts«
She looked at Miss Pole as much as to say she had declared it and would
stand by it Such a look was a challenge in itself. Miss Pole came down upon her
with indigestion spectral illusions optical delusions and a great deal out of
Dr Ferrier and Dr Hibbert besides Miss Matty had rather a leaning to ghosts
as I have mentioned before and what little she did say was all on Mrs
Forresters side who emboldened by sympathy protested that ghosts were a part
of her religion that surely she the widow of a major in the army knew what to
be frightened at and what not in short I never saw Mrs Forrester so warm
either before or since for she was a gentle meek enduring old lady in most
things Not all the elderwine that ever was mulled could this night wash out
the remembrance of this difference between Miss Pole and her hostess Indeed
when the elderwine was brought in it gave rise to a new burst of discussion
for Jenny the little maiden who staggered under the tray had to give evidence
of having seen a ghost with her own eyes not so many nights ago in Darkness
Lane the very lane we were to go through on our way home
In spite of the uncomfortable feeling which this last consideration gave me
I could not help being amused at Jennys position which was exceedingly like
that of a witness being examined and crossexamined by two counsel who are not
at all scrupulous about asking leading questions The conclusion I arrived at
was that Jenny had certainly seen something beyond what a fit of indigestion
would have caused A lady all in white and without her head was what she
deposed and adhered to supported by a consciousness of the secret sympathy of
her mistress under the withering scorn with which Miss Pole regarded her And
not only she but many others had seen this headless lady who sat by the
roadside wringing her hands as in deep grief Mrs Forrester looked at us from
time to time with an air of conscious triumph but then she had not to pass
through Darkness Lane before she could bury herself beneath her own familiar
bedclothes
We preserved a discreet silence as to the headless lady while we were
putting on our things to go home for there was no knowing how near the ghostly
head and ears might be or what spiritual connection they might be keeping up
with the unhappy body in Darkness Lane and therefore even Miss Pole felt that
it was as well not to speak lightly on such subjects for fear of vexing or
insulting that woebegone trunk At least so I conjecture for instead of the
busy clatter usual in the operation we tied on our cloaks as sadly as mutes at
a funeral Miss Matty drew the curtains round the windows of the chair to shut
out disagreeable sights and the men either because they were in spirits that
their labours were so nearly ended or because they were going down hill set
off at such a round and merry pace that it was all Miss Pole and I could do to
keep up with them She had breath for nothing beyond an imploring »Dont leave
me« uttered as she clutched my arm so tightly that I could not have quitted
her ghost or no ghost What a relief it was when the men weary of their burden
and their quick trot stopped just where Headingley Causeway branches off from
Darkness Lane Miss Pole unloosed me and caught at one of the men
»Could not you could not you take Miss Matty round by Headingley Causeway
the pavement in Darkness Lane jolts so and she is not very strong«
A smothered voice was heard from the inside of the chair
»Oh pray go on What is the matter What is the matter I will give you
sixpence more to go on very fast pray dont stop here«
»And Ill give you a shilling« said Miss Pole with tremulous dignity »if
youll go by Headingley Causeway«
The two men grunted acquiescence and took up the chair and went along the
causeway which certainly answered Miss Poles kind purpose of saving Miss
Mattys bones for it was covered with soft thick mud and even a fall there
would have been easy till the gettingup came when there might have been some
difficulty in extrication
Chapter XI
Samuel Brown
The next morning I met Lady Glenmire and Miss Pole setting out on a long walk to
find some old woman who was famous in the neighbourhood for her skill in
knitting woollen stockings Miss Pole said to me with a smile halfkindly and
halfcontemptuous upon her countenance »I have been just telling Lady Glenmire
of our poor friend Mrs Forrester and her terror of ghosts It comes from
living so much alone and listening to the bugaboo stories of that Jenny of
hers« She was so calm and so much above superstitious fears herself that I was
almost ashamed to say how glad I had been of her Headingley Causeway proposition
the night before and turned off the conversation to something else
In the afternoon Miss Pole called on Miss Matty to tell her of the adventure
the real adventure they had met with on their mornings walk They had been
perplexed about the exact path which they were to take across the fields in
order to find the knitting old woman and had stopped to inquire at a little
wayside publichouse standing on the high road to London about three miles
from Cranford The good woman had asked them to sit down and rest themselves
while she fetched her husband who could direct them better than she could and
while they were sitting in the sanded parlour a little girl came in They
thought that she belonged to the landlady and began some trifling conversation
with her but on Mrs Robertss return she told them that the little thing was
the only child of a couple who were staying in the house And then she began a
long story out of which Lady Glenmire and Miss Pole could only gather one or
two decided facts which were that about six weeks ago a light springcart had
broken down just before their door in which there were two men one woman and
this child One of the men was seriously hurt no bones broken only shaken
the landlady called it but he had probably sustained some severe internal
injury for he had languished in their house ever since attended by his wife
the mother of this little girl Miss Pole had asked what he was what he looked
like And Mrs Roberts had made answer that he was not like a gentleman nor yet
like a common person if it had not been that he and his wife were such decent
quiet people she could almost have thought he was a mountebank or something of
that kind for they had a great box in the cart full of she did not know what
She had helped to unpack it and take out their linen and clothes when the
other man his twinbrother she believed he was had gone off with the horse
and cart
Miss Pole had begun to have her suspicions at this point and expressed her
idea that it was rather strange that the box and cart and horse and all should
have disappeared but good Mrs Roberts seemed to have become quite indignant at
Miss Poles implied suggestion in fact Miss Pole said she was as angry as if
Miss Pole had told her that she herself was a swindler As the best way of
convincing the ladies she bethought her of begging them to see the wife and
as Miss Pole said there was no doubting the honest worn bronzed face of the
woman who at the first tender word from Lady Glenmire burst into tears which
she was too weak to check until some word from the landlady made her swallow
down her sobs in order that she might testify to the Christian kindness shown
by Mr and Mrs Roberts Miss Pole came round with a swing to as vehement a
belief in the sorrowful tale as she had been sceptical before and as a proof
of this her energy in the poor sufferers behalf was nothing daunted when she
found out that he and no other was our Signor Brunoni to whom all Cranford
had been attributing all manner of evil this six weeks past Yes his wife said
his proper name was Samuel Brown »Sam« she called him but to the last we
preferred calling him »the Signor« it sounded so much better
The end of their conversation with the Signora Brunoni was that it was
agreed that he should be placed under medical advice and for any expense
incurred in procuring this Lady Glenmire promised to hold herself responsible
and had accordingly gone to Mr Hoggins to beg him to ride over to the »Rising
Sun« that very afternoon and examine into the signors real state and as Miss
Pole said if it was desirable to remove him to Cranford to be more immediately
under Mr Hogginss eye she would undertake to see for lodgings and arrange
about the rent Mrs Roberts had been as kind as could be all throughout but it
was evident that their long residence there had been a slight inconvenience
Before Miss Pole left us Miss Matty and I were as full of the mornings
adventure as she was We talked about it all the evening turning it in every
possible light and we went to bed anxious for the morning when we should
surely hear from some one what Mr Hoggins thought and recommended for as Miss
Matty observed though Mr Hoggins did say »Jacks up« »a fig for his heels«
and called Preference Pref she believed he was a very worthy man and a very
clever surgeon Indeed we were rather proud of our doctor at Cranford as a
doctor We often wished when we heard of Queen Adelaide or the Duke of
Wellington being ill that they would send for Mr Hoggins but on
consideration we were rather glad they did not for if we were ailing what
should we do if Mr Hoggins had been appointed physicianinordinary to the
Royal Family As a surgeon we were proud of him but as a man or rather I
should say as a gentleman we could only shake our heads over his name and
himself and wished that he had read Lord Chesterfields Letters in the days
when his manners were susceptible of improvement Nevertheless we all regarded
his dictum in the signors case as infallible and when he said that with care
and attention he might rally we had no more fear for him
But although we had no more fear everybody did as much as if there was
great cause for anxiety as indeed there was until Mr Hoggins took charge of
him Miss Pole looked out clean and comfortable if homely lodgings Miss Matty
sent the sedanchair for him and Martha and I aired it well before it left
Cranford by holding a warmingpan full of redhot coals in it and then shutting
it up close smoke and all until the time when he should get into it at the
»Rising Sun« Lady Glenmire undertook the medical department under Mr Hogginss
directions and rummaged up all Mrs Jamiesons medicine glasses and spoons
and bedtables in a freeandeasy way that made Miss Matty feel a little
anxious as to what that lady and Mr Mulliner might say if they knew Mrs
Forrester made some of the breadjelly for which she was so famous to have
ready as a refreshment in the lodgings when he should arrive A present of this
breadjelly was the highest mark of favour dear Mrs Forrester could confer
Miss Pole had once asked her for the receipt but she had met with a very
decided rebuff that lady told her that she could not part with it to any one
during her life and that after her death it was bequeathed as her executors
would find to Miss Matty What Miss Matty or as Mrs Forrester called her
remembering the clause in her will and the dignity of the occasion Miss
Matilda Jenkyns might choose to do with the receipt when it came into her
possession whether to make it public or to hand it down as an heirloom she
did not know nor would she dictate And a mould of this admirable digestible
unique breadjelly was sent by Mrs Forrester to our poor sick conjuror Who
says that the aristocracy are proud Here was a lady by birth a Tyrrell and
descended from the great Sir Walter that shot King Rufus and in whose veins ran
the blood of him who murdered the little princes in the Tower going every day
to see what dainty dishes she could prepare for Samuel Brown a mountebank But
indeed it was wonderful to see what kind feelings were called out by this poor
mans coming amongst us And also wonderful to see how the great Cranford panic
which had been occasioned by his first coming in his Turkish dress melted away
into thin air on his second coming pale and feeble and with his heavy filmy
eyes that only brightened a very little when they fell upon the countenance of
his faithful wife or their pale and sorrowful little girl
Somehow we all forgot to be afraid I dare say it was that finding out that
he who had first excited our love of the marvellous by his unprecedented arts
had not sufficient everyday gifts to manage a shying horse made us feel as if
we were ourselves again Miss Pole came with her little basket at all hours of
the evening as if her lonely house and the unfrequented road to it had never
been infested by that murderous gang Mrs Forrester said she thought that
neither Jenny nor she need mind the headless lady who wept and wailed in
Darkness Lane for surely the power was never given to such beings to harm those
who went about to try to do what little good was in their power to which Jenny
tremblingly assented but the mistresss theory had little effect on the maids
practice until she had sewn two pieces of red flannel in the shape of a cross on
her inner garment
I found Miss Matty covering her penny ball the ball that she used to roll
under her bed with gaycoloured worsted in rainbow stripes
»My dear« said she »my heart is sad for that little careworn child
Although her father is a conjuror she looks as if she had never had a good game
of play in her life I used to make very pretty balls in this way when I was a
girl and I thought I would try if I could not make this one smart and take it
to Phoebe this afternoon I think the gang must have left the neighbourhood for
one does not hear any more of their violence and robbery now«
We were all of us far too full of the signors precarious state to talk
either about robbers or ghosts Indeed Lady Glenmire said she never had heard
of any actual robberies except that two little boys had stolen some apples from
Farmer Bensons orchard and that some eggs had been missed on a marketday off
Widow Haywards stall But that was expecting too much of us we could not
acknowledge that we had only had this small foundation for all our panic Miss
Pole drew herself up at this remark of Lady Glenmires and said »that she
wished she could agree with her as to the very small reason we had had for
alarm but with the recollection of a man disguised as a woman who had
endeavoured to force himself into her house while his confederates waited
outside with the knowledge gained from Lady Glenmire herself of the footprints
seen on Mrs Jamiesons flower borders with the fact before her of the
audacious robbery committed on Mr Hoggins at his own door« But here Lady
Glenmire broke in with a very strong expression of doubt as to whether this last
story was not an entire fabrication founded upon the theft of a cat she grew so
red while she was saying all this that I was not surprised at Miss Poles manner
of bridling up and I am certain if Lady Glenmire had not been her ladyship we
should have had a more emphatic contradiction than the »Well to be sure« and
similar fragmentary ejaculations which were all that she ventured upon in my
ladys presence But when she was gone Miss Pole began a long congratulation to
Miss Matty that so far they had escaped marriage which she noticed always made
people credulous to the last degree indeed she thought it argued great natural
credulity in a woman if she could not keep herself from being married and in
what Lady Glenmire had said about Mr Hogginss robbery we had a specimen of
what people came to if they gave way to such a weakness evidently Lady Glenmire
would swallow anything if she could believe the poor vampedup story about a
neck of mutton and a pussy with which he had tried to impose on Miss Pole only
she had always been on her guard against believing too much of what men said
We were thankful as Miss Pole desired us to be that we had never been
married but I think of the two we were even more thankful that the robbers
had left Cranford at least I judge so from a speech of Miss Mattys that
evening as we sat over the fire in which she evidently looked upon a husband
as a great protector against thieves burglars and ghosts and said that she
did not think that she should dare to be always warning young people against
matrimony as Miss Pole did continually to be sure marriage was a risk as she
saw now she had had some experience; but she remembered the time when she had
looked forward to being married as much as any one
»Not to any particular person my dear« said she hastily checking herself
up as if she were afraid of having admitted too much »only the old story you
know of ladies always saying When I marry and gentlemen If I marry« It was
a joke spoken in rather a sad tone and I doubt if either of us smiled but I
could not see Miss Mattys face by the flickering firelight In a little while
she continued
»But after all I have not told you the truth It is so long ago and no
one ever knew how much I thought of it at the time unless indeed my dear
mother guessed but I may say that there was a time when I did not think I
should have been only Miss Matty Jenkyns all my life for even if I did meet
with any one who wished to marry me now and as Miss Pole says one is never
too safe I could not take him I hope he would not take it too much to heart
but I could not take him or any one but the person I once thought I should be
married to and he is dead and gone and he never knew how it all came about
that I said No when I had thought many and many a time Well its no matter
what I thought God ordains it all and I am very happy my dear No one has
such kind friends as I« continued she taking my hand and holding it in hers
If I had never known of Mr Holbrook I could have said something in this
pause but as I had I could not think of anything that would come in naturally
and so we both kept silence for a little time
»My father once made us« she began »keep a diary in two columns on one
side we were to put down in the morning what we thought would be the course and
events of the coming day and at night we were to put down on the other side
what really had happened It would be to some people rather a sad way of telling
their lives« a tear dropped upon my hand at these words »I dont mean that
mine has been sad only so very different to what I expected I remember one
winters evening sitting over our bedroom fire with Deborah I remember it as
if it were yesterday and we were planning our future lives both of us were
planning though only she talked about it She said she should like to marry an
archdeacon and write his charges and you know my dear she never was married
and for aught I know she never spoke to an unmarried archdeacon in her life I
never was ambitious nor could I have written charges but I thought I could
manage a house my mother used to call me her right hand and I was always so
fond of little children the shyest babies would stretch out their little arms
to come to me when I was a girl I was half my leisure time nursing in the
neighbouring cottages but I dont know how it was when I grew sad and grave
which I did a year or two after this time the little things drew back from me
and I am afraid I lost the knack though I am just as fond of children as ever
and have a strange yearning at my heart whenever I see a mother with her baby in
her arms Nay my dear« and by a sudden blaze which sprang up from a fall of
the unstirred coals I saw that her eyes were full of tears gazing intently on
some vision of what might have been »do you know I dream sometimes that I have
a little child always the same a little girl of about two years old she
never grows older though I have dreamt about her for many years I dont think
I ever dream of any words or sound she makes she is very noiseless and still
but she comes to me when she is very sorry or very glad and I have wakened with
the clasp of her dear little arms round my neck Only last night perhaps
because I had gone to sleep thinking of this ball for Phoebe my little darling
came in my dream and put up her mouth to be kissed just as I have seen real
babies do to real mothers before going to bed But all this is nonsense dear
only dont be frightened by Miss Pole from being married I can fancy it may be
a very happy state and a little credulity helps one on through life very
smoothly better than always doubting and doubting and seeing difficulties and
disagreeables in everything«
If I had been inclined to be daunted from matrimony it would not have been
Miss Pole to do it it would have been the lot of poor Signor Brunoni and his
wife And yet again it was an encouragement to see how through all their cares
and sorrows they thought of each other and not of themselves and how keen were
their joys if they only passed through each other or through the little
Phoebe
The signora told me one day a good deal about their lives up to this
period It began by my asking her whether Miss Poles story of the twinbrothers
was true it sounded so wonderful a likeness that I should have had my doubts
if Miss Pole had not been unmarried But the signora or as we found out she
preferred to be called Mrs Brown said it was quite true that her
brotherinlaw was by many taken for her husband which was of great assistance
to them in their profession »though« she continued »how people can mistake
Thomas for the real Signor Brunoni I cant conceive but he says they do so I
suppose I must believe him Not but what he is a very good man I am sure I
dont know how we should have paid our bill at the Rising Sun but for the money
he sends but people must know very little about art if they can take him for my
husband Why miss in the ball trick where my husband spreads his fingers
wide and throws out his little finger with quite an air and a grace Thomas
just clumps up his hand like a fist and might have ever so many balls hidden in
it Besides he has never been in India and knows nothing of the proper sit of
a turban«
»Have you been in India« said I rather astonished
»Oh yes many a year maam Sam was a sergeant in the 31st and when the
regiment was ordered to India I drew a lot to go and I was more thankful than
I can tell for it seemed as if it would only be a slow death to me to part from
my husband But indeed maam if I had known all I dont know whether I would
not rather have died there and then than gone through what I have done since To
be sure Ive been able to comfort Sam and to be with him but maam Ive
lost six children« she said looking up at me with those strange eyes that Ive
never noticed but in mothers of dead children with a kind of wild look in
them as if seeking for what they never more might find »Yes Six children died
off like little buds nipped untimely in that cruel India I thought as each
died I never could I never would love a child again and when the next
came it had not only its own love but the deeper love that came from the
thoughts of its little dead brothers and sisters And when Phoebe was coming I
said to my husband Sam when the child is born and I am strong I shall leave
you it will cut my heart cruel but if this baby dies too I shall go mad the
madness is in me now but if you let me go down to Calcutta carrying my baby
step by step it will maybe work itself off and I will save and I will
hoard and I will beg and I will die to get a passage home to England where
our baby may live God bless him he said I might go and he saved up his pay
and I saved every pice I could get for washing or any way and when Phoebe came
and I grew strong again I set off It was very lonely through the thick
forests dark again with their heavy trees along by the rivers side but I
had been brought up near the Avon in Warwickshire so that flowing noise sounded
like home from station to station from Indian village to village I went
along carrying my child I had seen one of the officers ladies with a little
picture maam done by a Catholic foreigner maam of the Virgin and the
little Saviour maam She had him on her arm and her form was softly curled
round him and their cheeks touched Well when I went to bid goodbye to this
lady for whom I had washed she cried sadly for she too had lost her
children but she had not another to save like me and I was bold enough to ask
her would she give me that print And she cried the more and said her children
were with that little blessed Jesus and gave it me and told me she had heard
it had been painted on the bottom of a cask which made it have that round
shape And when my body was very weary and my heart was sick for there were
times when I misdoubted if I could ever reach my home and there were times when
I thought of my husband and one time when I thought my baby was dying I took
out that picture and looked at it till I could have thought the mother spoke to
me and comforted me And the natives were very kind We could not understand
one another; but they saw my baby on my breast and they came out to me and
brought me rice and milk and sometimes flowers I have got some of the flowers
dried Then the next morning I was so tired and they wanted me to stay with
them I could tell that and tried to frighten me from going into the deep
woods which indeed looked very strange and dark but it seemed to me as if
Death was following me to take my baby away from me and as if I must go on and
on and I thought how God had cared for mothers ever since the world was made
and would care for me so I bade them goodbye and set off afresh And once
when my baby was ill and both she and I needed rest He led me to a place where
I found a kind Englishman lived right in the midst of the natives«
»And you reached Calcutta safely at last«
»Yes safely Oh when I knew I had only two days journey more before me I
could not help it maam it might be idolatry I cannot tell but I was near
one of the native temples and I went in it with my baby to thank God for His
great mercy for it seemed to me that where others had prayed before to their
God in their joy or in their agony was of itself a sacred place And I got as
servant to an invalid lady who grew quite fond of my baby aboardship and in
two years time Sam earned his discharge and came home to me and to our
child Then he had to fix on a trade but he knew of none and once once upon a
time he had learnt some tricks from an Indian juggler so he set up conjuring
and it answered so well that he took Thomas to help him as his man you know
not as another conjuror though Thomas has set it up now on his own hook But it
has been a great help to us that likeness between the twins and made a good
many tricks go off well that they made up together And Thomas is a good
brother only he has not the fine carriage of my husband so that I cant think
how he can be taken for Signor Brunoni himself as he says he is«
»Poor little Phoebe« said I my thoughts going back to the baby she carried
all those hundred miles
»Ah you may say so I never thought I should have reared her though when
she fell ill at Chunderabaddad but that good kind Aga Jenkyns took us in
which I believe was the very saving of her«
»Jenkyns« said I
»Yes Jenkyns I shall think all people of that name are kind for here is
that nice old lady who comes every day to take Phoebe a walk«
But an idea had flashed through my head could the Aga Jenkyns be the lost
Peter True he was reported by many to be dead But equally true some had
said that he had arrived at the dignity of Great Lama of Thibet Miss Matty
thought he was alive I would make further inquiry
Chapter XII
Engaged to Be Married
Was the poor Peter of Cranford the Aga Jenkyns of Chunderabaddad or was he not
As somebody says that was the question
In my own home whenever people had nothing else to do they blamed me for
want of discretion Indiscretion was my bugbear fault Everybody has a bugbear
fault a sort of standing characteristic a pièce de résistance for their
friends to cut at and in general they cut and come again I was tired of being
called indiscreet and incautious and I determined for once to prove myself a
model of prudence and wisdom I would not even hint my suspicions respecting the
Aga I would collect evidence and carry it home to lay before my father as the
family friend of the two Miss Jenkynses
In my search after facts I was often reminded of a description my father
had once given of a ladies committee that he had had to preside over He said he
could not help thinking of a passage in Dickens which spoke of a chorus in
which every man took the tune he knew best and sang it to his own satisfaction
So at this charitable committee every lady took the subject uppermost in her
mind and talked about it to her own great contentment but not much to the
advancement of the subject they had met to discuss But even that committee
could have been nothing to the Cranford ladies when I attempted to gain some
clear and definite information as to poor Peters height appearance and when
and where he was seen and heard of last For instance I remember asking Miss
Pole and I thought the question was very opportune for I put it when I met her
at a call at Mrs Forresters and both the ladies had known Peter and I
imagined that they might refresh each others memories I asked Miss Pole what
was the very last thing they had ever heard about him and then she named the
absurd report to which I have alluded about his having been elected Great Lama
of Thibet and this was a signal for each lady to go off on her separate idea
Mrs Forresters start was made on the veiled prophet in Lalla Rookh whether I
thought he was meant for the Great Lama though Peter was not so ugly indeed
rather handsome if he had not been freckled I was thankful to see her double
upon Peter but in a moment the delusive lady was off upon Rowlands Kalydor
and the merits of cosmetics and hair oils in general and holding forth so
fluently that I turned to listen to Miss Pole who through the llamas the
beasts of burden had got to Peruvian bonds and the share market and her poor
opinion of jointstock banks in general and of that one in particular in which
Miss Mattys money was invested In vain I put in »When was it in what year
was it that you heard that Mr Peter was the Great Lama« They only joined issue
to dispute whether llamas were carnivorous animals or not in which dispute they
were not quite on fair grounds as Mrs Forrester after they had grown warm and
cool again acknowledged that she always confused carnivorous and graminivorous
together just as she did horizontal and perpendicular but then she apologised
for it very prettily by saying that in her day the only use people made of
foursyllabled words was to teach how they should be spelt
The only fact I gained from this conversation was that certainly Peter had
last been heard of in India or that neighbourhood and that this scanty
intelligence of his whereabouts had reached Cranford in the year when Miss Pole
had bought her Indian muslin gown long since worn out we washed it and mended
it and traced its decline and fall into a windowblind before we could go on
and in a year when Wombwell came to Cranford because Miss Matty had wanted to
see an elephant in order that she might the better imagine Peter riding on one
and had seen a boaconstrictor too which was more than she wished to imagine in
her fancypictures of Peters locality and in a year when Miss Jenkyns had
learnt some piece of poetry off by heart and used to say at all the Cranford
parties how Peter was »surveying mankind from China to Peru« which everybody
had thought very grand and rather appropriate because India was between China
and Peru if you took care to turn the globe to the left instead of the right
I suppose all these inquiries of mine and the consequent curiosity excited
in the minds of my friends made us blind and deaf to what was going on around
us It seemed to me as if the sun rose and shone and as if the rain rained on
Cranford just as usual and I did not notice any sign of the times that could
be considered as a prognostic of any uncommon event and to the best of my
belief not only Miss Matty and Mrs Forrester but even Miss Pole herself whom
we looked upon as a kind of prophetess from the knack she had of foreseeing
things before they came to pass although she did not like to disturb her
friends by telling them her foreknowledge even Miss Pole herself was
breathless with astonishment when she came to tell us of the astounding piece of
news But I must recover myself the contemplation of it even at this distance
of time has taken away my breath and my grammar and unless I subdue my
emotion my spelling will go too
We were sitting Miss Matty and I much as usual she in the blue chintz
easychair with her back to the light and her knitting in her hand I reading
aloud the St Jamess Chronicle A few minutes more and we should have gone to
make the little alterations in dress usual before callingtime twelve oclock
in Cranford I remember the scene and the date well We had been talking of the
signors rapid recovery since the warmer weather had set in and praising Mr
Hogginss skill and lamenting his want of refinement and manner it seems a
curious coincidence that this should have been our subject but so it was when
a knock was heard a callers knock three distinct taps and we were flying
that is to say Miss Matty could not walk very fast having had a touch of
rheumatism to our rooms to change cap and collars when Miss Pole arrested us
by calling out as she came up the stairs »Dont go I cant wait it is not
twelve I know but never mind your dress I must speak to you« We did our
best to look as if it was not we who had made the hurried movement the sound of
which she had heard for of course we did not like to have it supposed that we
had any old clothes that it was convenient to wear out in the sanctuary of home
as Miss Jenkyns once prettily called the back parlour where she was tying up
preserves So we threw our gentility with double force into our manners and
very genteel we were for two minutes while Miss Pole recovered breath and
excited our curiosity strongly by lifting up her hands in amazement and
bringing them down in silence as if what she had to say was too big for words
and could only be expressed by pantomime
»What do you think Miss Matty What do you think Lady Glenmire is to marry
is to be married I mean Lady Glenmire Mr Hoggins Mr Hoggins is going
to marry Lady Glenmire«
»Marry« said we »Marry Madness«
»Marry« said Miss Pole with the decision that belonged to her character »
I said Marry as you do and I also said What a fool my lady is going to make
of herself I could have said Madness but I controlled myself for it was in a
public shop that I heard of it Where feminine delicacy is gone to I dont
know You and I Miss Matty would have been ashamed to have known that our
marriage was spoken of in a grocers shop in the hearing of shopmen«
»But« said Miss Matty sighing as one recovering from a blow »perhaps it
is not true Perhaps we are doing her injustice«
»No« said Miss Pole »I have taken care to ascertain that I went straight
to Mrs FitzAdam to borrow a cookerybook which I knew she had and I
introduced my congratulations à propos of the difficulty gentlemen must have in
housekeeping and Mrs FitzAdam bridled up and said that she believed it was
true though how and where I could have heard it she did not know She said her
brother and Lady Glenmire had come to an understanding at last Understanding
such a coarse word But my lady will have to come down to many a want of
refinement I have reason to believe Mr Hoggins sups on breadandcheese and
beer every night«
»Marry« said Miss Matty once again »Well I never thought of it Two
people that we know going to be married Its coming very near«
»So near that my heart stopped beating when I heard of it while you might
have counted twelve« said Miss Pole
»One does not know whose turn may come next Here in Cranford poor Lady
Glenmire might have thought herself safe« said Miss Matty with a gentle pity
in her tones
»Bah« said Miss Pole with a toss of her head »Dont you remember poor
dear Captain Browns song Tibbie Fowler and the line
Set her on the Tintock Tap
The wind will blaw a man till her«
»That was because Tibbie Fowler was rich I think«
»Well there is a kind of attraction about Lady Glenmire that I for one
should be ashamed to have«
I put in my wonder »But how can she have fancied Mr Hoggins I am not
surprised that Mr Hoggins has liked her«
»Oh I dont know Mr Hoggins is rich and very pleasantlooking« said
Miss Matty »and very goodtempered and kindhearted«
»She has married for an establishment thats it I suppose she takes the
surgery with it« said Miss Pole with a little dry laugh at her own joke But
like many people who think they have made a severe and sarcastic speech which
yet is clever of its kind she began to relax in her grimness from the moment
when she made this allusion to the surgery and we turned to speculate on the
way in which Mrs Jamieson would receive the news The person whom she had left
in charge of her house to keep off followers from her maids to set up a follower
of her own And that follower a man whom Mrs Jamieson had tabooed as vulgar
and inadmissible to Cranford society not merely on account of his name but
because of his voice his complexion his boots smelling of the stable and
himself smelling of drugs Had he ever been to see Lady Glenmire at Mrs
Jamiesons Chloride of lime would not purify the house in its owners
estimation if he had Or had their interviews been confined to the occasional
meetings in the chamber of the poor sick conjuror to whom with all our sense
of the mésalliance we could not help allowing that they had both been
exceedingly kind And now it turned out that a servant of Mrs Jamiesons had
been ill and Mr Hoggins had been attending her for some weeks So the wolf had
got into the fold and now he was carrying off the shepherdess What would Mrs
Jamieson say We looked into the darkness of futurity as a child gazes after a
rocket up in the cloudy sky full of wondering expectation of the rattle the
discharge and the brilliant shower of sparks and light Then we brought
ourselves down to earth and the present time by questioning each other being
all equally ignorant and all equally without the slightest data to build any
conclusions upon as to when IT would take place Where How much a year Mr
Hoggins had Whether she would drop her title And how Martha and the other
correct servants in Cranford would ever be brought to announce a married couple
as Lady Glenmire and Mr Hoggins But would they be visited Would Mrs Jamieson
let us Or must we choose between the Honourable Mrs Jamieson and the degraded
Lady Glenmire We all liked Lady Glenmire the best She was bright and kind
and sociable and agreeable and Mrs Jamieson was dull and inert and pompous
and tiresome But we had acknowledged the sway of the latter so long that it
seemed like a kind of disloyalty now even to meditate disobedience to the
prohibition we anticipated
Mrs Forrester surprised us in our darned caps and patched collars and we
forgot all about them in our eagerness to see how she would bear the
information which we honourably left to Miss Pole to impart although if we
had been inclined to take unfair advantage we might have rushed in ourselves
for she had a most outofplace fit of coughing for five minutes after Mrs
Forrester entered the room I shall never forget the imploring expression of her
eyes as she looked at us over her pockethandkerchief They said as plain as
words could speak »Dont let Nature deprive me of the treasure which is mine
although for a time I can make no use of it« And we did not
Mrs Forresters surprise was equal to ours and her sense of injury rather
greater because she had to feel for her Order and saw more fully than we could
do how such conduct brought stains on the aristocracy
When she and Miss Pole left us we endeavoured to subside into calmness but
Miss Matty was really upset by the intelligence she had heard She reckoned it
up and it was more than fifteen years since she had heard of any of her
acquaintance going to be married with the one exception of Miss Jessie Brown
and as she said it gave her quite a shook and made her feel as if she could
not think what would happen next
I dont know whether it is a fancy of mine or a real fact but I have
noticed that just after the announcement of an engagement in any set the
unmarried ladies in that set flutter out in an unusual gaiety and newness of
dress as much as to say in a tacit and unconscious manner »We also are
spinsters« Miss Matty and Miss Pole talked and thought more about bonnets
gowns caps and shawls during the fortnight that succeeded this call than I
had known them do for years before But it might be the spring weather for it
was a warm and pleasant March and merinoes and beavers and woollen materials
of all sorts were but ungracious receptacles of the bright suns glancing rays
It had not been Lady Glenmires dress that had won Mr Hogginss heart for she
went about on her errands of kindness more shabby than ever Although in the
hurried glimpses I caught of her at church or elsewhere she appeared rather to
shun meeting any of her friends her face seemed to have almost something of the
flush of youth in it her lips looked redder and more trembling full than in
their old compressed state and her eyes dwelt on all things with a lingering
light as if she was learning to love Cranford and its belongings Mr Hoggins
looked broad and radiant and creaked up the middle aisle at church in a
brannew pair of topboots an audible as well as visible sign of his
purposed change of state for the tradition went that the boots he had worn
till now were the identical pair in which he first set out on his rounds in
Cranford twentyfive years ago only they had been newpieced high and low top
and bottom heel and sole black leather and brown leather more times than any
one could tell
None of the ladies in Cranford chose to sanction the marriage by
congratulating either of the parties We wished to ignore the whole affair until
our liege lady Mrs Jamieson returned Till she came back to give us our cue
we felt that it would be better to consider the engagement in the same light as
the Queen of Spains legs facts which certainly existed but the less said
about the better This restraint upon our tongues for you see if we did not
speak about it to any of the parties concerned how could we get answers to the
questions that we longed to ask was beginning to be irksome and our idea of
the dignity of silence was paling before our curiosity when another direction
was given to our thoughts, by an announcement on the part of the principal
shopkeeper of Cranford who ranged the trades from grocer and cheesemonger to
manmilliner as occasion required that the spring fashions were arrived and
would be exhibited on the following Tuesday at his rooms in High Street Now
Miss Matty had been only waiting for this before buying herself a new silk gown
I had offered it is true to send to Drumble for patterns but she had rejected
my proposal gently implying that she had not forgotten her disappointment about
the seagreen turban I was thankful that I was on the spot now to counteract
the dazzling fascination of any yellow or scarlet silk
I must say a word or two here about myself I have spoken of my fathers old
friendship for the Jenkyns family indeed I am not sure if there was not some
distant relationship He had willingly allowed me to remain all the winter at
Cranford in consideration of a letter which Miss Matty had written to him about
the time of the panic in which I suspect she had exaggerated my powers and my
bravery as a defender of the house But now that the days were longer and more
cheerful he was beginning to urge the necessity of my return and I only
delayed in a sort of odd forlorn hope that if I could obtain any clear
information I might make the account given by the signora of the Aga Jenkyns
tally with that of poor Peter his appearance and disappearance which I had
winnowed out of the conversation of Miss Pole and Mrs Forrester
Chapter XIII
Stopped Payment
The very Tuesday morning on which Mr Johnson was going to show the fashions
the postwoman brought two letters to the house I say the postwoman but I
should say the postmans wife He was a lame shoemaker a very clean honest
man much respected in the town but he never brought the letters round except
on unusual occasions such as Christmas Day or Good Friday and on those days
the letters which should have been delivered at eight in the morning did not
make their appearance until two or three in the afternoon for every one liked
poor Thomas and gave him a welcome on these festive occasions He used to say
»He was welly stawed wi eating for there were three or four houses where nowt
would serve em but he must share in their breakfast« and by the time he had
done his last breakfast he came to some other friend who was beginning dinner
but come what might in the way of temptation Tom was always sober civil and
smiling and as Miss Jenkyns used to say it was a lesson in patience that she
doubted not would call out that precious quality in some minds where but for
Thomas it might have lain dormant and undiscovered Patience was certainly very
dormant in Miss Jenkynss mind She was always expecting letters and always
drumming on the table till the postwoman had called or gone past On Christmas
Day and Good Friday she drummed from breakfast till church from churchtime
till two oclock unless when the fire wanted stirring when she invariably
knocked down the fireirons and scolded Miss Matty for it But equally certain
was the hearty welcome and the good dinner for Thomas Miss Jenkyns standing
over him like a bold dragoon questioning him as to his children what they
were doing what school they went to upbraiding him if another was likely to
make its appearance but sending even the little babies the shilling and the
mincepie which was her gift to all the children with halfacrown in addition
for both father and mother The post was not of half so much consequence to dear
Miss Matty but not for the world would she have diminished Thomass welcome and
his dole though I could see that she felt rather shy over the ceremony which
had been regarded by Miss Jenkyns as a glorious opportunity for giving advice
and benefiting her fellowcreatures Miss Matty would steal the money all in a
lump into his hand as if she were ashamed of herself Miss Jenkyns gave him
each individual coin separate with a »There thats for yourself thats for
Jenny« etc Miss Matty would even beckon Martha out of the kitchen while he ate
his food and once to my knowledge winked at its rapid disappearance into a
blue cotton pockethandkerchief Miss Jenkyns almost scolded him if he did not
leave a clean plate however heaped it might have been and gave an injunction
with every mouthful
I have wandered a long way from the two letters that awaited us on the
breakfasttable that Tuesday morning Mine was from my father Miss Mattys was
printed My fathers was just a mans letter I mean it was very dull and gave
no information beyond that he was well that they had had a good deal of rain
that trade was very stagnant and there were many disagreeable rumours afloat
He then asked me if I knew whether Miss Matty still retained her shares in the
Town and County Bank as there were very unpleasant reports about it though
nothing more than he had always foreseen and had prophesied to Miss Jenkyns
years ago when she would invest their little property in it the only unwise
step that clever woman had ever taken to his knowledge the only time she ever
acted against his advice I knew However if anything had gone wrong of
course I was not to think of leaving Miss Matty while I could be of any use
etc
»Who is your letter from my dear Mine is a very civil invitation signed
Edwin Wilson asking me to attend an important meeting of the shareholders of
the Town and County Bank to be held in Drumble on Thursday the twentyfirst I
am sure it is very attentive of them to remember me«
I did not like to hear of this important meeting for though I did not know
much about business I feared it confirmed what my father said however I
thought ill news always came fast enough so I resolved to say nothing about my
alarm and merely told her that my father was well and sent his kind regards to
her She kept turning over and admiring her letter At last she spoke
»I remember their sending one to Deborah just like this but that I did not
wonder at for everybody knew she was so clearheaded I am afraid I could not
help them much indeed if they came to accounts I should be quite in the way
for I never could do sums in my head Deborah I know rather wished to go and
went so far as to order a new bonnet for the occasion but when the time came
she had a bad cold so they sent her a very polite account of what they had
done Chosen a director I think it was Do you think they want me to help them
to choose a director I am sure I should choose your father at once«
»My father has no shares in the bank« said I
»Oh no I remember He objected very much to Deborahs buying any I
believe But she was quite the woman of business and always judged for herself
and here you see they have paid eight per cent all these years«
It was a very uncomfortable subject to me with my halfknowledge so I
thought I would change the conversation and I asked at what time she thought we
had better go and see the fashions »Well my dear« she said »the thing is
this it is not etiquette to go till after twelve but then you see all
Cranford will be there and one does not like to be too curious about dress and
trimmings and caps with all the world looking on It is never genteel to be
overcurious on these occasions Deborah had the knack of always looking as if
the latest fashion was nothing new to her a manner she had caught from Lady
Arley who did see all the new modes in London you know So I thought we would
just slip down this morning soon after breakfast for I do want halfapound
of tea and then we could go up and examine the things at our leisure and see
exactly how my new silk gown must be made and then after twelve we could go
with our minds disengaged and free from thoughts of dress«
We began to talk of Miss Mattys new silk gown I discovered that it would
be really the first time in her life that she had had to choose anything of
consequence for herself for Miss Jenkyns had always been the more decided
character whatever her taste might have been and it is astonishing how such
people carry the world before them by the mere force of will Miss Matty
anticipated the sight of the glossy folds with as much delight as if the five
sovereigns set apart for the purchase could buy all the silks in the shop and
remembering my own loss of two hours in a toyshop before I could tell on what
wonder to spend a silver threepence I was very glad that we were going early
that dear Miss Matty might have leisure for the delights of perplexity
If a happy seagreen could be met with the gown was to be seagreen if
not she inclined to maize and I to silver grey and we discussed the requisite
number of breadths until we arrived at the shopdoor We were to buy the tea
select the silk and then clamber up the iron corkscrew stairs that led into
what was once a loft though now a fashion showroom
The young men at Mr Johnsons had on their best looks and their best
cravats and pivoted themselves over the counter with surprising activity They
wanted to show us upstairs at once but on the principle of business first and
pleasure afterwards we stayed to purchase the tea Here Miss Mattys absence of
mind betrayed itself If she was made aware that she had been drinking green tea
at any time she always thought it her duty to lie awake half through the night
afterward I have known her take it in ignorance many a time without such
effects and consequently green tea was prohibited the house yet today she
herself asked for the obnoxious article under the impression that she was
talking about the silk However the mistake was soon rectified and then the
silks were unrolled in good truth By this time the shop was pretty well filled
for it was Cranford marketday and many of the farmers and country people from
the neighbourhood round came in sleeking down their hair and glancing shyly
about from under their eyelids as anxious to take back some notion of the
unusual gaiety to the mistress or the lasses at home and yet feeling that they
were out of place among the smart shopmen and gay shawls and summer prints One
honestlooking man however made his way up to the counter at which we stood
and boldly asked to look at a shawl or two The other country folk confined
themselves to the grocery side but our neighbour was evidently too full of some
kind intention towards mistress wife or daughter to be shy and it soon
became a question with me whether he or Miss Matty would keep their shopman the
longest time He thought each shawl more beautiful than the last and as for
Miss Matty she smiled and sighed over each fresh bale that was brought out one
colour set off another and the heap together would as she said make even the
rainbow look poor
»I am afraid« said she hesitating »whichever I choose I shall wish I had
taken another Look at this lovely crimson it would be so warm in winter But
spring is coming on you know I wish I could have a gown for every season«
said she dropping her voice as we all did in Cranford whenever we talked of
anything we wished for but could not afford »However« she continued in a
louder and more cheerful tone »it would give me a great deal of trouble to take
care of them if I had them so I think Ill only take one But which must it
be my dear«
And now she hovered over a lilac with yellow spots while I pulled out a
quiet sagegreen that had faded into insignificance under the more brilliant
colours but which was nevertheless a good silk in its humble way Our attention
was called off to our neighbour He had chosen a shawl of about thirty
shillings value and his face looked broadly happy under the anticipation no
doubt of the pleasant surprise he should give to some Molly or Jenny at home
he had tugged a leathern purse out of his breechespocket and had offered a
fivepound note in payment for the shawl and for some parcels which had been
brought round to him from the grocery counter and it was just at this point
that he attracted our notice The shopman was examining the note with a puzzled
doubtful air
»Town and County Bank I am not sure sir but I believe we have received a
warning against notes issued by this bank only this morning I will just step
and ask Mr Johnson sir but Im afraid I must trouble you for payment in cash
or in a note of a different bank«
I never saw a mans countenance fall so suddenly into dismay and
bewilderment It was almost piteous to see the rapid change
»Dang it« said he striking his fist down on the table as if to try which
was the harder »the chap talks as if notes and gold were to be had for the
picking up«
Miss Matty had forgotten her silk gown in her interest for the man I dont
think she had caught the name of the bank and in my nervous cowardice I was
anxious that she should not and so I began admiring the yellowspotted lilac
gown that I had been utterly condemning only a minute before But it was of no
use
»What bank was it I mean what bank did your note belong to«
»Town and County Bank«
»Let me see it« said she quietly to the shopman gently taking it out of
his hand as he brought it back to return it to the farmer
Mr Johnson was very sorry but from information he had received the notes
issued by that bank were little better than waste paper
»I dont understand it« said Miss Matty to me in a low voice »That is our
bank is it not the Town and County Bank«
»Yes« said I »This lilac silk will just match the ribbons in your new cap
I believe« I continued holding up the folds so as to catch the light and
wishing that the man would make haste and be gone and yet having a new wonder
that had only just sprung up how far it was wise or right in me to allow Miss
Matty to make this expensive purchase if the affairs of the bank were really so
bad as the refusal of the note implied
But Miss Matty put on the soft dignified manner peculiar to her rarely
used and yet which became her so well and laying her hand gently on mine she
said
»Never mind the silks for a few minutes dear I dont understand you sir«
turning now to the shopman who had been attending to the farmer »Is this a
forged note«
»Oh no maam It is a true note of its kind but you see maam it is a
jointstock bank and there are reports out that it is likely to break Mr
Johnson is only doing his duty maam as I am sure Mr Dobson knows«
But Mr Dobson could not respond to the appealing bow by any answering
smile He was turning the note absently over in his fingers looking gloomily
enough at the parcel containing the latelychosen shawl
»Its hard upon a poor man« said he »as earns every farthing with the
sweat of his brow However theres no help for it You must take back your
shawl my man Lizzie must do on with her cloak for a while And yon figs for
the little ones I promised them to em Ill take them but the bacco and
the other things«
»I will give you five sovereigns for your note my good man« said Miss
Matty »I think there is some great mistake about it for I am one of the
shareholders and Im sure they would have told me if things had not been going
on right«
The shopman whispered a word or two across the table to Miss Matty She
looked at him with a dubious air
»Perhaps so« said she »But I dont pretend to understand business I only
know that if it is going to fail and if honest people are to lose their money
because they have taken our notes I cant explain myself« said she suddenly
becoming aware that she had got into a long sentence with four people for
audience »only I would rather exchange my gold for the note if you please«
turning to the farmer »and then you can take your wife the shawl It is only
going without my gown a few days longer« she continued speaking to me »Then
I have no doubt everything will be cleared up«
»But if it is cleared up the wrong way« said I
»Why then it will only have been common honesty in me as a shareholder to
have given this good man the money I am quite clear about it in my own mind
but you know I can never speak quite as comprehensibly as others can only you
must give me your note Mr Dobson if you please and go on with your purchases
with these sovereigns«
The man looked at her with silent gratitude too awkward to put his thanks
into words but he hung back for a minute or two fumbling with his note
»Im loth to make another one lose instead of me if it is a loss but you
see five pounds is a deal of money to a man with a family and as you say ten
to one in a day or two the note will be as good as gold again«
»No hope of that my friend« said the shopman
»The more reason why I should take it« said Miss Matty quietly She pushed
her sovereigns towards the man who slowly laid his note down in exchange
»Thank you I will wait a day or two before I purchase any of these silks
perhaps you will then have a greater choice My dear will you come upstairs«
We inspected the fashions with as minute and curious an interest as if the
gown to be made after them had been bought I could not see that the little
event in the shop below had in the least damped Miss Mattys curiosity as to the
make of sleeves or the sit of skirts She once or twice exchanged
congratulations with me on our private and leisurely view of the bonnets and
shawls but I was all the time not so sure that our examination was so utterly
private for I caught glimpses of a figure dodging behind the cloaks and
mantles and by a dexterous move I came face to face with Miss Pole also in
morning costume the principal feature of which was her being without teeth and
wearing a veil to conceal the deficiency come on the same errand as ourselves
But she quickly took her departure because as she said she had a bad
headache and did not feel herself up to conversation
As we came down through the shop the civil Mr Johnson was awaiting us he
had been informed of the exchange of the note for gold and with much good
feeling and real kindness but with a little want of tact he wished to condole
with Miss Matty and impress upon her the true state of the case I could only
hope that he had heard an exaggerated rumour for he said that her shares were
worse than nothing and that the bank could not pay a shilling in the pound I
was glad that Miss Matty seemed still a little incredulous but I could not tell
how much of this was real or assumed with that selfcontrol which seemed
habitual to ladies of Miss Mattys standing in Cranford who would have thought
their dignity compromised by the slightest expression of surprise dismay or
any similar feeling to an inferior in station or in a public shop However we
walked home very silently I am ashamed to say I believe I was rather vexed and
annoyed at Miss Mattys conduct in taking the note to herself so decidedly I
had so set my heart upon her having a new silk gown which she wanted sadly in
general she was so undecided anybody might turn her round in this case I had
felt that it was no use attempting it but I was not the less put out at the
result
Somehow after twelve oclock we both acknowledged to a sated curiosity
about the fashions and to a certain fatigue of body which was in fact
depression of mind that indisposed us to go out again But still we never spoke
of the note till all at once something possessed me to ask Miss Matty if she
would think it her duty to offer sovereigns for all the notes of the Town and
County Bank she met with I could have bitten my tongue out the minute I had
said it She looked up rather sadly and as if I had thrown a new perplexity
into her already distressed mind and for a minute or two she did not speak
Then she said my own dear Miss Matty without a shade of reproach in her
voice
»My dear I never feel as if my mind was what people call very strong and
its often hard enough work for me to settle what I ought to do with the case
right before me I was very thankful to I was very thankful that I saw my
duty this morning with the poor man standing by me but its rather a strain
upon me to keep thinking and thinking what I should do if such and such a thing
happened and I believe I had rather wait and see what really does come and I
dont doubt I shall be helped then if I dont fidget myself and get too anxious
beforehand You know love Im not like Deborah If Deborah had lived Ive no
doubt she would have seen after them before they had got themselves into this
state«
We had neither of us much appetite for dinner though we tried to talk
cheerfully about indifferent things When we returned into the drawingroom
Miss Matty unlocked her desk and began to look over her accountbooks I was so
penitent for what I had said in the morning that I did not choose to take upon
myself the presumption to suppose that I could assist her I rather left her
alone as with puzzled brow her eye followed her pen up and down the ruled
page Byandby she shut the book locked her desk and came and drew a chair to
mine where I sat in moody sorrow over the fire I stole my hand into hers she
clasped it but did not speak a word At last she said with forced composure in
her voice »If that bank goes wrong I shall lose one hundred and fortynine
pounds thirteen shillings and fourpence a year I shall only have thirteen
pounds a year left« I squeezed her hand hard and tight I did not know what to
say Presently it was too dark to see her face I felt her fingers work
convulsively in my grasp and I knew she was going to speak again I heard the
sobs in her voice as she said »I hope its not wrong not wicked but oh I
am so glad poor Deborah is spared this She could not have borne to come down in
the world she had such a noble lofty spirit«
This was all she said about the sister who had insisted upon investing their
little property in that unlucky bank We were later in lighting the candle than
usual that night and until that light shamed us into speaking we sat together
very silently and sadly
However we took to our work after tea with a kind of forced cheerfulness
which soon became real as far as it went talking of that neverending wonder
Lady Glenmires engagement Miss Matty was almost coming round to think it a
good thing
»I dont mean to deny that men are troublesome in a house I dont judge
from my own experience for my father was neatness itself, and wiped his shoes
on coming in as carefully as any woman but still a man has a sort of knowledge
of what should be done in difficulties that it is very pleasant to have one at
hand ready to lean upon Now Lady Glenmire instead of being tossed about and
wondering where she is to settle will be certain of a home among pleasant and
kind people such as our good Miss Pole and Mrs Forrester And Mr Hoggins is
really a very personable man and as for his manners why if they are not very
polished I have known people with very good hearts and very clever minds too
who were not what some people reckoned refined but who were both true and
tender«
She fell off into a soft reverie about Mr Holbrook and I did not interrupt
her I was so busy maturing a plan I had had in my mind for some days but which
this threatened failure of the bank had brought to a crisis That night after
Miss Matty went to bed I treacherously lighted the candle again and sat down
in the drawingroom to compose a letter to the Aga Jenkyns a letter which
should affect him if he were Peter and yet seem a mere statement of dry facts
if he were a stranger The church clock pealed out two before I had done
The next morning news came both official and otherwise that the Town and
County Bank had stopped payment Miss Matty was ruined
She tried to speak quietly to me but when she came to the actual fact that
she would have but about five shillings a week to live upon she could not
restrain a few tears
»I am not crying for myself dear« said she wiping them away »I believe I
am crying for the very silly thought of how my mother would grieve if she could
know she always cared for us so much more than for herself But many a poor
person has less and I am not very extravagant and thank God when the neck of
mutton and Marthas wages and the rent are paid I have not a farthing owing
Poor Martha I think shell be sorry to leave me«
Miss Matty smiled at me through her tears and she would fain have had me
see only the smile not the tears
Chapter XIV
Friends in Need
It was an example to me and I fancy it might be to many others to see how
immediately Miss Matty set about the retrenchment which she knew to be right
under her altered circumstances While she went down to speak to Martha and
break the intelligence to her I stole out with my letter to the Aga Jenkyns
and went to the signors lodgings to obtain the exact address I bound the
signora to secrecy and indeed her military manners had a degree of shortness
and reserve in them which made her always say as little as possible except when
under the pressure of strong excitement Moreover which made my secret doubly
sure the signor was now so far recovered as to be looking forward to
travelling and conjuring again in the space of a few days when he his wife
and little Phoebe would leave Cranford Indeed I found him looking over a great
black and red placard in which the Signor Brunonis accomplishments were set
forth and to which only the name of the town where he would next display them
was wanting He and his wife were so much absorbed in deciding where the red
letters would come in with most effect it might have been the Rubric for that
matter that it was some time before I could get my question asked privately
and not before I had given several decisions the wisdom of which I questioned
afterwards with equal sincerity as soon as the signor threw in his doubts and
reasons on the important subject At last I got the address spelt by sound and
very queer it looked I dropped it in the post on my way home and then for a
minute I stood looking at the wooden pane with a gaping slit which divided me
from the letter but a moment ago in my hand It was gone from me like life
never to be recalled It would get tossed about on the sea and stained with
seawaves perhaps and be carried among palmtrees and scented with all
tropical fragrance the little piece of paper but an hour ago so familiar and
commonplace had set out on its race to the strange wild countries beyond the
Ganges But I could not afford to lose much time on this speculation I hastened
home that Miss Matty might not miss me Martha opened the door to me her face
swollen with crying As soon as she saw me she burst out afresh and taking hold
of my arm she pulled me in and banged the door to in order to ask me if indeed
it was all true that Miss Matty had been saying
»Ill never leave her No I wont I telled her so and said I could not
think how she could find in her heart to give me warning I could not have had
the face to do it if Id been her I might ha been just as good for nothing as
Mrs FitzAdams Rosy who struck for wages after living seven years and a half
in one place I said I was not one to go and serve Mammon at that rate that I
knew when Id got a good missus if she didnt know when shed got a good
servant«
»But Martha« said I cutting in while she wiped her eyes
»Dont but Martha me« she replied to my deprecatory tone
»Listen to reason«
»Ill not listen to reason« she said now in full possession of her voice
which had been rather choked with sobbing »Reason always means what some one
else has got to say Now I think what Ive got to say is good enough reason
but reason or not Ill say it and Ill stick to it Ive money in the Savings
Bank and Ive a good stock of clothes and Im not going to leave Miss Matty
No not if she gives me warning every hour in the day«
She put her arms akimbo as much as to say she defied me and indeed I
could hardly tell how to begin to remonstrate with her so much did I feel that
Miss Matty in her increasing infirmity needed the attendance of this kind and
faithful woman
»Well« said I at last
»Im thankful you begin with well If youd ha begun with but as you did
afore Id not ha listened to you Now you may go on«
»I know you would be a great loss to Miss Matty Martha«
»I telled her so A loss shed never cease to be sorry for« broke in Martha
triumphantly
»Still she will have so little so very little to live upon that I
dont see just now how she could find you food she will even be pressed for
her own I tell you this Martha because I feel you are like a friend to dear
Miss Matty but you know she might not like to have it spoken about«
Apparently this was even a blacker view of the subject than Miss Matty had
presented to her for Martha just sat down on the first chair that came to hand
and cried out loud we had been standing in the kitchen
At last she put her apron down and looking me earnestly in the face asked
»Was that the reason Miss Matty wouldnt order a pudding today She said she
had no great fancy for sweet things and you and she would just have a
muttonchop But Ill be up to her Never you tell but Ill make her a pudding
and a pudding shell like too and Ill pay for it myself so mind you see she
eats it Many a one has been comforted in their sorrow by seeing a good dish
come upon the table«
I was rather glad that Marthas energy had taken the immediate and practical
direction of puddingmaking for it staved off the quarrelsome discussion as to
whether she should or should not leave Miss Mattys service She began to tie on
a clean apron and otherwise prepare herself for going to the shop for the
butter eggs and what else she might require She would not use a scrap of the
articles already in the house for her cookery but went to an old teapot in
which her private store of money was deposited and took out what she wanted
I found Miss Matty very quiet and not a little sad but byandby she tried
to smile for my sake It was settled that I was to write to my father and ask
him to come over and hold a consultation and as soon as this letter was
despatched we began to talk over future plans Miss Mattys idea was to take a
single room and retain as much of her furniture as would be necessary to fit up
this and sell the rest and there to quietly exist upon what would remain after
paying the rent For my part I was more ambitious and less contented I thought
of all the things by which a woman past middle age and with the education
common to ladies fifty years ago could earn or add to a living without
materially losing caste but at length I put even this last clause on one side
and wondered what in the world Miss Matty could do
Teaching was of course the first thing that suggested itself If Miss
Matty could teach children anything it would throw her among the little elves
in whom her soul delighted I ran over her accomplishments Once upon a time I
had heard her say she could play »Ah vous diraije maman« on the piano but
that was long long ago that faint shadow of musical acquirement had died out
years before She had also once been able to trace out patterns very nicely for
muslin embroidery by dint of placing a piece of silver paper over the design to
be copied and holding both against the windowpane while she marked the scollop
and eyeletholes But that was her nearest approach to the accomplishment of
drawing and I did not think it would go very far Then again as to the
branches of a solid English education fancy work and the use of the globes
such as the mistress of the Ladies Seminary to which all the tradespeople in
Cranford sent their daughters professed to teach Miss Mattys eyes were
failing her and I doubted if she could discover the number of threads in a
worstedwork pattern or rightly appreciate the different shades required for
Queen Adelaides face in the loyal woolwork now fashionable in Cranford As for
the use of the globes I had never been able to find it out myself so perhaps I
was not a good judge of Miss Mattys capability of instructing in this branch of
education but it struck me that equators and tropics and such mystical
circles were very imaginary lines indeed to her and that she looked upon the
signs of the Zodiac as so many remnants of the Black Art
What she piqued herself upon as arts in which she excelled was making
candlelighters or spills as she preferred calling them of coloured paper
cut so as to resemble feathers and knitting garters in a variety of dainty
stitches I had once said on receiving a present of an elaborate pair that I
should feel quite tempted to drop one of them in the street in order to have it
admired but I found this little joke and it was a very little one was such a
distress to her sense of propriety and was taken with such anxious earnest
alarm lest the temptation might some day prove too strong for me that I quite
regretted having ventured upon it A present of these delicatelywrought
garters a bunch of gay spills or a set of cards on which sewingsilk was wound
in a mystical manner were the wellknown tokens of Miss Mattys favour But
would any one pay to have their children taught these arts or indeed would
Miss Matty sell for filthy lucre the knack and the skill with which she made
trifles of value to those who loved her
I had to come down to reading writing and arithmetic and in reading the
chapter every morning she always coughed before coming to long words I doubted
her power of getting through a genealogical chapter with any number of coughs
Writing she did well and delicately but spelling She seemed to think that the
more outoftheway this was and the more trouble it cost her the greater the
compliment she paid to her correspondent and words that she would spell quite
correctly in her letters to me became perfect enigmas when she wrote to my
father
No there was nothing she could teach to the rising generation of Cranford
unless they had been quick learners and ready imitators of her patience her
humility her sweetness her quiet contentment with all that she could not do I
pondered and pondered until dinner was announced by Martha with a face all
blubbered and swollen with crying
Miss Matty had a few little peculiarities which Martha was apt to regard as
whims below her attention and appeared to consider as childish fancies of which
an old lady of fiftyeight should try and cure herself But today everything
was attended to with the most careful regard The bread was cut to the imaginary
pattern of excellence that existed in Miss Mattys mind as being the way which
her mother had preferred the curtain was drawn so as to exclude the dead
brickwall of a neighbours stables and yet left so as to show every tender leaf
of the poplar which was bursting into spring beauty Marthas tone to Miss Matty
was just such as that good roughspoken servant usually kept sacred for little
children and which I had never heard her use to any grownup person
I had forgotten to tell Miss Matty about the pudding and I was afraid she
might not do justice to it for she had evidently very little appetite this day
so I seized the opportunity of letting her into the secret while Martha took
away the meat Miss Mattys eyes filled with tears and she could not speak
either to express surprise or delight when Martha returned bearing it aloft
made in the most wonderful representation of a lion couchant that ever was
moulded Marthas face gleamed with triumph as she set it down before Miss Matty
with an exultant »There« Miss Matty wanted to speak her thanks but could not
so she took Marthas hand and shook it warmly which set Martha off crying and
I myself could hardly keep up the necessary composure Martha burst out of the
room and Miss Matty had to clear her voice once or twice before she could
speak At last she said »I should like to keep this pudding under a glass
shade my dear« and the notion of the lion couchant with his currant eyes
being hoisted up to the place of honour on a mantelpiece tickled my hysterical
fancy and I began to laugh which rather surprised Miss Matty
»I am sure dear I have seen uglier things under a glass shade before now«
said she
So had I many a time and oft and I accordingly composed my countenance
and now I could hardly keep from crying and we both fell to upon the pudding
which was indeed excellent only every morsel seemed to choke us our hearts
were so full
We had too much to think about to talk much that afternoon It passed over
very tranquilly But when the teaurn was brought in a new thought came into my
head Why should not Miss Matty sell tea be an agent to the East India Tea
Company which then existed I could see no objections to this plan while the
advantages were many always supposing that Miss Matty could get over the
degradation of condescending to anything like trade Tea was neither greasy nor
sticky grease and stickiness being two of the qualities which Miss Matty could
not endure No shopwindow would be required A small genteel notification of
her being licensed to sell tea would it is true be necessary but I hoped that
it could be placed where no one would see it Neither was tea a heavy article
so as to tax Miss Mattys fragile strength The only thing against my plan was
the buying and selling involved
While I was giving but absent answers to the questions Miss Matty was
putting almost as absently we heard a clumping sound on the stairs and a
whispering outside the door which indeed once opened and shut as if by some
invisible agency After a little while Martha came in dragging after her a
great tall young man all crimson with shyness and finding his only relief in
perpetually sleeking down his hair
»Please maam hes only Jem Hearn« said Martha by way of an
introduction and so out of breath was she that I imagine she had had some
bodily struggle before she could overcome his reluctance to be presented on the
courtly scene of Miss Matilda Jenkynss drawingroom
»And please maam he wants to marry me offhand And please maam we
want to take a lodger just one quiet lodger to make our two ends meet and
wed take any house conformable and oh dear Miss Matty if I may be so bold
would you have any objections to lodging with us Jem wants it as much as I do«
To Jem »You great oaf why cant you back me But he does want it all the
same very bad dont you Jem only you see hes dazed at being called on
to speak before quality«
»Its not that« broke in Jem »Its that youve taken me all on a sudden
and I didnt think for to get married so soon and such quick work does
flabbergast a man Its not that Im against it maam« addressing Miss Matty
»only Martha has such quick ways with her when once she takes a thing into her
head and marriage maam marriage nails a man as one may say I dare say I
shant mind it after its once over«
»Please maam« said Martha who had plucked at his sleeve and nudged him
with her elbow and otherwise tried to interrupt him all the time he had been
speaking »dont mind him hell come to twas only last night he was anaxing
me and anaxing me and all the more because I said I could not think of it for
years to come and now hes only taken aback with the suddenness of the joy but
you know Jem you are just as full as me about wanting a lodger« Another
great nudge
»Ah if Miss Matty would lodge with us otherwise Ive no mind to be
cumbered with strange folk in the house« said Jem with a want of tact which I
could see enraged Martha who was trying to represent a lodger as the great
object they wished to obtain and that in fact Miss Matty would be smoothing
their path and conferring a favour if she would only come and live with them
Miss Matty herself was bewildered by the pair their or rather Marthas
sudden resolution in favour of matrimony staggered her and stood between her
and the contemplation of the plan which Martha had at heart Miss Matty began
»Marriage is a very solemn thing Martha«
»It is indeed maam« quoth Jem »Not that Ive no objections to Martha«
»Youve never let me abe for asking me for to fix when I would be married«
said Martha her face all afire and ready to cry with vexation »and now
youre shaming me before my missus and all«
»Nay now Martha dont ee dont ee only a man likes to have
breathingtime« said Jem trying to possess himself of her hand but in vain
Then seeing that she was more seriously hurt than he had imagined he seemed to
try to rally his scattered faculties and with more straightforward dignity
than ten minutes before I should have thought it possible for him to assume
he turned to Miss Matty and said »I hope maam you know that I am bound to
respect every one who has been kind to Martha I always looked on her as to be
my wife some time and she has often and often spoken of you as the kindest
lady that ever was and though the plain truth is I would not like to be
troubled with lodgers of the common run yet if maam youd honour us by
living with us Im sure Martha would do her best to make you comfortable and
Id keep out of your way as much as I could which I reckon would be the best
kindness such an awkward chap as me could do«
Miss Matty had been very busy with taking off her spectacles wiping them
and replacing them but all she could say was »Dont let any thought of me
hurry you into marriage pray dont Marriage is such a very solemn thing«
»But Miss Matilda will think of your plan Martha« said I struck with the
advantages that it offered and unwilling to lose the opportunity of considering
about it »And Im sure neither she nor I can ever forget your kindness nor
yours either Jem«
»Why yes maam Im sure I mean kindly though Im a bit fluttered by
being pushed straight ahead into matrimony as it were and maynt express
myself conformable But Im sure Im willing enough and give me time to get
accustomed so Martha wench whats the use of crying so and slapping me if I
come near«
This last was sotto voce and had the effect of making Martha bounce out of
the room to be followed and soothed by her lover Whereupon Miss Matty sat down
and cried very heartily and accounted for it by saying that the thought of
Martha being married so soon gave her quite a shock and that she should never
forgive herself if she thought she was hurrying the poor creature I think my
pity was more for Jem of the two but both Miss Matty and I appreciated to the
full the kindness of the honest couple although we said little about this and
a good deal about the chances and dangers of matrimony
The next morning very early I received a note from Miss Pole so
mysteriously wrapped up and with so many seals on it to secure secrecy that I
had to tear the paper before I could unfold it And when I came to the writing I
could hardly understand the meaning it was so involved and oracular I made
out however that I was to go to Miss Poles at eleven oclock the number
eleven being written in full length as well as in numerals and AM twice
dashed under as if I were very likely to come at eleven at night when all
Cranford was usually abed and asleep by ten There was no signature except Miss
Poles initials reversed PE but as Martha bad given me the note with Miss
Poles kind regards it needed no wizard to find out who sent it and if the
writers name was to be kept secret it was very well that I was alone when
Martha delivered it
I went as requested to Miss Poles The door was opened to me by her little
maid Lizzy in Sunday trim as if some grand event was impending over this
workday And the drawingroom upstairs was arranged in accordance with this
idea The table was set out with the best green cardcloth and writing
materials upon it On the little chiffonier way a tray with a newlydecanted
bottle of cowslip wine and some ladiesfinger biscuits Miss Pole herself was
in solemn array as if to receive visitors although it was only eleven oclock
Mrs Forrester was there crying quietly and sadly and my arrival seemed only
to call forth fresh tears Before we had finished our greetings performed with
lugubrious mystery of demeanour there was another rattattat and Mrs
FitzAdam appeared crimson with walking and excitement It seemed as if this
was all the company expected for now Miss Pole made several demonstrations of
being about to open the business of the meeting by stirring the fire opening
and shutting the door and coughing and blowing her nose Then she arranged us
all round the table taking care to place me opposite to her and last of all
she inquired of me if the sad report was true as she feared it was that Miss
Matty had lost all her fortune
Of course I had but one answer to make and I never saw more unaffected
sorrow depicted on any countenances than I did there on the three before me
»I wish Mrs Jamieson was here« said Mrs Forrester at last but to judge
from Mrs FitzAdams face she could not second the wish
»But without Mrs Jamieson« said Miss Pole with just a sound of offended
merit in her voice »we the ladies of Cranford in my drawingroom assembled
can resolve upon something I imagine we are none of us what may be called rich
though we all possess a genteel competency sufficient for tastes that are
elegant and refined and would not if they could be vulgarly ostentatious«
Here I observed Miss Pole refer to a small card concealed in her hand on which
I imagine she had put down a few notes
»Miss Smith« she continued addressing me familiarly known as Mary to all
the company assembled but this was a state occasion »I have conversed in
private I made it my business to do so yesterday afternoon with these ladies
on the misfortune which has happened to our friend and one and all of us have
agreed that while we have a superfluity it is not only a duty but a pleasure
a true pleasure Mary« her voice was rather choked just here and she had to
wipe her spectacles before she could go on »to give what we can to assist her
Miss Matilda Jenkyns Only in consideration of the feelings of delicate
independence existing in the mind of every refined female« I was sure she had
got back to the card now »we wish to contribute our mites in a secret and
concealed manner so as not to hurt the feelings I have referred to And our
object in requesting you to meet us this morning is that believing you are the
daughter that your father is in fact her confidential adviser in all
pecuniary matters we imagined that by consulting with him you might devise
some mode in which our contribution could be made to appear the legal due which
Miss Matilda Jenkyns ought to receive from Probably your father knowing her
investments can fill up the blank«
Miss Pole concluded her address and looked round for approval and
agreement
»I have expressed your meaning ladies have I not And while Miss Smith
considers what reply to make allow me to offer you some little refreshment«
I had no great reply to make I had more thankfulness at my heart for their
kind thoughts than I cared to put into words and so I only mumbled out
something to the effect »that I would name what Miss Pole had said to my father
and that if anything could be arranged for dear Miss Matty« and here I broke
down utterly and had to be refreshed with a glass of cowslip wine before I
could check the crying which had been repressed for the last two or three days
The worst was all the ladies cried in concert Even Miss Pole cried who had
said a hundred times that to betray emotion before any one was a sign of
weakness and want of self-control She recovered herself into a slight degree of
impatient anger directed against me as having set them all off and moreover
I think she was vexed that I could not make a speech back in return for hers
and if I had known beforehand what was to be said and had a card on which to
express the probable feelings that would rise in my heart I would have tried to
gratify her As it was Mrs Forrester was the person to speak when we had
recovered our composure
»I dont mind among friends stating that I no Im not poor exactly but
I dont think Im what you may call rich I wish I were for dear Miss Mattys
sake but if you please Ill write down in a sealed paper what I can give I
only wish it was more my dear Mary I do indeed«
Now I saw why paper pens and ink were provided Every lady wrote down the
sum she could give annually signed the paper and sealed it mysteriously If
their proposal was acceded to my father was to be allowed to open the papers
under pledge of secrecy If not they were to be returned to their writers
When this ceremony had been gone through I rose to depart but each lady
seemed to wish to have a private conference with me Miss Pole kept me in the
drawingroom to explain why in Mrs Jamiesons absence she had taken the lead
in this movement as she was pleased to call it and also to inform me that she
had heard from good sources that Mrs Jamieson was coming home directly in a
state of high displeasure against her sisterinlaw who was forthwith to leave
her house and was she believed to return to Edinburgh that very afternoon Of
course this piece of intelligence could not be communicated before Mrs
FitzAdam more especially as Miss Pole was inclined to think that Lady
Glenmires engagement to Mr Hoggins could not possibly hold against the blaze
of Mrs Jamiesons displeasure A few hearty inquiries after Miss Mattys health
concluded my interview with Miss Pole
On coming downstairs I found Mrs Forrester waiting for me at the entrance
to the diningparlour she drew me in and when the door was shut she tried two
or three times to begin on some subject which was so unapproachable apparently
that I began to despair of our ever getting to a clear understanding At last
out it came the poor old lady trembling all the time as if it were a great
crime which she was exposing to daylight in telling me how very very little
she had to live upon a confession which she was brought to make from a dread
lest we should think that the small contribution named in her paper bore any
proportion to her love and regard for Miss Matty And yet that sum which she so
eagerly relinquished was in truth more than a twentieth part of what she had
to live upon and keep house and a little serving all as became one born a
Tyrrell And when the whole income does not nearly amount to a hundred pounds
to give up a twentieth of it will necessitate many careful economies and many
pieces of self-denial small and insignificant in the worlds account but
bearing a different value in another accountbook that I have heard of She did
so wish she was rich she said and this wish she kept repeating with no
thought of herself in it only with a longing yearning desire to be able to
heap up Miss Mattys measure of comforts
It was some time before I could console her enough to leave her and then
on quitting the house I was waylaid by Mrs FitzAdam who had also her
confidence to make of pretty nearly the opposite description She had not liked
to put down all that she could afford and was ready to give She told me she
thought she never could look Miss Matty in the face again if she presumed to be
giving her so much as she should like to do »Miss Matty« continued she »that
I thought was such a fine young lady when I was nothing but a country girl
coming to market with eggs and butter and such like things For my father
though welltodo would always make me go on as my mother had done before me
and I had to come into Cranford every Saturday and see after sales and prices
and what not And one day I remember I met Miss Matty in the lane that leads
to Combehurst she was walking on the footpath which you know is raised a
good way above the road and a gentleman rode beside her and was talking to
her and she was looking down at some primroses she had gathered and pulling
them all to pieces and I do believe she was crying But after she had passed
she turned round and ran after me to ask oh so kindly about my poor mother
who lay on her deathbed and when I cried she took hold of my hand to comfort
me and the gentleman waiting for her all the time and her poor heart very
full of something I am sure and I thought it such an honour to be spoken to in
that pretty way by the rectors daughter who visited at Arley Hall I have
loved her ever since though perhaps Id no right to do it but if you can think
of any way in which I might be allowed to give a little more without any one
knowing it I should be so much obliged to you my dear And my brother would be
delighted to doctor her for nothing medicines leeches and all I know that
he and her ladyship my dear I little thought in the days I was telling you of
that I should ever come to be sisterinlaw to a ladyship would do anything
for her We all would«
I told her I was quite sure of it and promised all sorts of things in my
anxiety to get home to Miss Matty who might well be wondering what had become
of me absent from her two hours without being able to account for it She had
taken very little note of time however as she had been occupied in numberless
little arrangements preparatory to the great step of giving up her house It was
evidently a relief to her to be doing something in the way of retrenchment for
as she said whenever she paused to think the recollection of the poor fellow
with his bad fivepound note came over her and she felt quite dishonest only
if it made her so uncomfortable what must it not be doing to the directors of
the bank who must know so much more of the misery consequent upon this failure
She almost made me angry by dividing her sympathy between these directors whom
she imagined overwhelmed by selfreproach for the mismanagement of other
peoples affairs and those who were suffering like her Indeed of the two she
seemed to think poverty a lighter burden than selfreproach but I privately
doubted if the directors would agree with her
Old hoards were taken out and examined as to their money value which
luckily was small or else I dont know how Miss Matty would have prevailed upon
herself to part with such things as her mothers weddingring the strange
uncouth brooch with which her father had disfigured his shirtfrill etc
However we arranged things a little in order as to their pecuniary estimation
and were all ready for my father when he came the next morning
I am not going to weary you with the details of all the business we went
through and one reason for not telling about them is that I did not understand
what we were doing at the time and cannot recollect it now Miss Matty and I
sat assenting to accounts and schemes and reports and documents of which I
do not believe we either of us understood a word for my father was clearheaded
and decisive and a capital man of business and if we made the slightest
inquiry or expressed the slightest want of comprehension he had a sharp way of
saying »Eh eh its as clear as daylight Whats your objection« And as we
had not comprehended anything of what he had proposed we found it rather
difficult to shape our objections in fact we never were sure if we had any So
presently Miss Matty got into a nervously acquiescent state and said »Yes« and
»Certainly« at every pause whether required or not but when I once joined in
as chorus to a »Decidedly« pronounced by Miss Matty in a tremblingly dubious
tone my father fired round at me and asked me »What there was to decide« And I
am sure to this day I have never known But in justice to him I must say he
had come over from Drumble to help Miss Matty when he could ill spare the time
and when his own affairs were in a very anxious state
While Miss Matty was out of the room giving orders for luncheon and sadly
perplexed between her desire of honouring my father by a delicate dainty meal
and her conviction that she had no right now that all her money was gone to
indulge this desire I told him of the meeting of the Cranford ladies at Miss
Poles the day before He kept brushing his hand before his eyes as I spoke
and when I went back to Marthas offer the evening before of receiving Miss
Matty as a lodger he fairly walked away from me to the window and began
drumming with his fingers upon it Then he turned abruptly round and said
»See Mary how a good innocent life makes friends all around Confound it I
could make a good lesson out of it if I were a parson but as it is I cant
get a tail to my sentences only Im sure you feel what I want to say You and
I will have a walk after lunch and talk a bit more about these plans«
The lunch a hot savoury muttonchop and a little of the cold lion sliced
and fried was now brought in Every morsel of this last dish was finished to
Marthas great gratification Then my father bluntly told Miss Matty he wanted
to talk to me alone and that he would stroll out and see some of the old
places and then I could tell her what plan we thought desirable Just before we
went out she called me back and said »Remember dear Im the only one left
I mean theres no one to be hurt by what I do Im willing to do anything
thats right and honest and I dont think if Deborah knows where she is
shell care so very much if Im not genteel because you see shell know all
dear Only let me see what I can do and pay the poor people as far as Im
able«
I gave her a hearty kiss and ran after my father The result of our
conversation was this If all parties were agreeable Martha and Jem were to be
married with as little delay as possible and they were to live on in Miss
Mattys present abode the sum which the Cranford ladies had agreed to
contribute annually being sufficient to meet the greater part of the rent and
leaving Martha free to appropriate what Miss Matty should pay for her lodgings
to any little extra comforts required About the sale my father was dubious at
first He said the old rectory furniture however carefully used and reverently
treated would fetch very little and that little would be but as a drop in the
sea of the debts of the Town and County Bank But when I represented how Miss
Mattys tender conscience would be soothed by feeling that she had done what she
could he gave way especially after I had told him the fivepound note
adventure and he had scolded me well for allowing it I then alluded to my idea
that she might add to her small income by selling tea and to my surprise for
I had nearly given up the plan my father grasped at it with all the energy of
a tradesman I think he reckoned his chickens before they were hatched for he
immediately ran up the profits of the sales that she could effect in Cranford to
more than twenty pounds a year The small diningparlour was to be converted
into a shop without any of its degrading characteristics a table was to be the
counter one window was to be retained unaltered and the other changed into a
glass door I evidently rose in his estimation for having made this bright
suggestion I only hoped we should not both fall in Miss Mattys
But she was patient and content with all our arrangements She knew she
said that we should do the best we could for her and she only hoped only
stipulated that she should pay every farthing that she could be said to owe
for her fathers sake who had been so respected in Cranford My father and I
had agreed to say as little as possible about the bank indeed never to mention
it again if it could be helped Some of the plans were evidently a little
perplexing to her but she had seen me sufficiently snubbed in the morning for
want of comprehension to venture on too many inquiries now and all passed over
well with a hope on her part that no one would be hurried into marriage on her
account When we came to the proposal that she should sell tea I could see it
was rather a shock to her not on account of any personal loss of gentility
involved but only because she distrusted her own powers of action in a new line
of life and would timidly have preferred a little more privation to any
exertion for which she feared she was unfitted However when she saw my father
was bent upon it she sighed and said she would try and if she did not do
well of course she might give it up One good thing about it was she did not
think men ever bought tea and it was of men particularly she was afraid They
had such sharp loud ways with them and did up accounts and counted their
change so quickly Now if she might only sell comfits to children she was sure
she could please them
Chapter XV
A Happy Return
Before I left Miss Matty at Cranford everything had been comfortably arranged
for her Even Mrs Jamiesons approval of her selling tea had been gained That
oracle had taken a few days to consider whether by so doing Miss Matty would
forfeit her right to the privileges of society in Cranford I think she had some
little idea of mortifying Lady Glenmire by the decision she gave at last which
was to this effect that whereas a married woman takes her husbands rank by the
strict laws of precedence an unmarried woman retains the station her father
occupied So Cranford was allowed to visit Miss Matty and whether allowed or
not it intended to visit Lady Glenmire
But what was our surprise our dismay when we learnt that Mr and Mrs
Hoggins were returning on the following Tuesday Mrs Hoggins Had she
absolutely dropped her title and so in a spirit of bravado cut the
aristocracy to become a Hoggins She who might have been called Lady Glenmire
to her dying day Mrs Jamieson was pleased She said it only convinced her of
what she had known from the first that the creature had a low taste But the
creature looked very happy on Sunday at church nor did we see it necessary to
keep our veils down on that side of our bonnets on which Mr and Mrs Hoggins
sat as Mrs Jamieson did thereby missing all the smiling glory of his face
and all the becoming blushes of hers I am not sure if Martha and Jem looked
more radiant in the afternoon when they too made their first appearance Mrs
Jamieson soothed the turbulence of her soul by having the blinds of her windows
drawn down as if for a funeral on the day when Mr and Mrs Hoggins received
callers and it was with some difficulty that she was prevailed upon to continue
the St Jamess Chronicle so indignant was she with its having inserted the
announcement of the marriage
Miss Mattys sale went off famously She retained the furniture of her
sittingroom and bedroom the former of which she was to occupy till Martha
could meet with a lodger who might wish to take it and into this sittingroom
and bedroom she had to cram all sorts of things which were the auctioneer
assured her bought in for her at the sale by an unknown friend I always
suspected Mrs FitzAdam of this but she must have had an accessory who knew
what articles were particularly regarded by Miss Matty on account of their
associations with her early days The rest of the house looked rather bare to
be sure all except one tiny bedroom of which my father allowed me to purchase
the furniture for my occasional use in case of Miss Mattys illness
I had expended my own small store in buying all manner of comfits and
lozenges in order to tempt the little people whom Miss Matty loved so much to
come about her Tea in bright green canisters and comfits in tumblers Miss
Matty and I felt quite proud as we looked round us on the evening before the
shop was to be opened Martha had scoured the boarded floor to a white
cleanness and it was adorned with a brilliant piece of oilcloth on which
customers were to stand before the tablecounter The wholesome smell of plaster
and whitewash pervaded the apartment A very small »Matilda Jenkyns licensed to
sell tea« was hidden under the lintel of the new door and two boxes of tea
with cabalistic inscriptions all over them stood ready to disgorge their
contents into the canisters
Miss Matty as I ought to have mentioned before had had some scruples of
conscience at selling tea when there was already Mr Johnson in the town who
included it among his numerous commodities and before she could quite
reconcile herself to the adoption of her new business she had trotted down to
his shop unknown to me to tell him of the project that was entertained and to
inquire if it was likely to injure his business My father called this idea of
hers »great nonsense« and »wondered how tradespeople were to get on if there
was to be a continual consulting of each others interests which would put a
stop to all competition directly« And perhaps it would not have done in
Drumble but in Cranford it answered very well for not only did Mr Johnson
kindly put at rest all Miss Mattys scruples and fear of injuring his business
but I have reason to know he repeatedly sent customers to her saying that the
teas he kept were of a common kind but that Miss Jenkyns had all the choice
sorts And expensive tea is a very favourite luxury with welltodo tradespeople
and rich farmers wives who turn up their noses at the Congou and Souchong
prevalent at many tables of gentility and will have nothing else than Gunpowder
and Pekoe for themselves
But to return to Miss Matty It was really very pleasant to see how her
unselfishness and simple sense of justice called out the same good qualities in
others She never seemed to think any one would impose upon her because she
should be so grieved to do it to them I have heard her put a stop to the
asseverations of the man who brought her coals by quietly saying »I am sure you
would be sorry to bring me wrong weight« and if the coals were short measure
that time I dont believe they ever were again People would have felt as much
ashamed of presuming on her good faith as they would have done on that of a
child But my father says »such simplicity might be very well in Cranford but
would never do in the world« And I fancy the world must be very bad for with
all my fathers suspicion of every one with whom he has dealings and in spite
of all his many precautions he lost upwards of a thousand pounds by roguery
only last year
I just stayed long enough to establish Miss Matty in her new mode of life
and to pack up the library which the rector had purchased He had written a
very kind letter to Miss Matty saying »how glad he should be to take a library
so well selected as he knew that the late Mr Jenkynss must have been at any
valuation put upon them« And when she agreed to this with a touch of sorrowful
gladness that they would go back to the rectory and be arranged on the
accustomed walls once more he sent word that he feared that he had not room for
them all and perhaps Miss Matty would kindly allow him to leave some volumes on
her shelves But Miss Matty said that she had her Bible and »Johnsons
Dictionary« and should not have much time for reading she was afraid still I
retained a few books out of consideration for the rectors kindness
The money which he had paid and that produced by the sale was partly
expended in the stock of tea and part of it was invested against a rainy day
ie old age or illness It was but a small sum it is true and it occasioned
a few evasions of truth and white lies all of which I think very wrong indeed
in theory and would rather not put them in practice for we knew Miss Matty
would be perplexed as to her duty if she were aware of any little reservefund
being made for her while the debts of the bank remained unpaid Moreover she
had never been told of the way in which her friends were contributing to pay the
rent I should have liked to tell her this but the mystery of the affair gave a
piquancy to their deed of kindness which the ladies were unwilling to give up
and at first Martha had to shirk many a perplexed question as to her ways and
means of living in such a house but byandby Miss Mattys prudent uneasiness
sank down into acquiescence with the existing arrangement
I left Miss Matty with a good heart Her sales of tea during the first two
days had surpassed my most sanguine expectations The whole country round seemed
to be all out of tea at once The only alteration I could have desired in Miss
Mattys way of doing business was that she should not have so plaintively
entreated some of her customers not to buy green tea running it down as slow
poison sure to destroy the nerves and produce all manner of evil Their
pertinacity in taking it in spite of all her warnings distressed her so much
that I really thought she would relinquish the sale of it and so lose half her
custom and I was driven to my wits end for instances of longevity entirely
attributable to a persevering use of green tea But the final argument which
settled the question was a happy reference of mine to the trainoil and tallow
candles which the Esquimaux not only enjoy but digest After that she
acknowledged that »one mans meat might be another mans poison« and contented
herself thenceforward with an occasional remonstrance when she thought the
purchaser was too young and innocent to be acquainted with the evil effects
green tea produced on some constitutions and an habitual sigh when people old
enough to choose more wisely would prefer it
I went over from Drumble once a quarter at least to settle the accounts and
see after the necessary business letters And speaking of letters I began to
be very much ashamed of remembering my letter to the Aga Jenkyns and very glad
I had never named my writing to any one I only hoped the letter was lost No
answer came No sign was made
About a year after Miss Matty set up shop I received one of Marthas
hieroglyphics begging me to come to Cranford very soon I was afraid that Miss
Matty was ill and went off that very afternoon and took Martha by surprise
when she saw me on opening the door We went into the kitchen as usual to have
our confidential conference and then Martha told me she was expecting her
confinement very soon in a week or two and she did not think Miss Matty was
aware of it and she wanted me to break the news to her »for indeed miss«
continued Martha crying hysterically »Im afraid she wont approve of it and
Im sure I dont know who is to take care of her as she should be taken care of
when I am laid up«
I comforted Martha by telling her I would remain till she was about again
and only wished she had told me her reason for this sudden summons as then I
would have brought the requisite stock of clothes But Martha was so tearful and
tenderspirited and unlike her usual self that I said as little as possible
about myself and endeavoured rather to comfort Martha under all the probable
and possible misfortunes which came crowding upon her imagination
I then stole out of the housedoor and made my appearance as if I were a
customer in the shop just to take Miss Matty by surprise and gain an idea of
how she looked in her new situation It was warm May weather so only the little
halfdoor was closed and Miss Matty sat behind her counter knitting an
elaborate pair of garters elaborate they seemed to me but the difficult stitch
was no weight upon her mind for she was singing in a low voice to herself as
her needles went rapidly in and out I call it singing but I dare say a
musician would not use that word to the tuneless yet sweet humming of the low
worn voice I found out from the words far more than from the attempt at the
tune that it was the Old Hundredth she was crooning to herself but the quiet
continuous sound told of content and gave me a pleasant feeling as I stood in
the street just outside the door quite in harmony with that soft May morning I
went in At first she did not catch who it was and stood up as if to serve me
but in another minute watchful pussy had clutched her knitting which was
dropped in eager joy at seeing me I found after we had had a little
conversation that it was as Martha said and that Miss Matty had no idea of the
approaching household event So I thought I would let things take their course
secure that when I went to her with the baby in my arms I should obtain that
forgiveness for Martha which she was needlessly frightening herself into
believing that Miss Matty would withhold under some notion that the new
claimant would require attentions from its mother that it would be faithless
treason to Miss Matty to render
But I was right I think that must be an hereditary quality for my father
says he is scarcely ever wrong One morning within a week after I arrived I
went to call Miss Matty with a little bundle of flannel in my arms She was
very much awestruck when I showed her what it was and asked for her spectacles
off the dressingtable and looked at it curiously with a sort of tender wonder
at its small perfection of parts. She could not banish the thought of the
surprise all day but went about on tiptoe and was very silent But she stole
up to see Martha and they both cried with joy and she got into a complimentary
speech to Jem and did not know how to get out of it again and was only
extricated from her dilemma by the sound of the shopbell which was an equal
relief to the shy proud honest Jem who shook my hand so vigorously when I
congratulated him that I think I feel the pain of it yet
I had a busy life while Martha was laid up I attended on Miss Matty and
prepared her meals I cast up her accounts and examined into the state of her
canisters and tumblers I helped her too occasionally in the shop and it
gave me no small amusement and sometimes a little uneasiness to watch her ways
there If a little child came in to ask for an ounce of almondcomfits and four
of the large kind which Miss Matty sold weighed that much she always added one
more by way of makeweight as she called it although the scale was handsomely
turned before and when I remonstrated against this her reply was »The little
things like it so much« There was no use in telling her that the fifth comfit
weighed a quarter of an ounce and made every sale into a loss to her pocket So
I remembered the green tea and winged my shaft with a feather out of her own
plumage I told her how unwholesome almondcomfits were and how ill excess in
them might make the little children This argument produced some effect for
henceforward instead of the fifth comfit she always told them to hold out
their tiny palms into which she shook either peppermint or ginger lozenges as
a preventive to the dangers that might arise from the previous sale Altogether
the lozenge trade conducted on these principles, did not promise to be
remunerative but I was happy to find she had made more than twenty pounds
during the last year by her sales of tea and moreover that now she was
accustomed to it she did not dislike the employment which brought her into
kindly intercourse with many of the people round about If she gave them good
weight they in their turn brought many a little country present to the old
rectors daughter a cream cheese a few newlaid eggs a little fresh ripe
fruit a bunch of flowers The counter was quite loaded with these offerings
sometimes as she told me
As for Cranford in general it was going on much as usual The Jamieson and
Hoggins feud still raged if a feud it could be called when only one side cared
much about it Mr and Mrs Hoggins were very happy together and like most
very happy people quite ready to be friendly indeed Mrs Hoggins was really
desirous to be restored to Mrs Jamiesons good graces because of the former
intimacy But Mrs Jamieson considered their very happiness an insult to the
Glenmire family to which she had still the honour to belong and she doggedly
refused and rejected every advance Mr Mulliner like a faithful clansman
espoused his mistress side with ardour If he saw either Mr or Mrs Hoggins
he would cross the street and appear absorbed in the contemplation of life in
general and his own path in particular until he had passed them by Miss Pole
used to amuse herself with wondering what in the world Mrs Jamieson would do
if either she or Mr Mulliner or any other member of her household was taken
ill she could hardly have the face to call in Mr Hoggins after the way she had
behaved to them Miss Pole grew quite impatient for some indisposition or
accident to befall Mrs Jamieson or her dependants in order that Cranford might
see how she would act under the perplexing circumstances
Martha was beginning to go about again and I had already fixed a limit not
very far distant to my visit when one afternoon as I was sitting in the
shopparlour with Miss Matty I remember the weather was colder now than it had
been in May three weeks before and we had a fire and kept the door fully
closed we saw a gentleman go slowly past the window and then stand opposite
to the door as if looking out for the name which we had so carefully hidden He
took out a double eyeglass and peered about for some time before he could
discover it Then he came in And all on a sudden it flashed across me that it
was the Aga himself For his clothes had an outoftheway foreign cut about
them and his face was deep brown as if tanned and retanned by the sun His
complexion contrasted oddly with his plentiful snowwhite hair his eyes were
dark and piercing and he had an odd way of contracting them and puckering up
his cheeks into innumerable wrinkles when he looked earnestly at objects He did
so to Miss Matty when he first came in His glance had first caught and lingered
a little upon me but then turned with the peculiar searching look I have
described to Miss Matty She was a little fluttered and nervous but no more so
than she always was when any man came into her shop She thought that he would
probably have a note or a sovereign at least for which she would have to give
change which was an operation she very much disliked to perform But the
present customer stood opposite to her without asking for anything only
looking fixedly at her as he drummed upon the table with his fingers just for
all the world as Miss Jenkyns used to do Miss Matty was on the point of asking
him what he wanted as she told me afterwards when he turned sharp to me »Is
your name Mary Smith«
»Yes« said I
All my doubts as to his identity were set at rest and I only wondered what
he would say or do next and how Miss Matty would stand the joyful shock of what
he had to reveal Apparently he was at a loss how to announce himself for he
looked round at last in search of something to buy so as to gain time and as
it happened his eye caught on the almondcomfits and he boldly asked for a
pound of those things I doubt if Miss Matty had a whole pound in the shop and
besides the unusual magnitude of the order she was distressed with the idea of
the indigestion they would produce taken in such unlimited quantities She
looked up to remonstrate Something of tender relaxation in his face struck home
to her heart She said »It is oh sir can you be Peter« and trembled from
head to foot In a moment he was round the table and had her in his arms
sobbing the tearless cries of old age I brought her a glass of wine for indeed
her colour had changed so as to alarm me and Mr Peter too He kept saying »I
have been too sudden for you Matty I have my little girl«
I proposed that she should go at once up into the drawingroom and lie down
on the sofa there She looked wistfully at her brother whose hand she had held
tight even when nearly fainting but on his assuring her that he would not
leave her she allowed him to carry her upstairs
I thought that the best I could do was to run and put the kettle on the fire
for early tea and then to attend to the shop leaving the brother and sister to
exchange some of the many thousand things they must have to say I had also to
break the news to Martha who received it with a burst of tears which nearly
infected me She kept recovering herself to ask if I was sure it was indeed Miss
Mattys brother for I had mentioned that he had grey hair and she had always
heard that he was a very handsome young man Something of the same kind
perplexed Miss Matty at teatime when she was installed in the great easychair
opposite to Mr Jenkynss in order to gaze her fill She could hardly drink for
looking at him and as for eating that was out of the question
»I suppose hot climates age people very quickly« said she almost to
herself »When you left Cranford you had not a grey hair in your head«
»But how many years ago is that« said Mr Peter smiling
»Ah true yes I suppose you and I are getting old But still I did not
think we were so very old But white hair is very becoming to you Peter« she
continued a little afraid lest she had hurt him by revealing how his
appearance had impressed her
»I suppose I forgot dates too Matty for what do you think I have brought
for you from India I have an Indian muslin gown and a pearl necklace for you
somewhere in my chest at Portsmouth« He smiled as if amused at the idea of the
incongruity of his presents with the appearance of his sister but this did not
strike her all at once while the elegance of the articles did I could see that
for a moment her imagination dwelt complacently on the idea of herself thus
attired and instinctively she put her hand up to her throat that little
delicate throat which as Miss Pole had told me had been one of her youthful
charms but the hand met the touch of folds of soft muslin in which she was
always swathed up to her chin and the sensation recalled a sense of the
unsuitableness of a pearl necklace to her age She said »Im afraid Im too
old but it was very kind of you to think of it They are just what I should
have liked years ago when I was young«
»So I thought my little Matty I remembered your tastes they were so like
my dear mothers« At the mention of that name the brother and sister clasped
each others hands yet more fondly and although they were perfectly silent I
fancied they might have something to say if they were unchecked by my presence
and I got up to arrange my room for Mr Peters occupation that night intending
myself to share Miss Mattys bed But at my movement he started up »I must go
and settle about a room at the George My carpetbag is there too«
»No« said Miss Matty in great distress »you must not go please dear
Peter pray Mary oh you must not go«
She was so much agitated that we both promised everything she wished Peter
sat down again and gave her his hand which for better security she held in both
of hers and I left the room to accomplish my arrangements
Long long into the night far far into the morning did Miss Matty and I
talk She had much to tell me of her brothers life and adventures which he had
communicated to her as they had sat alone She said all was thoroughly clear to
her but I never quite understood the whole story and when in after days I lost
my awe of Mr Peter enough to question him myself he laughed at my curiosity
and told me stories that sounded so very much like Baron Munchausens that I
was sure he was making fun of me What I heard from Miss Matty was that he had
been a volunteer at the siege of Rangoon had been taken prisoner by the
Burmese had somehow obtained favour and eventual freedom from knowing how to
bleed the chief of the small tribe in some case of dangerous illness that on
his release from years of captivity he had had his letters returned from England
with the ominous word Dead marked upon them and believing himself to be the
last of his race he had settled down as an indigo planter and had proposed to
spend the remainder of his life in the country to whose inhabitants and modes of
life he had become habituated when my letter had reached him and with the odd
vehemence which characterised him in age as it had done in youth he had sold
his land and all his possessions to the first purchaser and come home to the
poor old sister who was more glad and rich than any princess when she looked at
him She talked me to sleep at last and then I was awakened by a slight sound
at the door for which she begged my pardon as she crept penitently into bed
but it seems that when I could no longer confirm her belief that the longlost
was really here under the same roof she had begun to fear lest it was only a
waking dream of hers that there never had been a Peter sitting by her all that
blessed evening but that the real Peter lay dead far away beneath some wild
seawave or under some strange eastern tree And so strong had this nervous
feeling of hers become that she was fain to get up and go and convince herself
that he was really there by listening through the door to his even regular
breathing I dont like to call it snoring but I heard it myself through two
closed doors and byandby it soothed Miss Matty to sleep
I dont believe Mr Peter came home from India as rich as a nabob he even
considered himself poor but neither he nor Miss Matty cared much about that At
any rate he had enough to live upon very genteelly at Cranford he and Miss
Matty together And a day or two after his arrival the shop was closed while
troops of little urchins gleefully awaited the shower of comfits and lozenges
that came from time to time down upon their faces as they stood upgazing at
Miss Mattys drawingroom windows Occasionally Miss Matty would say to them
halfhidden behind the curtains »My dear children dont make yourselves
ill« but a strong arm pulled her back and a more rattling shower than ever
succeeded A part of the tea was sent in presents to the Cranford ladies and
some of it was distributed among the old people who remembered Mr Peter in the
days of his frolicsome youth The India muslin gown was reserved for darling
Flora Gordon Miss Jessie Browns daughter The Gordons had been on the
Continent for the last few years but were now expected to return very soon and
Miss Matty in her sisterly pride anticipated great delight in the joy of
showing them Mr Peter The pearl necklace disappeared and about that time many
handsome and useful presents made their appearance in the households of Miss
Pole and Mrs Forrester and some rare and delicate Indian ornaments graced the
drawingrooms of Mrs Jamieson and Mrs FitzAdam I myself was not forgotten
Among other things I had the handsomestbound and best edition of Dr Johnsons
works that could be procured and dear Miss Matty with tears in her eyes
begged me to consider it as a present from her sister as well as herself In
short no one was forgotten and what was more every one however
insignificant who had shown kindness to Miss Matty at any time was sure of Mr
Peters cordial regard
Chapter XVI
Peace to Cranford
It was not surprising that Mr Peter became such a favourite at Cranford The
ladies vied with each other who should admire him most and no wonder for their
quiet lives were astonishingly stirred up by the arrival from India especially
as the person arrived told more wonderful stories than Sindbad the Sailor and
as Miss Pole said was quite as good as an Arabian Night any evening For my own
part I had vibrated all my life between Drumble and Cranford and I thought it
was quite possible that all Mr Peters stories might be true although
wonderful but when I found that if we swallowed an anecdote of tolerable
magnitude one week we had the dose considerably increased the next I began to
have my doubts especially as I noticed that when his sister was present the
accounts of Indian life were comparatively tame not that she knew more than we
did perhaps less I noticed also that when the rector came to call Mr Peter
talked in a different way about the countries he had been in But I dont think
the ladies in Cranford would have considered him such a wonderful traveller if
they had only heard him talk in the quiet way he did to him They liked him the
better indeed for being what they called so very Oriental
One day at a select party in his honour which Miss Pole gave and from
which as Mrs Jamieson honoured it with her presence and had even offered to
send Mr Mulliner to wait Mr and Mrs Hoggins and Mrs FitzAdam were
necessarily excluded one day at Miss Poles Mr Peter said he was tired of
sitting upright against the hardbacked uneasy chairs and asked if he might not
indulge himself in sitting crosslegged Miss Poles consent was eagerly given
and down he went with the utmost gravity But when Miss Pole asked me in an
audible whisper »if he did not remind me of the Father of the Faithful« I
could not help thinking of poor Simon Jones the lame tailor and while Mrs
Jamieson slowly commented on the elegance and convenience of the attitude I
remembered how we had all followed that ladys lead in condemning Mr Hoggins
for vulgarity because he simply crossed his legs as he sat still on his chair
Many of Mr Peters ways of eating were a little strange amongst such ladies as
Miss Pole and Miss Matty and Mrs Jamieson especially when I recollected the
untasted green peas and twopronged forks at poor Mr Holbrooks dinner
The mention of that gentlemans name recalls to my mind a conversation
between Mr Peter and Miss Matty one evening in the summer after he returned to
Cranford The day had been very hot and Miss Matty had been much oppressed by
the weather in the heat of which her brother revelled I remember that she had
been unable to nurse Marthas baby which had become her favourite employment of
late and which was as much at home in her arms as in its mothers as long as
it remained a lightweight portable by one so fragile as Miss Matty This day
to which I refer Miss Matty had seemed more than usually feeble and languid
and only revived when the sun went down and her sofa was wheeled to the open
window through which although it looked into the principal street of Cranford
the fragrant smell of the neighbouring hayfields came in every now and then
borne by the soft breezes that stirred the dull air of the summer twilight and
then died away The silence of the sultry atmosphere was lost in the murmuring
noises which came in from many an open window and door even the children were
abroad in the street late as it was between ten and eleven enjoying the game
of play for which they had not had spirits during the heat of the day It was a
source of satisfaction to Miss Matty to see how few candles were lighted even
in the apartments of those houses from which issued the greatest signs of life
Mr Peter Miss Matty and I had all been quiet each with a separate reverie
for some little time when Mr Peter broke in
»Do you know little Matty I could have sworn you were on the high road to
matrimony when I left England that last time If anybody had told me you would
have lived and died an old maid then I should have laughed in their faces«
Miss Matty made no reply and I tried in vain to think of some subject which
should effectually turn the conversation but I was very stupid and before I
spoke he went on
»It was Holbrook that fine manly fellow who lived at Woodley that I used
to think would carry off my little Matty You would not think it now I dare
say Mary but this sister of mine was once a very pretty girl at least I
thought so and so Ive a notion did poor Holbrook What business had he to die
before I came home to thank him for all his kindness to a goodfornothing cub
as I was It was that that made me first think he cared for you for in all our
fishing expeditions it was Matty Matty we talked about Poor Deborah What a
lecture she read me on having asked him home to lunch one day when she had seen
the Arley carriage in the town and thought that my lady might call Well
thats long years ago more than half a lifetime and yet if seems like
yesterday I dont know a fellow I should have liked better as a brotherinlaw
You must have played your cards badly my little Matty somehow or another
wanted your brother to be a good gobetween eh little one« said he putting
out his hand to take hold of hers as she lay on the sofa »Why whats this
youre shivering and shaking Matty with that confounded open window Shut it
Mary this minute«
I did so and then stooped down to kiss Miss Matty and see if she really
were chilled She caught at my hand and gave it a hard squeeze but
unconsciously I think for in a minute or two she spoke to us quite in her
usual voice and smiled our uneasiness away although she patiently submitted to
the prescriptions we enforced of a warm bed and a glass of weak negus I was to
leave Cranford the next day and before I went I saw that all the effects of the
open window had quite vanished I had superintended most of the alterations
necessary in the house and household during the latter weeks of my stay The
shop was once more a parlour the empty resounding rooms again furnished up to
the very garrets
There had been some talk of establishing Martha and Jem in another house
but Miss Matty would not hear of this Indeed I never saw her so much roused as
when Miss Pole had assumed it to be the most desirable arrangement As long as
Martha would remain with Miss Matty Miss Matty was only too thankful to have
her about her yes and Jem too who was a very pleasant man to have in the
house for she never saw him from weeks end to weeks end And as for the
probable children if they would all turn out such little darlings as her
goddaughter Matilda she should not mind the number if Martha didnt
Besides the next was to be called Deborah a point which Miss Matty had
reluctantly yielded to Marthas stubborn determination that her firstborn was
to be Matilda So Miss Pole had to lower her colours and even her voice as she
said to me that as Mr and Mrs Hearn were still to go on living in the same
house with Miss Matty we had certainly done a wise thing in hiring Marthas
niece as an auxiliary
I left Miss Matty and Mr Peter most comfortable and contented the only
subject for regret to the tender heart of the one and the social friendly
nature of the other being the unfortunate quarrel between Mrs Jamieson and the
plebeian Hogginses and their following In joke I prophesied one day that this
would only last until Mrs Jamieson or Mr Mulliner were ill in which case they
would only be too glad to be friends with Mr Hoggins but Miss Matty did not
like my looking forward to anything like illness in so light a manner and
before the year was out all had come round in a far more satisfactory way
I received two Cranford letters on one auspicious October morning Both Miss
Pole and Miss Matty wrote to ask me to come over and meet the Gordons who had
returned to England alive and well with their two children now almost grown up
Dear Jessie Brown had kept her old kind nature although she had changed her
name and station and she wrote to say that she and Major Gordon expected to be
in Cranford on the fourteenth and she hoped and begged to be remembered to Mrs
Jamieson named first as became her honourable station Miss Pole and Miss
Matty could she ever forget their kindness to her poor father and sister
Mrs Forrester Mr Hoggins and here again came in an allusion to kindness
shown to the dead long ago his new wife who as such must allow Mrs Gordon to
desire to make her acquaintance and who was moreover an old Scotch friend of
her husbands In short every one was named from the rector who had been
appointed to Cranford in the interim between Captain Browns death and Miss
Jessies marriage and was now associated with the latter event down to Miss
Betsy Barker All were asked to the luncheon all except Mrs FitzAdam who had
come to live in Cranford since Miss Jessie Browns days and whom I found rather
moping on account of the omission People wondered at Miss Betty Barkers being
included in the honourable list but then as Miss Pole said we must remember
the disregard of the genteel proprieties of life in which the poor captain had
educated his girls and for his sake we swallowed our pride Indeed Mrs
Jamieson rather took it as a compliment as putting Miss Betty formerly her
maid on a level with those Hogginses
But when I arrived in Cranford nothing was as yet ascertained of Mrs
Jamiesons own intentions would the honourable lady go or would she not Mr
Peter declared that she should and she would Miss Pole shook her head and
desponded But Mr Peter was a man of resources In the first place he
persuaded Miss Matty to write to Mrs Gordon and to tell her of Mrs
FitzAdams existence, and to beg that one so kind and cordial and generous
might be included in the pleasant invitation An answer came back by return of
post with a pretty little note for Mrs FitzAdam and a request that Miss
Matty would deliver it herself and explain the previous omission Mrs FitzAdam
was as pleased as could be and thanked Miss Matty over and over again Mr
Peter had said »Leave Mrs Jamieson to me« so we did especially as we knew
nothing that we could do to alter her determination if once formed
I did not know nor did Miss Matty how things were going on until Miss
Pole asked me just the day before Mrs Gordon came if I thought there was
anything between Mr Peter and Mrs Jamieson in the matrimonial line for that
Mrs Jamieson was really going to the lunch at the George She had sent Mr
Mulliner down to desire that there might be a footstool put to the warmest seat
in the room as she meant to come and knew that their chairs were very high
Miss Pole had picked this piece of news up and from it she conjectured all
sorts of things and bemoaned yet more »If Peter should marry what would
become of poor dear Miss Matty And Mrs Jamieson of all people« Miss Pole
seemed to think there were other ladies in Cranford who would have done more
credit to his choice and I think she must have had some one who was unmarried
in her head for she kept saying »It was so wanting in delicacy in a widow to
think of such a thing«
When I got back to Miss Mattys I really did begin to think that Mr Peter
might be thinking of Mrs Jamieson for a wife and I was as unhappy as Miss Pole
about it He had the proof sheet of a great placard in his hand »Signor
Brunoni Magician to the King of Delhi the Rajah of Oude and the great Lama of
Thibet« etc etc was going to perform in Cranford for one night only the
very next night and Miss Matty exultant showed me a letter from the Gordons
promising to remain over this gaiety which Miss Matty said was entirely Peters
doing He had written to ask the signor to come and was to be at all the
expenses of the affair Tickets were to be sent gratis to as many as the room
would hold In short Miss Matty was charmed with the plan and said that
tomorrow Cranford would remind her of the Preston Guild to which she had been
in her youth a luncheon at the George with the dear Gordons and the signor
in the Assembly Room in the evening But I I looked only at the fatal words
»Under the Patronage of the
HONOURABLE MRS JAMIESON«
She then was chosen to preside over this entertainment of Mr Peters she was
perhaps going to displace my dear Miss Matty in his heart and make her life
lonely once more I could not look forward to the morrow with any pleasure and
every innocent anticipation of Miss Mattys only served to add to my annoyance
So angry and irritated and exaggerated every little incident which could
add to my irritation I went on till we were all assembled in the great parlour
at the George Major and Mrs Gordon and pretty Flora and Mr Ludovic were all
as bright and handsome and friendly as could be but I could hardly attend to
them for watching Mr Peter and I saw that Miss Pole was equally busy I had
never seen Mrs Jamieson so roused and animated before her face looked full of
interest in what Mr Peter was saying I drew near to listen My relief was
great when I caught that his words were not words of love but that for all his
grave face he was at his old tricks He was telling her of his travels in
India and describing the wonderful height of the Himalaya mountains one touch
after another added to their size and each exceeded the former in absurdity
but Mrs Jamieson really enjoyed all in perfect good faith I suppose she
required strong stimulants to excite her to come out of her apathy Mr Peter
wound up his account by saying that of course at that altitude there were none
of the animals to be found that existed in the lower regions the game
everything was different Firing one day at some flying creature he was very
much dismayed when it fell to find that he had shot a cherubim Mr Peter
caught my eye at this moment and gave me such a funny twinkle that I felt sure
he had no thoughts of Mrs Jamieson as a wife from that time She looked
uncomfortably amazed
»But Mr Peter shooting a cherubim dont you think I am afraid that
was sacrilege«
Mr Peter composed his countenance in a moment and appeared shocked at the
idea which as he said truly enough was now presented to him for the first
time but then Mrs Jamieson must remember that he had been living for a long
time among savages all of whom were heathens some of them he was afraid
were downright Dissenters Then seeing Miss Matty draw near he hastily changed
the conversation and after a little while turning to me he said »Dont be
shocked prim little Mary at all my wonderful stories I consider Mrs Jamieson
fair game and besides I am bent on propitiating her and the first step towards
it is keeping her well awake I bribed her here by asking her to let me have her
name as patroness for my poor conjuror this evening and I dont want to give
her time enough to get up her rancour against the Hogginses who are just coming
in I want everybody to be friends for it harasses Matty so much to hear of
these quarrels I shall go at it again byandby so you need not look shocked
I intend to enter the Assembly Room tonight with Mrs Jamieson on one side and
my lady Mrs Hoggins on the other You see if I dont«
Somehow or another he did and fairly got them into conversation together
Major and Mrs Gordon helped at the good work with their perfect ignorance of
any existing coolness between any of the inhabitants of Cranford
Ever since that day there has been the old friendly sociability in Cranford
society which I am thankful for because of my dear Miss Mattys love of peace
and kindliness We all love Miss Matty and I somehow think we are all of us
better when she is near us