Cranford

Miss Matty’s Etiquette Perplexity

Miss Matty struggles to recall how Lady Arley was addressed, removing and replacing her spectacles in vain. She admits she barely saw Lady Arley more than twice and laments that her sister Deborah would have known immediately. The narrator learns from Miss Pole that Lady Glenmire is the widow of Mrs Jamieson’s eldest brother, and Miss Pole asks to practice the correct form on the narrator before attempting it with the real lady.

Mrs Jamieson’s Exclusion Request

Mrs Jamieson arrives at Miss Matty’s on what the narrator considers an unpolite errand. With slow deliberation, she insinuates that she does not wish the Cranford ladies to call on her sister-in-law, apparently wishing to present herself to her noble relation as someone who only visited “county” families. Miss Matty, slow to grasp the implication, eventually understands the snub.

Miss Pole’s Indignant Reaction

Miss Pole returns red and indignant after encountering Mrs Jamieson on the road, where Mrs Jamieson had informed her of the same exclusion. Miss Pole fumes at being caught speechless and researches Lady Glenmire in Mrs Forrester’s Peerage, dismissing her as merely the widow of a poor Scottish baron and the daughter of a Mr Campbell. She vents further when it emerges she had already ordered a new cap for a card game at Mrs Jamieson’s, which she will now deny her.

Cranford Ladies Avoid Lady Glenmire at Church

On the first Sunday Lady Glenmire appears in Cranford, the Cranford ladies deliberately stand together coming out of church and turn their backs on Mrs Jamieson and her guest. Though consumed by curiosity about Lady Glenmire’s appearance, they refuse to look at her and instead question the servant Martha in the afternoon. Martha’s lively description compares the small, sharp-faced lady with bright black eyes to the landlady at the Coach and Horses, prompting Miss Pole’s tart correction: “Lady,” not “Mrs Deacon.”

Mrs Jamieson’s Party Invitation

After a second Sunday of pointedly ignoring Mrs Jamieson and Lady Glenmire, Mrs Jamieson inexplicably reverses her stance and sends out party invitations for the following Tuesday, delivered ceremoniously by her servant Mr Mulliner, who insists on using the front door and carries the notes in a large basket to emphasize their importance.

Decision to Accept the Party Invitation

Miss Matty and the narrator initially plan to decline on the pretext of Miss Matty’s regular Tuesday candle-lighting of weekly bills and letters. However, Miss Pole arrives, argues that accepting would prevent Mrs Jamieson from thinking her remarks had caused offence, and reminds Miss Matty of her duty as a clergyman’s daughter. Miss Pole, also eager to display a smart new cap, persuades Miss Matty to accept, and a gracious reply is sent.

Cranford Ladies’ Party Attire

The narrator explains that expenditure on dress in Cranford concentrates overwhelmingly on caps and brooches, with old gowns and cherished brooches preserved beneath ever-fashionable new caps. The ladies appear at the party adorned with three new caps between them, and Miss Pole alone wears seven brooches, including a Scotch-pebble butterfly, distributed across her cap, kerchief, collar, gown, stomacher, and elsewhere.

Journey to Mrs Jamieson’s Home

The narrator describes the route to Mrs Jamieson’s large house just outside town, which faces a former street that never sees the sun and whose front windows belong only to servants’ rooms, where Mr Mulliner is glimpsed reading the St James’s Chronicle. The ladies pass Mr Mulliner with great nervous deference, daring only a timid joke for his amusement, and climb the stairs in enforced gravity under his wooden gaze.

Meeting Lady Glenmire at the Party

Inside Mrs Jamieson’s cheerful drawing-room, filled with evening sun and furnished in stiff white-and-gold Georgian style, Lady Glenmire rescues the awkward gathering by helping seat the guests around the fire. Once the Cranford ladies have time to observe her, Lady Glenmire proves to be a bright, pleasant-looking woman of middle age who had once been very pretty, and Miss Pole begins to appraise her dress.