Cranford

Mrs Jamieson Approves Miss Matty’s Tea Sales

Mrs Jamieson, the local arbiter of social rank in Cranford, deliberates for several days about whether Miss Matty’s tea-selling would cost her her social standing. She ultimately decides—partly to mortify Lady Glenmire—that an unmarried woman retains her father’s station regardless of her occupation, thus granting her approval. Cranford society intends to visit both Miss Matty and Lady Glenmire regardless of the ruling.

Mr and Mrs Hoggins Return to Cranford

The town is shocked and dismayed to learn that Mr and Mrs Hoggins are returning to Cranford, with Lady Glenmire having dropped her aristocratic title to become simply Mrs Hoggins. Mrs Jamieson declares this confirms her belief in Lady Glenmire’s “low taste” and responds with various social snubs, including drawing down her window blinds as if for a funeral. The narrator, however, admires the couple’s evident happiness at church. Meanwhile, Martha and Jem Hoggins also make their first appearance as a married couple.

Miss Matty Sets Up Her Tea Shop

Miss Matty’s household goods are sold at auction, though an anonymous friend—suspected by the narrator to be Mrs Fitz-Adam—secretly buys back items of sentimental value for her. Miss Matty retains her sitting-room and bedroom furniture, cramming the small rooms with her treasured possessions. The narrator’s father purchases a tiny bedroom’s furnishings for her occasional use, and the narrator spends her savings on comfits and lozenges to attract children to the new shop.

Miss Matty Consults Mr Johnson About Her Business

Before opening her shop, conscientious Miss Matty visits Mr Johnson, the local shopkeeper, to inform him of her plans and ask whether her competition would harm his business. Although the narrator’s father considers this “great nonsense,” the gesture succeeds in Cranford: Mr Johnson reassures her, dispels her scruples, and even sends customers her way, claiming he stocks only common teas while she carries the choicest varieties favored by prosperous tradespeople and farmers’ wives.

Miss Matty’s Unorthodox Shop Practices

Miss Matty’s trusting and unselfish nature inspires honesty in others, though it leaves her vulnerable to being imposed upon. She cannot bring herself to challenge a coal-man’s protestations of fair weight, trusting that her own good faith will be reciprocated. The narrator notes the contrast between Cranford’s trusting ways and her father’s more suspicious commercial practices, which nonetheless failed to save him from losing over a thousand pounds to roguery the previous year.

Miss Matty’s Tea Sales Exceed Expectations

Miss Matty’s tea sales during her first two days surpass all expectations, with the surrounding countryside seemingly running out of tea at once. However, her habit of urgently warning customers against green tea as a slow poison distresses her when they persist in buying it, threatening to cost her half her custom. The narrator finally persuades her to tolerate the practice by citing the Esquimaux’s ability to digest train-oil and tallow candles, after which Miss Matty resigns herself to occasional remonstrances.

Martha Announces Her Pregnancy

About a year after Miss Matty opens her shop, Martha writes urgently to the narrator in Drumble, summoning her to Cranford. The reason turns out to be Martha’s approaching confinement, which she fears Miss Matty will disapprove of and which leaves her anxious about who will care for her mistress during her confinement. The narrator comforts Martha and resolves to stay, then surprises Miss Matty by entering the shop as a customer, finding her peacefully humming the Old Hundredth Psalm as she knits. When the baby is born, Miss Matty overcomes her surprise, tenderly welcomes the child, and awkwardly offers her congratulations to the shy but proud Jem.

The Aga Jenkyns Visits Miss Matty’s Shop

Near the end of the narrator’s visit, a strange gentleman with sun-darkened skin, white hair, and piercing dark eyes loiters outside the shop before entering. Miss Matty is mildly nervous, expecting him to present a note or sovereign for which she must make change. Instead, after studying her intently, he turns sharply to the narrator and asks, “Is your name Mary Smith?”—revealing himself to be the Aga Jenkyns, the long-lost brother whose letter the narrator had once written but never dared mention to anyone.