Cranford

The Captain’s Grief

One day Captain Brown calls to thank Miss Jenkyns for kindnesses the narrator had not known she had rendered. He has suddenly become like an old man: his bass voice quavers, his eyes are dim, and his face is deeply lined. He cannot speak cheerfully of his daughter, but twice he says “What Jessie has been to us, God only knows!”—and after the second repetition he rises abruptly, shakes hands all round without a word, and leaves.

News in the Street

That very afternoon little groups gather in the street with faces aghast at some news. Miss Jenkyns hesitates before taking the undignified step of sending the maid Jenny out to inquire; Jenny returns white and weeping. Miss Matty dashes into the street and drags the affrighted carter, with his wet boots on the new carpet, into the drawing-room. He tells how the Captain, deep in a new book at the railway, saw a toddler stray onto the line, darted to catch her up, slipped, and was run over by the train; he had hurled the child safe to her mother, only bruising her shoulder.

The Railroad Accident

The child is safe, the news must now be broken to his daughters, and Miss Jenkyns, looking as if about to faint, asks for her bonnet: she must go to those girls, and God pardon her if she has ever spoken contemptuously of the Captain. The chapter closes on this image of remorse overtaking the social proprieties of Cranford in the face of sudden, heroic death.

CAPÍTULO II.

Chapter II opens in the immediate aftermath of Captain Brown’s fatal railway accident. Miss Jenkyns departs to attend to Miss Jessie Brown, leaving Miss Matty and the narrator weeping quietly by the fire. The chapter traces the grief, death, and eventual resolution surrounding the Brown sisters: Miss Jessie’s desperate effort to shield her dying sister from the news of their father’s death, her determined attendance at his funeral, Miss Brown’s peaceful passing, Miss Jessie’s bleak financial prospects, the unexpected return of Major Gordon, and a closing glimpse of an aged Miss Jenkyns in later years, still fondly recalling Captain Brown.

The News of Captain Brown’s Death

Miss Jenkyns arrays herself and goes out, instructing Miss Matilda to give the man a glass of wine. While she is away, Miss Matty and the narrator huddle over the fire, speaking in low, awestruck voices and quietly weeping. Miss Jenkyns returns in a silent, somber mood and reluctantly reports that Miss Jessie has fainted and that she and Miss Pole struggled to revive her. As soon as she recovered, Miss Jessie begged one of them to sit with her sister. That night is sorrowful, with only a partial account of the accident available.

Miss Jessie’s Resolve to Shield Her Sister

Upon recovering, Miss Jessie is filled with dread that her sister, already gravely ill, will learn of their father’s death. She asks Miss Jenkyns and Miss Pole not to reveal the truth, insisting that God will help her bear up. Mr. Hoggins has warned that Miss Brown cannot live many days, and Miss Jessie wishes her to be spared this final shock. They devise a story—telling Miss Brown that her father has been summoned away on railway business—while Miss Pole remains to support Miss Jessie. Mrs. Jamieson sends an inquiry, but otherwise the night passes quietly in grief.

The Fatal Accident

The next day, the county paper carries a full account of the fatal accident. Miss Jenkyns, claiming her eyes are weak, asks the narrator to read it aloud. The description of the “gallant gentleman” being “deeply engaged in the perusal of a number of ‘Pickwick’” moves Miss Jenkyns to shake her head solemnly and sigh, “Poor, dear, infatuated man!” The corpse is to be brought from the station to the parish church for interment, setting in motion Miss Jessie’s resolve about the funeral.

Miss Jessie Insists on Attending the Funeral

Miss Jessie sets her heart on following her father’s body to the grave, and no persuasion from Miss Pole or Miss Jenkyns can sway her. Her rigid self-restraint makes her almost obstinate, and at last Miss Jenkyns concedes the point. After a heavy silence that the narrator fears signals displeasure, Miss Jenkyns announces that she will accompany Miss Jessie to the funeral, declaring it would be against both propriety and humanity to let her go alone. Miss Jessie, who had longed to weep privately over her father’s grave, is too spent by her own determination to resist.