Cranford

Miss Jenkyns’s Helmet-Bonnet

That afternoon Miss Jenkyns sends for a yard of black crape and busily trims the little black silk bonnet she has previously worn. When she puts it on and seeks approbation rather than admiration, the narrator is struck—through tears—by its resemblance to a helmet. In this hybrid bonnet, half helmet and half jockey-cap, Miss Jenkyns attends Captain Brown’s funeral and supports Miss Jessie with tender, indulgent firmness, allowing her to weep her passionate fill before they depart.

The Death of Miss Brown

While Miss Jenkyns and Miss Jessie are at the funeral, Miss Pole, Miss Matty, and the narrator tend to the dying Miss Brown. By morning, Miss Brown is visibly fading; her voice has lost its querulous tone, recalling instead the young anxious head of the family she once was after their mother’s death. Conscious of Miss Jessie’s presence but not of the others, Miss Brown whispers her remorse for her selfishness, her longing for her father’s forgiveness, and her grief at how little she did to ease his sorrows. Miss Jessie gently tells her that their father has gone before her to a place of rest and knows now how much she loved him. Miss Brown murmurs the names of those who have gone before her, then, with one final thought for Jessie’s loneliness, she passes away calm and still.

Miss Jessie’s Uncertain Future

After the second funeral, Miss Jenkyns insists that Miss Jessie come to stay rather than return to the desolate house, which must now be given up as she cannot afford to maintain it. With only about twenty pounds a year and the proceeds from the furniture, Miss Jessie must earn her living. She lists her qualifications modestly—sewing neatly, nursing, possibly managing a house or working as a saleswoman. Miss Jenkyns is outraged that a captain’s daughter should contemplate such work, but busies herself bringing up delicately made arrowroot and standing over Miss Jessie like a dragoon until every spoonful is finished.