Cranford

Servant Troubles at Miss Matilda’s

Servant instability emerges as a persistent concern in Cranford’s genteel society, where pretty servant-maids face constant temptation from handsome tradesmen required to visit the houses. Miss Matilda’s maid Fanny becomes a particular source of anxiety; though forbidden to have “followers” by her engagement terms, Fanny’s innocence regarding her flirtations troubles her mistress deeply. The narrator herself witnesses suspicious circumstances—a man’s coat-tails disappearing into the scullery and a young man glimpsed behind the kitchen door at night—though she keeps these suspicions from Miss Matilda. Eventually Fanny must leave, and the narrator agrees to stay and train a new maid named Martha before departing.

Preparations for Major Jenkyns’s Visit

News arrives that Major Jenkyns, Miss Matilda’s cousin who spent twenty or thirty years in India, has returned to England and writes proposing to visit Cranford. Miss Matilda becomes frantic with worry about proper arrangements for a gentleman guest, lamenting that her late sister Deborah would have known exactly what to provide. She frets about razors, slippers, and coat-brushes for the dressing room, and how to know when to leave him to his wine after dinner. The narrator takes charge of coffee preparations and undertakes to instruct Martha in waiting duties, though Miss Matilda’s constant interruptions muddle the training. The household prepares with fresh wine and anxious anticipation.

The Major’s Visit

Major Jenkyns and his invalid wife arrive accompanied by their own servants—a Hindoo body-servant for the Major and an elderly English maid for his wife—though these attendants lodge at the inn. The visitors prove quiet and unpretending, though languid as East Indians presumably are. Martha stares openly at the turbaned Hindoo servant, and Miss Matilda afterward confesses he reminded her of Blue Beard. The visit proceeds satisfactorily and becomes a favorite topic of conversation for Miss Matilda, having created considerable excitement throughout Cranford. Even Mrs Jamieson stirs herself to offer advice on gentleman visitors, delivered in the wearied manner of a prophetess longing for rest.