Cranford

Martha’s Grievance About Followers

Martha complains to the narrator that Miss Matty forbids her to have “followers,” despite several young men in the town being interested in her. She confesses she cried on the previous Sunday after turning Jem Hearn away because she had given her word. The narrator knows from long experience how strongly both Miss Jenkyns sisters disapproved of followers, and recognizes that Miss Matty’s present nervous state is unlikely to soften the rule.

News of Thomas Holbrook’s Decline

Miss Pole, visiting after a two-day absence, reports that Thomas Holbrook is not long for this world; his exhausting trip to Paris has broken him, and his housekeeper says he now sits in the counting-house with his hands on his knees, repeating only that Paris was a wonderful city. Miss Pole laments that a better man never lived.

Miss Matty’s Hidden Sorrow

When the narrator asks whether Miss Matty knows of Holbrook’s illness, Miss Pole is surprised she has not been told and reveals she informed her more than a fortnight ago. The narrator realizes Miss Matty has been hiding her sorrow from everyone, and guiltily resolves not to betray the secrets of that tender heart.

Reminiscences of Deborah Jenkyns

Miss Matty, suffering one of her headaches, spends a quiet November evening reminiscing aloud about her late sister Deborah’s youth: settling gowns for parties, founding a benefit society, dancing with a lord, visiting Sir Peter Arley, and nursing Miss Matty through a long illness which the narrator privately dates to the rejection of Mr Holbrook’s suit. The conversation is soft and tender.