Cranford

Miss Pole’s Conjuror Sighting

Miss Pole, the trio’s habitual gatherer of town intelligence, recounts how she wandered into the “George” inn while visiting Betty’s second-cousin and accidentally stumbled into the Assembly Room, where Crosby’s men were erecting red-flannel screens. A handsome gentleman with a foreign manner spoke to her in pretty broken English, escorting her out, and she later discovered this was the conjuror himself. She encountered him a second time on her way back for a “lost” glove, after which she became the heroine of the evening, fielding the other ladies’ eager questions about his appearance, beard, and bearing.

Ladies’ Conjuring Discussions

The three Cranford ladies and the narrator spend the evening discussing conjuration, sleight of hand, magic, and witchcraft. Miss Pole leans toward scientific skepticism, Mrs Forrester believes everything from ghosts to death-watches, and Miss Matty wavers between them, restrained by her desire to live up to her late sister Miss Jenkyns’s rational example. Miss Pole becomes so absorbed in studying the relevant volume of the old Encyclopædia that she threatens to spoil their planned game of Preference, but the others gently prevail upon her to set aside her studies and play cards, which she eventually does.

Visit to the Cranford Assembly Rooms

The next evening, the ladies walk the short distance to the “George” inn, where Miss Matty sighs before the cloak-room mirror over memories of her youth. They take seats in the second front row and are joined by Lady Glenmire and Mrs Jamieson, with shopkeepers settling on the benches behind. The narrator reflects on the room’s faded aristocratic glory, recalling tales of county beauties, the Gunnings, and Lady Williams, who there fell for a handsome young artist. The ladies maintain strict dignified posture, refusing to turn around or make any noise in this place of public amusement, while Mrs Jamieson falls asleep.