Cranford

Robbery of Local Surgeon Mr Hoggins

Mr Hoggins, the local surgeon, is attacked at his own door by two ruffians hiding in the shadow of the porch. They rob him in the brief interval between his ringing the bell and the servant’s arrival. Miss Pole visits him the next day to question him, certain that “her men” are responsible, and brings the news back to the others while the community is still buzzing with agitation.

第十章

In Chapter X of Cranford, Miss Pole visits Miss Matty and the narrator to discuss recent unsettling events in the neighbourhood, accusing Mr Hoggins of dishonesty regarding a robbery at his door. The ladies then plan to honour Mrs Forrester’s wedding-day anniversary by travelling through the dreaded Darkness Lane. After their journey, the women share their private fears and nighttime precautions, while Mrs Forrester’s servant Jenny recounts a chilling encounter with a headless lady. The chapter ends with the friends hurrying home by way of the safer, if muddier, Headingley Causeway.

Miss Pole’s Commentary on Men

Miss Pole arrives in a decided mood and delivers a sweeping diatribe against men, whom she accuses of wishing to be thought as strong as Samson and as wise as Solomon. She claims that men always claim to have foreseen events after the fact but never warn anyone beforehand, and her remarks silence the other ladies into a general murmur of agreement that the sex is very incomprehensible.

Miss Pole Accuses Mr Hoggins of Deception

Miss Pole accuses Mr Hoggins, the surgeon-dentist, of dishonesty after risking a tooth extraction only to be told that no robbery occurred at his house. She insists Betty’s account of an armed thief was true and suspects the Irishman who had earlier spied on her house. The narrator and Miss Matty condemn Mr Hoggins’s lack of candour and use him as a general target for their complaints about men.