Initial-letter Vignette "T" — George L'Estrange confers with Augustus Bramleigh about the litigation over the estate (Vol. XVII, page 641) vertically-mounted, 7.5 cm high by 5 cm wide, signed "MEE." in the lower-left corner; also in the lower-left corner of the main illustration. Mary Ellen Edwards' thirteenth thumbnail vignette illustration for the June 1868 number of Charles Lever's The Bramleighs of Bishop's Folly in the Cornhill Magazine, Chapters XLVIII-LI ("A Telegram" through "Some News from Without") in Vol. 17: pages 641 through 663. The wood-engraver responsible for this illustration was Joseph Swain (1820-1909), noted for his engravings of Sir John Tenniel's cartoons in Punch. [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
This thirteenth vignette opens Chapter XLVIII, with George and Augustus.
“This is a very eventful day for me, George,” said Augustus, as they strolled through the garden after breakfast. “The trial was fixed for the 13th, and to-day is the 14th; I suppose the verdict will be given to-day.”
“But you have really no doubt of the result? I mean, no more than anxiety on so momentous a matter must suggest?”
“Pardon me. I have grave doubts. There was such a marriage, as is alleged, formed by my grandfather; a marriage in every respect legal. They may not have the same means of proving that which we have; but we know it. There was a son born to that marriage. We have the letter of old Lami, asking my grandfather to come over to Bruges for the christening, and we have the receipt of Hodges and Smart, the jewellers, for a silver gilt ewer and cup which were engraved with the Bramleigh crest and cypher, and despatched to Belgium as a present; for my grandfather did not go himself, pretexting something or other, which evidently gave offence; for Lami's next letter declares that the present has been returned, and expresses a haughty indignation at my grandfather's conduct I can vouch for all this. It was a sad morning when I first saw those papers; but I did see them, George, and they exist still. That son of my grandfather's they declare to have married, and his son is this Pracontal. There is the whole story, and if the latter part of the narrative be only as truthful as I believe the first to be, he, and not I, is the rightful owner of Castello.”
L'Estrange made no reply; he was slowly going over in his mind the chain of connection, and examining, link by link, how it held together. [Vol. XVII, Chapter XLVIII, "A Telegram," 641]
Commentary: Tantalizing the Reader with a Telegram
Edwards compounds readers' anxieties about the outcome of the court case, a verdict is scheduled to be delivered this very day, by juxtaposing a picture of two despondent young men (presumably Augustus Bramleigh, sitting, and George L'Estrange, standing) in a garden against a chapter title involving the rapid electronic delivery of important news from a great distance, "A Telegram." However, over the page readers of the serial soon discover that the Irish court, balancing the legitimacy of Practonal's claim against his father's being a notorious confidence man, was unable to make a determination:
“Ten o'clock. Court-house, Navan. Jury just come out — cannot agree to verdict — discharged. New trial. I write post.
“Sedley.”
“Thank heaven, there is at least a respite,” said Bramleigh; and he fell on the other's shoulder, and hid his face. [642]
The text, then, sets up a fresh expectation: what account of the court proceedings will Sedley provide by post? Five mornings letter, the letter arrives, giving a full account of both presentations for the plaintiff and the defendant, ending with the jury's being deadlocked at seven to five. In anticipation of the case being heard again, in the county town of County Meath, Ireland, Sedley strongly advises Augustus (just appointed British Consul at Cattaro in Montenegro) to be present: "I will only now add, that your presence in England is urgently required, and that your return to Castello, to resume there the style of living that alike becomes the proprietor and the place, is, in the opinion of all your friends, much to be desired." So much for the notion of having George appointed spiritual advisor and curate to the British delegation under Consul Augustus. But then the would-be diplomat surprises us by expressing his determination not to return to England, but to proceed to the city on the Adriatic.
Scanned images and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned them and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Lever, Charles. The Bramleighs of Bishop’s Folly. The Cornhill Magazine 15 (June, 1867): pp. 640-664; 16 (July-December 1867): 1-666; 17 (January-June 1868): 70-663; 18 (July-October 1868): 1-403. Rpt. London: Chapman & Hall, 1872. Illustrated by M. E. Edwards; engraved by Joseph Swain.
Stevenson, Lionel. "Chapter XVI: Exile on the Adriatic, 1867-1872." Dr. Quicksilver: The Life of Charles Lever. London: Chapman and Hall, 1939. Pp. 277-296.
Created 3 September 2023