"Headnote Vignette" — First page of fifth installment (Chapters 13-15) by John McLenan for Bulwer-Lytton's "A Strange Story" in "Harper's Weekly" (7 September 1861)

Uncaptioned headnote vignette, first page of fifth installment (Chapters 13-15)

John McLenan

1861

10.9 cm. by 5.8 cm. (4 ¼ inches by 2 ¼ inches)

Bulwer-Lytton's A Strange Story

Harper's Weekly 5 (7 September 1861): 574.

Mrs. Ashleigh received us in the dining-room. Her manner to me, at first, was a little confused and shy. But my companion [Mrs. Poyntz] soon communicated something of her own happy ease to her gentler friend. After a short conversation we all three went to Lilian, who was in a little room on the ground-floor, fitted up as her study. I was glad to perceive that my interdict of the deathchamber had been respected.

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Passage Illustrated: Being Treated as A Victim of Consumption (Tuberculosis)

She reclined on a sofa near the window, which was, however, jealously closed; the light of the bright May-day obscured by blinds and curtains; a large fire on the hearth; the air of the room that of a hot-house, — the ignorant, senseless, exploded system of nursing into consumption those who are confined on suspicion of it! She did not heed us as we entered noiselessly; her eyes were drooped languidly on the floor, and with difficulty I suppressed the exclamation that rose to my lips on seeing her. She seemed within the last few days so changed, and on the aspect of the countenance there was so profound a melancholy! But as she slowly turned at the sound of our footsteps, and her eyes met mine, a quick blush came into the wan cheek, and she half rose, but sank back as if the effort exhausted her. There was a struggle for breath, and a low hollow cough. Was it possible that I had been mistaken, and that in that cough was heard the warning knell of the most insidious enemy to youthful life? [Chapter XIV, p. 574]

Commentary: Dr. Allen Fenwick Rejects Dr. Jones's Diagnosis of Consumption

Since Mrs. Poyntz believes Lilian's health is deteriorating, she has brought her friend and Dr. Jones's rival, Dr. Allen Fenwick, to the Abbots' House to examine Lilian Ashleigh. Ironically, her "study" is the very room in which Dr. Lloyd died several months before. Examining the patient, Fenwick confirms that she is not consumptive, and that she requires fresh air and sunlight, rather than Dr. Vigours' depressants and narcotics. Seeing an instant change in her daughter, Anne Ashleigh determines to follow her friend, Mrs. Poyntz's advice: she will discharge Dr. Jones, and put her daughter Lilian entirely in Fenwick's care. As a sort of promotion, Fenwick agrees not to charge for the many hours he will likely put in. And in less than a fortnight, she has returned to health from the state we see her in at the start of the interview, as depicted by McLenan for the American serialisation.

Bibliography

Bulwer-Lytton, Edward G. D. A Strange Story. Illustrated by John McLenan. Harper's Weekly V, 10 August — 8 March 1862.

Created 21 November 2007

Last updated 24 June 2026