"The Moonstone" — "Second period. The Discovery of the Truth. (1848-1849.) First Narrative. Contributed by Miss Clack; niece of the late Sir John Verinder," Ch. II: "She stopped, ran across the room — and fell on her knees at her mother's feet."

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She stopped, ran across the room — and fell on her knees at her mother's feet

Harper & Bros. house illustrators

Wood engraving

14.7 x 9.6 cm

The only illustration, centre page, for the fifteenth weekly part of Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone: A Romance in Harper's Weekly (11 April 1868), page 229. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]

Scanned image 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 photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]

Illustrations courtesy of the E. J. Pratt Fine Arts Library, University of Toronto, and the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, University of British Columbia.

Passage Illustrated: Rachel is convinced that Godfrey is not the thief.

My aunt caught me by the hand, and whispered, "Stand between us for a minute or two. Don't let Rachel see me." I noticed a bluish tinge in her face which alarmed me. She saw I was startled. "The drops will put me right in a minute or two," she said, and so closed her eyes, and waited a little.

While this was going on, I heard dear Mr. Godfrey still gently remonstrating.

"You must not appear publicly in such a thing as this," he said. "Yourreputation, dearest Rachel, is something too pure and too sacred to be trifled with."

"My reputation!" She burst out laughing. "Why, I am accused, Godfrey, as well as you. The best detective officer in England declares that I have stolen my own Diamond. Ask him what he thinks — and he will tell you that I have pledged the Moonstone to pay my private debts!" She stopped, ran across the room — and fell on her knees at her mother's feet. "Oh mamma! mamma! mamma! I must be mad — mustn't I? — not to own the truth now?" She was too vehement to notice her mother's condition — she was on her feet again, and back with Mr. Godfrey, in an instant. "I won't let you — I won't let any innocent man — be accused and disgraced through my fault. If you won't take me before the magistrate, draw out a declaration of your innocence on paper, and I will sign it. Do as I tell you, Godfrey, or I'll write it to the newspapers I'll go out, and cry it in the streets!" — "Second period. The Discovery of the Truth. (1848-1849.) First Narrative. Contributed by Miss Clack; niece of the late Sir John Verinder. Chapter II." 11 April 1868: p. 230.

Commentary

Having already mugged the pawnbroker, Septimus Luker, the Indians know where the Moonstone is lodged, and who is likely to redeem it, for they have his banker's receipt for a gem (undoubtedly the Moonstone). Now they know that Godfrey Abelwhite does not have the jewel, but they are reasonably sure as to when he will attempt to redeem it. Already the rumour is abroad that Godfrey has stolen the Moonstone, and Rachel believes that she should exonerate him by revealing who has taken it. But all of this is too much for her mother, who is evidently quite ill, as the illustration indicates by her thin face and gaunt form. This is not the same animated aristocrat who recently gave Sergeant Cuff his marching orders. The object of Miss Clack's adoring glance, Godfrey Ablewhite (but lately mugged by the three Indians in Northumberland Street) is, despite his ordeal, unchanged: large, blonde, and solicitous. The genuine sympathy and concern expressed for Lady Julia Verinder by her daughter foreshadow Lady Julia's death. And by themselves the illustration and the caption suggest that Rachel is indeed the thief, and that she is about to confess as much to her distressed mother. Godfrey, meanwhile, tries to read both of his wealthy cousins, even as Miss Clack reads purely Christian motives into his rushing over to Lady Julia and her daughter. Were he so fortunate as to marry Rachel, then all of her property, including the Moonstone would be his, and he would therefore no longer be a thief, but a husband exercising control over his wife's estate.

Illustrations of Miss Clack from Other Editions, 1868 to 1946

Left: The Harper's serial's introduction of Miss Clack as a diarist, Uncaptioned vignette for 4 April 1868 (fourteenth instalment). Centre: F. A. Fraser's depiction of the same scene, juxtaposing Godfrey Ablewhite and Miss Clack as dispassionate observers of the emotional mother and daughter, "She stopped, ran across the room — and fell on her knees at her mother's feet." (1890). Right: William Sharp's full-page depiction of the sanctimonious poor relation, Miss Clack and Her Diary [uncaptioned] (1946). [Click on the images to enlarge them.]

Related Materials

The Moonstone and British India (1857, 1868, and 1876)
Detection and Disruption inside and outside the 'quiet English home' in The Moonstone
Illustrations by F. A. Fraser for Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone: A Romance (1890)
Illustrations by John Sloan for Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone: A Romance (1908)
Illustrations by Alfred Pearse for The Moonstone: A Romance (1910)
The 1944 illustrations by William Sharp for The Moonstone (1946).

Last updated 8 September 2016