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"Repentance comes too late when the deed's done," returned Wild, bitterly.

"It is not too late to repair the wrong I have done my nephew," cried Trenchard. "I will set about it instantly. He shall have the estates. I will return to Manchester at once."

"You had better take some refreshment before you start," rejoined Wild. "'You've a long journey before you.'"

As the signal was given, the Jew, who had been some time in expectation of it, darted swiftly and silently behind Sir Rowland, and flung a cloth over his head, while Jonathan, rushing upon him in front, struck him several quick and violent blows in the face with the bludgeon. The white cloth was instantly dyed with crimson; but, regardless of this, Jonathan continued his murderous assault. The struggles of the wounded man were desperate — so desperate, that in his agony he overset the table, and, in the confusion, tore off the cloth, and disclosed a face horribly mutilated, and streaming with blood. So appalling was the sight, that even the murderers — familiar as they were with scenes of slaughter, — looked aghast at it.

During this dreadful pause the wretched man felt for his sword. It had been removed from the scabbard by the Jew. He uttered a deep groan, but said nothing.

"Despatch him!" roared Jonathan.

Having no means of defence, Sir Rowland cleared the blood from his vision; and, turning to see whether there was any means of escape, he descried the open door behind him leading to the Well Hole, and instantly darted through it.

"As I could wish!" cried Jonathan. "Bring the light, Nab."

The Jew snatched up the link, and followed him.

A struggle of the most terrific kind now ensued. The wounded man had descended the bridge, and dashed himself against the door beyond it; but, finding it impossible to force his way further, he turned to confront his assailants. Jonathan aimed a blow at him, which, if it had taken place, must have instantly terminated the strife; but, avoiding this, he sprang at the thief-taker, and grappled with him. Firmly built, as it was, the bridge creaked in such a manner with their contending efforts, that Abraham durst not venture beyond the door, where he stood, holding the light, a horrified spectator of the scene. The contest, however, though desperate, was brief. Disengaging his right arm, Jonathan struck his victim a tremendous blow on the head with the bludgeon, that fractured his skull; and, exerting all his strength, threw him over the rails, to which he clung with the tenacity of despair.

"Spare me!" he groaned, looking upwards. "Spare me!"

Jonathan, however, instead of answering him, searched for his knife, with the intention of severing his wrist. But not finding it, he had again recourse to the bludgeon, and began beating the hand fixed on the upper rail, until, by smashing the fingers, he forced it to relinquish its hold. He then stamped upon the hand on the lower bannister, until that also relaxed its gripe.

Sir Rowland then fell.

A hollow plunge, echoed and re-echoed by the walls, marked his descent into the water.

"Give me the link," cried Jonathan.

Holding down the light, he perceived that the wounded man had risen to the surface, and was trying to clamber up the slippery sides of the well.

"Shoot him! shoot him! Put him out of hish mishery," cried the Jew.

"What's the use of wasting a shot?" rejoined Jonathan, savagely. "He can't get out."

After making several ineffectual attempts to keep himself above water, Sir Rowland sunk, and his groans, which had become gradually fainter and fainter, were heard no more.

"All's over," muttered Jonathan. — "Epoch the Third. 1724. The Prison Breaker," Chapter 12, "The Well Hole," p. 40-44.

Commentary

The artist's rendering of the dramatic scene is equal to Ainsworth's exciting description of Wild's turning viciously upon his former confederate, the haughty Sir Rowland Trenchard, the morally compromised uncle of Thames Darrell and Jack Sheppard. The picture must have rendered the curtain of the September 1839 (ninth) instalment of the historical novel all the more compelling for the readers of Bentley's Miscellany, perhaps even motivating some readers to consider purchasing the triple-decker shortly to be issued rather than waiting an additional three months for the outcome of Jack Sheppard's conflict with the devious and irrepressible Jonathan Wild.

Ainsworth creates a sense of rising tension as, having proposed marriage to Mrs. Sheppard in the previous chapter with a view to inheriting the Trenchard estates, Wild now contemplates killing his former associate, Sir Rowland, by throwing him down a precipitous well that lies just beyond a secret panel in his audience room. Sir Rowland, now Wild's intended victim, is due to arrive momentarily:

Taking up a link, which was blazing beside him, he walked across the room; and touching a spring in the wall, a secret door flew open. Beyond was a narrow bridge, crossing a circular building, at the bottom of which lay a deep well. It was a dark mysterious place, and what it was used for no one exactly knew; but it was called by those who had seen it the Well Hole. The bridge was protected on either side by a railing with bannisters placed at wide intervals. Steps to aid the descent, which was too steep to be safe without them, led to, a door on the opposite side. This door, which was open, Jonathan locked and took out the key. As he stood upon the bridge, he held down the light, and looked into the profound abyss. The red glare fell upon the slimy brick-work, and tinged the inky waters below. — Chapter 12, "The Well Hole," p. 32-33.

Shortly after the scene that Cruikshank has depicted, with Wild raising his bludgeon to dislodge Sir Rowland grip on the railing, Wild and Nab (holding the link in the illustration, and stationed at the top of the staircase) find themselves trapped in the well-room with no means of getting out since the adjacent strong room, in which Wild receives stolen goods, has no exterior access. Thus, Ainsworth ends the September 1839 on a suspenseful moment as it seems that fate has intervened in Wild's plans to marry Mrs. Sheppard (Aviva Trenchard) and thereby gain control of the family estates after Sir Rowland's disappearance. Conveniently, the Lancashire nobleman has decided to retire to France, and has wound up his affairs, so that he may not be missed for some time.

The precipitous fall and the danger in which the three figures stand creates a suitably charged melodramatic atmosphere, with the victim drawn realistically and his assailants as caricatures, their visages warped by their evil intentions. The September 1839 scene, certainly written with stage adaptation in mind, owes something perhaps to Dickens's August 1838 instalment of Oliver Twist (Part 17), in which Monks, likewise motivated by a desire to control an estate, attempts to destroy proof of Oliver's origins, a scene melodramatically realised by Cruikshank in The Evidence Destroyed. Both dramatic and atmospheric illustrations exemplify a convoluted "lost heir" plot, with Wild trying to seize through marriage an inheritance rightfully belonging to Thames Darrell and Jack Sheppard.

Cruikshank subtly uses shadows in each to contribute to the ominous atmosphere, placing a mysterious darkness like a nimbus behind each of the Bumbles in the Dickens illustration, and casting the shadow of Jonathan Wild, his right arm poised to strike, on the wall of the well-hole above the dangling victim in the Ainsworth's engraving. Both scenes are only partially illuminated — Monks's lantern in the centre throws the lightened faces of the conspirators into chiaroscuro, and Nab's torch creates a ring of light around Wild and Sir Rowland, and leaves the bottom of the picture in shades of darkness, the ruling machine much in evidence in Cruikshank's engraving the bricks of the side of the well, as opposed to his more detailed handling of the warehouse beams in the August 1838 engraving.

Bibliography

Ainsworth, William Harrison. Jack Sheppard. A Romance. With 28 illustrations by George Cruikshank. In three volumes. London: Richard Bentley, 1839.

Ainsworth, William Harrison. Jack Sheppard. Edited by Edward Jacobs and Manuela Mourao. With 31 illustrations. Peterborough, ON: Broadview, 2007.

Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. Illustrated by George Cruikshank. London: Bradbury and Evans; Chapman and Hall, 1846.

Meisel, Martin. Chapter 13, "Novels in Epitome." Realizations: Narrative, Pictorial, and Theatrical Arts in Nineteenth-Century England. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989. Pp. 247-282.

Sutherland, John. "Jack Sheppard" in The Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 19893. Pp. 323-324.

Vann, J. Don. "Jack Sheppard in Bentley's Miscellany, January 1839 — February 1840." Victorian Novels in Serial. New York: Modern Language Association, 1985. Page 19.

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Last modified 24 December 2016