Charles Keene's Initial letter "I," forDouglas Jerrold's"Mrs. Caudle's Curtain Lectures" (1866)

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Mr. Caudle Sends for his Lawyer. —; Initial Letter "I"

Charles Keene

1866

Wood-engraving

6.3 cm high by 5.1 cm wide, framed

Fifty-third illustration for Douglas Jerrold's Mrs. Caudle's Curtain Lectures (first published on 11 October 1845): "The Thirty-fourth Lecture: "Mrs. Caudle, suspecting that Mr. Caudle has made his will, is 'only anxious as a wife' to know its provisions," p. 174.

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Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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Passage Illustrated: Mr. Caudle sends for his lawyer

"Here, I always said you'd a strong mind when you liked, Caudle; and what you've just been doing proves it. Some people won't make a will, because they think they must die directly afterwards. Now, you're above that, love, aren't you? Nonsense; you know very well what I mean. I know your will's made, for Scratcherly told me so. What? You don't believe it? Well, I'm sure! That's a pretty thing for a man to say to his wife. I know he's too much of a man of business to talk; but I suppose there's a way of telling things without speaking them. And when I put the question to him, lawyer as he is, he hadn't the face to deny it.

"To be sure, it can be of no consequence to me whether your will is made or not. I shall not be alive, Mr. Caudle, to want anything: I shall be provided for a long time before your will's of any use. No, Mr. Caudle, I sha'n't survive you: and —; though a woman's wrong to let her affection for a man be known, for then she's always taken advantage of —; though I know it's foolish and weak to say so, still I don't want to survive you. How should I? No, no; don't say that: I'm not good for a hundred — I sha'n't see you out, and another husband too. What a gross idea, Caudle! To imagine I'd ever think of marrying again. No —; never! What? [Lecture 34, "Mrs. Caudle, suspecting that Mr. Caudle has made his will, is 'only anxious as a wife' to know its provisions," pp. 174-175]

Commentary

The illustration and accompanying text point towards the end of the series (in a month's time), specifically towards Margaret Caudle's death and Job's becoming a widower. The matter under consideration is second marriage, which for a prosperous bourgeois of late middle age such as Mr. Caudle was certainly not out of the question. The implication in Keene's illustration is the attorney has dropped by, and is discussing a legal matter such as the modification of an existing will with Job Caudle in his own parlour rather than in the lawyer's offices. As the lecture subsequently shows, Mrs. Caudle is apprehensive about Miss Prettyman's replacing her. Then, too, Mrs. Caudle may be deploying reverse psychology by insisting that she will pre-decease Job, who she hopes will re-assure her that under the terms of his will she and the children will be well provided for. Margaret Caudle insists that she will never re-marry, doubtless hoping to elicit a smilar protestation from Job.

Bibliography

Jerrold, Douglas. Mrs. Caudle's Curtain Lectures, as Suffered by the late Job Caudle.Edited from the Original MSS. by Douglas Jerrold. With a frontispiece by Leech, and as motto on the title-page, "Then, Pistol, lay thy head in Fury's lap. —; Shakespeare." London: Punch Office; Bradbury and Evans, 1846.

Jerrold, Douglas. Mrs. Caudle's Curtain Lectures. Illustrated by John Leach and Richard Doyle. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1856.

Jerrold, Douglas. Mrs. Caudle's Curtain Lectures. Illustrated by Charles Keene. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1866.

Last modified 27 December 2017