The Wager by Phiz (Hablot Knight Browne), May 1849. Steel-engraving. 9.0 cm high by 13.7 cm wide (3 ⅜ by 5 ⅜ inches), framed, full-page dark plate for Roland Cashel, Chapter XLVIII, "Cigars, Écarté, and Hazard," facing p. 406. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Passage Illustrated: Roland's Treatment of Olivia Kennyfeck Criticized
Linton tried to smile; the effort, at first not very successful, became easier after a moment, and it was with a resumption of his old manner he said, —
“I'll take you two to one in fifties that I act the host here this day twelvemonth.”
“You hear the offer, gentlemen?” said Frobisher, addressing the party. “Of course it is meant without any reservation, and so I take it.”
He produced a betting-book as he said this, and began to write in it with his pencil.
“Would you prefer it in hundreds?” said Linton.
Frobisher nodded an assent.
“Or shall we do the thing sportingly, and say two thousand to one?” continued he.
“Two thousand to one be it,” said Frobisher, while the least possible smile might be detected on his usually immovable features. “There is no knowing how to word this bet,” said he, at last, after two or three efforts, followed by as many erasures; “you must write it yourself.”
Linton took the pencil, and wrote rapidly for a few seconds.
“Will that do?” said he.
And Frobisher read to himself: “'Mr. Linton, two thousand to one with Lord C. Frobisher, that he, T. L., on the anniversary of this day, shall preside as master of the house Tubbermore, by due right and title, and not by any favour, grace, or sanction of any one whatsoever.” [Chapter XLVIII, "Cigars, Écarté, and Hazard," pp. 406-407]
Commentary: Linton Overreaches Himself
On the strength of the bond signed and sealed by King George the Third and now in Linton's possession, the adventurer dares to assert that within a year he will control Roland's great house and estates. Clearly he is anticipating being able to marry Mary Leicester, and control the Tubbermore estate through the bond that the visiting Learned Counsel, Hammond, an expert in such matters, has verified as genuine. "Cashel's title is invalid" — "not worth sixpence" (355). However, the reader already sees that Mary Leicester's future husband may not be the feckless Tom Linton at all. Rater, it may be the millionaire who has rescued her grandfather by redeeming his bills, issued in Louisiana, which had then come into the hands of Hoare, the Dublin Shylock. As Phiz suggests, the many glasses of champagne he has consumed have warped Linton's judgment, and he subsequently loses as much at cards at Cashel would have done. Sir Charles Frobisher (centre) makes good book on Linton's overreaching.
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Lever, Charles. Roland Cashel. With 39 illustrations and engraved title-vignette by Phiz. London: Chapman & Hall, 1850.
Lever, Charles. Roland Cashel. Illustrated by Phiz [Hablot Knight Browne]. Novels and Romances of Charles Lever. Vols. I and II. In two volumes. Boston: Little, Brown, 1907. Project Gutenberg. Last Updated: 19 August 2010.
Steig, Michael. Chapter Seven: "Phiz the Illustrator: An Overview and a Summing Up." Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington: Indiana U. P., 1978. Pp. 298-316.
Created 5 January 2023