"And you thought I loved him." — twenty-sixth illustration by W. L. Sheppard for Dickens's "Dombey and Son" (American Household Edition, 1873)

"And you thought I loved him." by W. L. Sheppard. Twenty-sixth illustration for Dickens's Dombey and Son in the American Household Edition (1873), Chapter XXVII, "Deeper Shadows," p. 165. 10.5 x 13.6 cm (4 ¼ by 5 ⅜ inches) framed. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]

Passage Illustrated: Edith confronts her mother about marrying Dombey

Eytinge's study of the defiant daughter and her complacent mother: Edith and Mrs. Skewton (1867).

There had been a touching sadness in her voice, but it was gone, when she went on to say, with a curled lip, “So, as we are genteel and poor, I am content that we should be made rich by these means; all I say is, I have kept the only purpose I have had the strength to form — I had almost said the power, with you at my side, Mother — and have not tempted this man on.”

“This man! You speak,” said her mother, “as if you hated him.”

“And you thought I loved him, did you not?” she answered, stopping on her way across the room, and looking round. “Shall I tell you,” she continued, with her eyes fixed on her mother, “who already knows us thoroughly, and reads us right, and before whom I have even less of self-respect or confidence than before my own inward self; being so much degraded by his knowledge of me?”

“This is an attack, I suppose,” returned her mother coldly, “on poor, unfortunate what’s-his-name — Mr. Carker! Your want of self-respect and confidence, my dear, in reference to that person (who is very agreeable, it strikes me), is not likely to have much effect on your establishment. Why do you look at me so hard? Are you ill?” [Chapter XXVII, "Deeper Shadows," pp. 164-165]

Commentary: Mrs. Skewton reposed on her sofa, and Edith sat apart, by her harp

Phiz's realisation of the scene in which Mr. Dombey introduces his daughter to Edith Granger: Mr. Dombey introduces his daughter Florence (June 1847).

The Honourable Mrs. Skewton, Edith Granger's aristocratic mother, has lived upon family connections, notably her nephew, lord ("Cousin") Feenix. Sheppard draws the faded beauty without compromise: she is hideous, with false teeth, shrunken mouth, and false eyebrows. As she studies her daughter, the text clarifies that Mrs. Skewton regards her beautiful but rebellious daughter as a saleable commodity on the marriage market. With the assistance of Major Bagstock, Edith's mother has scored a triumph at Warwick in securing the wealthy widower, Paul Dombey, as Edith's second husband. However, Edith's defiant pride will eventually subvert the arrangement as she regards herself as having been auctioned at a slave market. Sheppard shows Edith as contemptuous of her mother throughout this conversation. However, one part of her mother's sentiments does meet with her approval: her mother's remarks about the handsome, shrewd manager, James Carker.

Three items dominate Edith's room at Warwick: the love-seat her mother occupies, the harp just behind her, and the upright piano in the centre of the composition which could easily be mistaken for a desk or credenza, but for the candelabra to either side. "The harp was there; the piano was there; and Edith sang and played. But even the music was played by Edith to Mr. Dombey's order, as it were, in the same uncompromising way" (163). The ornately framed painting on the wall may be intended to recall the earlier sketching scene during the carriage ride in the country, when Edith exhibited "extraordinary skill [at drawing] — especially in trees" (163).

The Marriage Plot Illustrated in Other Editions, 1847-1910

Right: Fred Barnard's Household Edition illustration of the Major in collusion with Mrs. Skewton: "Thank you. I have no desire to read it," was her answer (1877). Centre: Harry Furniss's character study of the Hon. Mrs. Skewton, Edith Granger's mother and Mr. Dombey's future mother-in-law: Mrs. Skewton (1910).Right: Phiz's realisation of the scene in which Dombey's newfound friend, the Major, maneuveres to have Dombey marry the beautiful but haughty widow, Edith Granger: "Joe B. is sly, Sir, devilish sly" (June 1847).

Related Material, including Other Illustrated Editions of Dombey and Son (1846-1910)

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Bibliography

Dickens, Charles. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by W. L. Sheppard. The Household Edition. 18 vols. New York: Harper & Co., 1873.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by F. O. C. Darley and John Gilbert. The Works of Charles Dickens. The Household Edition. 55 vols. New York: Sheldon and Company, 1862. Vols. 1-4.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr., and engraved by A. V. S. Anthony. 14 vols. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1867. III.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Fred Barnard [62 composite wood-block engravings]. The Works of Charles Dickens. The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1877. XV.

__________. Dombey and Son. With illustrations by H. K. Browne. The illustrated library Edition. 2 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, c. 1880. II.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Fred Barnard. 61 wood-engravings. The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1877. XV.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by W. H. C. Groome. London and Glasgow, 1900, rpt. 1934. 2 vols. in one.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book, 1910. Vol. IX.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Hablot K. Browne ("Phiz"). 8 coloured plates. London and Edinburgh: Caxton and Ballantyne, Hanson, 1910.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Hablot K. Browne ("Phiz"). The Clarendon Edition, ed. Alan Horsman. Oxford: Clarendon, 1974.

Created 11 February 2022