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Mrs. Skewton
Harry Furniss
1910
13.4 x 8.5 cm, vignetted
Dickens's Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son: Wholesale, Retail, and for Exportation, the Charles Dickens Library Edition, IX, facing 353.
Mrs. Skewton, suffering her wrist to droop in what she considered a graceful and becoming manner, dangled her fan to and fro, and lazily admired her hand while speaking.
[Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
"Mr. Dombey," pursued Cleopatra, smoothing the rosy hue upon her cheeks, "accordingly repeated his visit; and possibly finding some attraction in the simplicity and primitiveness of our tastes—for there is always a charm in nature — it is so very sweet — became one of our little circle every evening. Little did I think of the awful responsibility into which I plunged when I encouraged Mr Dombey — to" —
"To beat up these quarters, Ma’am," suggested Major Bagstock.
"Coarse person!" said Mrs. Skewton, "you anticipate my meaning, though in odious language."
Here Mrs. Skewton rested her elbow on the little table at her side, and suffering her wrist to droop in what she considered a graceful and becoming manner, dangled her fan to and fro, and lazily admired her hand while speaking.
"The agony I have endured," she said mincingly, "as the truth has by degrees dawned upon me, has been too exceedingly terrific to dilate upon. My whole existence is bound up in my sweetest Edith; and to see her change from day to day — my beautiful pet, who has positively garnered up her heart since the death of that most delightful creature, Granger — is the most affecting thing in the world."
Mrs. Skewton’s world was not a very trying one, if one might judge of it by the influence of its most affecting circumstance upon her; but this by the way. [Chapter 26, "Shadows of the Past and Future," 379]
Left: Phiz's June 1847 illustration for Chapter 28: Mr. Dombey introduces his daughter Florence. Centre: Fred Barnard's more modelled as d realistic version of the drawing-room scene: "Thank you. I have no desire to read it," was her answer (1877). Right: Sol Eytinge, Junior's contrasting descriptions of the beautiful daughter and her hideous mother: Edith and Mrs. Skewton (1867).
Dickens, Charles. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Fred Barnard. 61 wood-engravings. The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1877. XV.
_______. Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son: Wholesale, Retail, and for Exportation. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. London: Educational Book Company, 1910. IX.
Last modified 31 December 2020