THE PUZ Z LE OF

DICKE NS’S LAST PLOT

ANDRE W LANG

LO NDO N

CHAPMAN HALL,

Ln .

I905

INTRODUCTION

lEORSTE R tel l s us that Dickens,i n his

ater novel s,from Bleak Home o nwards

“assiduously cultivated con

truct ion,

“this essential of h is art .

Some cri t i cs may think,that s ince so

many of the best novels in the world“ have no outl ine

,or

,i f they have an

outl ine,i t i s a demned outl ine

,

” elaborate

construction is not absolutely “ essential .

Real ly essential are character,

“ atmo

sphere,humour.

But as,in the natural changes of l ife ,

and under the strain of restless and un

satisfied act ivi ty,his old buoyancy and

unequal led high spiri ts deserted Dickens

he certain ly wrote no longer in what24773 5

10

(‘r

'i Int roduc t io n

Scott,speaking of himsel f

,cal ls th

manner of “ hab nab at a venture . H

constructed elaborate plots,rich in secret

and surprises . He emulated the mann

of Wilkie Col l ins,or even of Gabo ria

while he combined with some of

elements of the detective novel,or 70mm

pal icz'

eif , careful s tudy of character

Except f ed a‘ E xpecmfiom,

none of h

later tales rivals in meri t h is ear

picaresque stories of the road,such as

Pi c/37056 13 andN{aka/asNi t /31 6637.

“Youth

wil l be served ;” no sedulous care could

compensate for the exuberance Of “ the

first sprightly runn ings . In the early

books the melodrama of the plot,the

secrets of Ralph Nickleby ,of Monk

,of

Jonas Chuzz lewit,were the least of t he

i nnumerable attractions . But Dickens

was more and more drawn towards the

secret that exci tes curios i ty,and to the

game of hide and seek with the reader

In t ro du c t io n

who tried to anticipate the solution of

the secret .

In Apri l,1 869 , Dickens , outworn by the

strain of his American readings ; of that

labour ach ieved under painful conditions

of ominously bad health— found himself,

as S ir Thomas Watson reported,

“ on the

brink of an attack of paralys is of his l eft

s ide,and possibly of apoplexy . He there

fore abandoned a new series of Readings .

We think of Scott ’s earl ier seizures of

a s imi lar kind,after which Pet/em'

,he

said,

“ smacked of the apoplexy . But

D i ckens ’s new story of The My si eifyof E dwin Brood

,first contemplated in

July,1 869 ,

and altered in character by

the emergence of “a very curious and new

idea,

” early in August,does not smack

of the apoplexy . We may think that

the mannerisms of Mr . Honeythunder ,the ph i lanthropist

,and of Miss Twinkle

ton,the schoolmistress

,are not in the

viii Introdu c t ion

author ’s best vein of humour .

“ The

Bi ll ickin ,on the other hand

,the lodging

house keeper,i s “ i n very gracious fool

ing : her un looked-for sal l ies in skir

mishes with M iss Twinkleton are rich in

mirthful surprises . Mr . Grewgious may

be caricatured too much,but not out of

reason ; and Dickens , always good at

boys,presents a gamifl ,

i n Deputy,who

i s in not unpleasant contrast w i th the

pathetic Jo of Bleak Home . Opin ions

may differ as to Edwin and Rosa,but the

more closely one studies Edwin,the

better one thinks of that character. As

far as we are al lowed to see Helena

Landless,the restraint which she puts

on her tigerish blood is admirable : she

i s very fresh and original . The vi l lain

i s al l that melodrama can desire,but

what we do miss,I think

,i s the atmo

sphere of a smal l cathedral town . Here

there is a lack of softness and del icacy of

Int roduc t io n ix

treatment : on the other hand , the Opium

den is stud ied from the l ife .

On the whole,Dickens himself was

perhaps most interested in his plot,his

He threw

spoke to h is s ister-in-law,Miss Hogarth

,

about his fear that he had not sufficiently

concealed his tracks in the latest

numbers . Yet,when he d ied in June

,

1 870 ,l eaving three completed numbers

sti l l unpubl i shed,he left h is secret as a

puzz le to the curious . Many efforts

have been made to decipher his purpose,

especial ly his intentions as to the hero .

Was Edwin Drood ki l led,or d id he

escape ?

By a coincidence,i n September

,1 869 ,

Dickens was working over the late Lord

Lytto n’

s tale for Al l i ke Year Round,

“The Disappearance of John Ackland

,

”

x Int rodu ction

for the purpose of mysti fying the reader

as to whether Ackland was al ive or dead .

But he was conspicuously defunct ' (Al l

i ke Year Round,September— October ,

1 869)The most careful of the attempts at

a reply about Edwin,a study based on

deep knowledge of Dickens,i s “Watched

by the Dead,by the late ingenious

Mr. R . A . Proctor This book,

to which I owe much aid,i s now

out of print . In 1 905 , Mr. CumingWalters revived “ the auld mysterie ,i n h i s “ Clues to

‘

Dickens ’s Edwin

Drood (Chapman Hal l and Hey

wood,Manchester). From the solution

of Mr . Walters I am obl iged to d issent .

Of Mr . Proctor’s theory I offer some

necessary corrections,and I hope that I

have unravel led some skeins which Mr .

Proctor left in a state of tangle . As one

read and re-read the fragment,points

Int roduc t ion xi

very dark seemed,at least

,to become

suddenly clear : especial ly one appeared

to understand the meaning half-revealed

and half-concealed by Jasper ’s babbl ings

under the influence of opium . He saw

in his vis ion,

“i kai

,I never saw ikezi

before .

” We may be sure that he was

to see “Me t” i n real l i fe We must re

member that according to Forster,such

was Dickens s interest in th ings super

natural that,but for the strong restrain ing

power of his common sense

,he might

have fal len into the fol l ies of spiri tual ism .

His i nterest i n such matters certainlype eps out in th is novel— there are two

ecimens of the supernormal— and he

have gone to the l imited extent

ch my hypothes is requires . I f I

right,D i ckens went further

,and

ed wo rse,i n the too material premoni

ns of “The Signalman in Mugéy

Int rodu c t ion

With thi s brief preface,I proceed to

the analys is of Dickens ’s last plot . Mr.

Will iam Archer has kindly read the proof

sheets and made valuable suggestions ,but is respon s ible for none of my

theories .

ANDRE W LANG.

ST. ANDRE WS,

September 4, 1 905 .

THE PUZ Z LE OF

D ICKE NS’S LAST PLOT

THE STORY

DRAMATIS PE RSONZ—E

FOR the d iscovery of D ickens ’ s secret i n

E dwin D r ood i t i s necessary to obtain a

clear View of the characters in the tale ,and of their relations to each other .

About the middle of the n ineteenth

century there l ived in Clo isterham,a

cathedral c i ty sketched from Rochester ,a young Un ivers i ty man

,Mr. Bud , who

had a friend Mr . Drood,one of a firm

of engineers— somewhere . They were“ fast friends and old col lege companions .

B

Both marr ied young . M r . Bud wedded

a lady unnamed , by whom he was the

father of one chi ld , a daughter , Rosa Bud .

Mr . Drood , whose wife’s maiden name

was Jasper,had one son ,

Edwin Drood .

Mrs . Bud was drowned in a boat ing

accident , when her daughter , Rosa, was

a ch i ld . Mr. Drood , already a widower

and the bereaved Mr . Bud “ betrothed

the two chi ldren,Rosa and Edwin

,and

then expired,when the orphans were

about seven and eleven years old . The

guard ian of Rosa was a lawyer,Mr.

Grewgious,who had been in love with

her mother. To Grewgious Mr. Budentrusted hi s wife ’s engagement ring

,

rubies and diamonds,which Grewgious

was to hand over to Edwin Drood,i f,

when he attained his majori ty,he and

Rosa decided to marry.

Grewgious was apparently legal agent

for Edwin , while Edwin’s maternal uncle

,

Dickens’

s Last Plo t 3

John Jasper (aged about s ixteen when

the male parents d ied), was Edwin’s

“ trustee,as wel l as his uncle and de

voted friend . Rosa ’s l ittle fortune was

an annu ity producing £2 50 a-year

Edwin succeeded to his father ’s share in

an engineering firm .

When the story opens,Edwin is nearly

twenty-one,and is about to proceed to

Egy pt , as an engineer . Rosa, at school

i n Clo isterham, i s about seventeen ; John

Jasper is twenty-s ix . He is conductor

of the Choir of the Cathedral,a “ lay

precentor ; he is very dark , with thick

black whiskers , and , for a number of

years,has been a victim to the habit of

opium smoking. He began very early.

He takes thi s drug both in his lodgings,

over the gate of the Cathedral,and in a

den in East London,kept by a woman

nicknamed “ The Princess Puffer. This

hag,we learn

,has been a determ ined

4 The Puzzle of

d runkard,

I drank heaven ’

s-hard ,for s ixteen years éefone she took to opium .

I f she has been deal ing in opium for ten

years (the exact period i s not stated), she

has been very disreputable for twenty-s ix

years,that i s ever s ince John Jasper ’s

birth . M r . Cuming Walters suggests

that she is the mother of John Jasper,

and,therefore

,maternal grandmother of

Edwin Drood . She detests her cl ient,

Jasper,and plays the spy on h is move

ments,for reasons unexplained .

Jasper i s secretly in love with Rosa,

the fi ancee of his nephew, and his own

pupi l i n the musical art . He makes her

aware of his pass ion , s i lently, and she

fears and detests h im , but keeps these

emotions private . She is a saucy school

girl,and she and Edwin are on uncom

fo rtable terms : she does not love him,

whi le he perhaps does love her, but i s

annoyed by her manner, and by the

Dickens’

s Last Plot 5

gossip about thei r betrothal . “The

bloom is off the plum of thei r pre

arranged loves,he says to h is friend

,

uncle,and confidant

,Jasper

,whose own

concealed pass ion for Rosa is of aferocious and homicidal character. Rosa

i s aware of th is fact ; a glaze comes

over h is eyes,

” sometimes,she says , and

he seems to wander away into a frightfu l

sort of dream,i n which he threatens most .

The man appears to have these

frightful dreams even when he i s no t

under opium .

OPE NING OF THE TALE

The tal e opens abruptly with an opium

bred vis ion of the tower of Clo isterham

Cathedral,beheld by Jasper as he awakens

in the den of the Princess Puffer,between

a Chinaman,a Lascar

,and the hag her

self. This Cathedral tower, thus early

6 The Puzzle of

and emphatical ly introduced , i s to play‘

a great but more or less mysterious part

i n the romance : that i s certain . Jasper ,waking

,makes experiments on the talk

of the old woman,the Lascar and China

man in the i r s leep . He pronounces i t x

“ unintel l igible,which satisfies h im that

hi s own babble,when under opium,

must be un intel l igible also . He is , pre

sumably, acquainted with the languages

of the eastern coast of Ind ia,and with

Chinese,otherwise

,how could he hope

to understand the sleepers ? He is being

watched by the hag,who hates him .

Jasper returns to Clo isterham,where we

are introduced to the Dean,a nonent ity

,

and to Minor Canon Crisparkle,a mus

cu lar Christian in the pink of train ing,

a class ical scholar,and a good honest

fel low . Jasper gives Edwin a dinner,

and gushes over “ his bright boy,

” a l ively

lad,ful l of chaff

,but also ful l of confid ing

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8 The Puzzle of

ana’a gracions keaa

’of long,

lkick, fair

kain,long

,though we learn i t has just

been cut . He wears a soft slouched hat ,and the pea-coat of the per iod .

SAPSEA AND DURDLE S

Next, Jasper and Sapsea , a pompous

ass,auctioneer

,and mayor

,s it at their

wine,expecting a third guest . Mr .

Sapsea reads h is absurd epitaph for his

late wife, who i s buried in a Monu

ment,

” a vaul t of some sort in the

Cathedral churchyard . To them enter

Durdles,a man never sober, yet trusted

w i th the key of the crypt,

“ as contractor

for rough repairs . In the crypt “ he

habitual ly sleeps off the fumes of l iquor .

Of course no Dean would entrust keys

to th is incred ibly d iss ipated,d irty

,and

in solent creature, to whom Sapsea gives

the key of h is vault , for no reason at al l ,

Dickens’

s Last Plot 9

as the epitaph,of course

,i s to be en

graved on the outs ide,by Durd les

’

s men .

However,Durdles ins ists on gett ing the

key of the vault : he has two other large

keys . Jasper , trifl i ng with them ,keeps

cl inking them together,so as to know

,

even in the dark,by the sound

,which

is the key that opens Sapsea’

s vault,i n

the rai led-off burial ground,bes ide the

cloister arches . He has met Durdles at

Sapsea’

s for no other purpose than to

obtain access at wi l l to Mrs . Sapsea’

s

monument . Later in the even ing Jasper

finds Durdles more or less drunk,and

being stoned by a ga in in ,

“ Deputy,a

retainer of a tramp ’s lodging - house .

Durdles fees Deputy,i n fact

,to drive

h im home every n ight after ten . Jasper

and Deputy fal l i nto feud,and Jasper

has thus a new,keen

,and omnipresent

enemy . As he walks with Durdles that

worthy explains ( in reply to a question

1 0 The Puzzle of

by Jasper), that , by tapping a wall , even

if over s ix feet thick , with his hammer ,he can detect the nature of the contents

of the vault,

“ sol id in hol low,and ins ide

sol id,hol low again . O ld ’

un crumbled

away in stone coffin,in vault . He can

also d iscover the presence of “ rubbish

left i n that same six foot space by

Durdles’

s men . Thus,i f a foreign body

were introduced into the Sapsea vault,Durdles could detect i ts presence by

tapping the outs ide wal l . As Jasper’

s

purpose clearly is to introduce a foreign

body— that of Edwin who stands between

him and Rosa— i nto Mrs . Sapsea’

s vault ,this “ gift of Durdles is

,for Jasper

,

an uncomfortable d iscovery . He goes

home , watches Edwin asleep, and smokesopium .

Dickens’

s Last Plo t 1 1

THE LANDLE SSE S

Two new characters are now introduced,

Nevi l le and Helena Landless,

' twins,

orphans , of Cingalese extraction , probably

Euras ian ; very dark , the gi rl“ almost

of the gipsy type ; both are “ fierce of

look .

” The young man i s to read with

Canon Crisparkle and l ive with h im ; the

girl goes to the same school as Rosa .

The education of both has been utterly

neglected ; i nstruction has been den ied

to them . Nevi l le explains the cause of

thei r fierceness to Cri sparkle . I n Ceylon

they were bul l ied by a cruel stepfather

and several t imes ran away : the girl was

the leader,always “ dressed as a key ,

ana’

skewing i‘ke dar ing of a man . Edwin

Drood ’s ai r of superci l ious ownersh ip of

Landless is not “Lackland, but a formofde Laundeles,

a Lothian name of the twelfth century, merged later inthat ofOrmistoun .

1 2 The Puzzle of

Rosa Bud (ind icated as a faul t of youth

and circumstance,not of heart and cha

racter), i rr i tates Nevi l le Landless , who

fal ls in love with Rosa at first s ight . As

Rosa s ings,at Crisparkle

’

s , while Jasper

plays the piano,Jasper ’s fixed stare pro

duces an hysterical fit i n the girl,who

is soothed by Helena Landless . Helena

shows her avers ion to Jasper,who , as

even Edwin now sees,frightens Rosa .

“You would be afraid of him ,

under

s imi lar ci rcumstances,wouldn ’t you

,Miss

Landless ? asks Edwin .

“ Not under

any circumstances,answers Helena

,and

Jasper “ thanks Miss Landless for th is

vind ication of h i s character .

The girls go back to thei r school,

where Rosa explains to Helena her

horror of Jasper ’s s i lent love-making '

I feel that I am never safe from him

a glaze comes over his eyes and he

seems to wander away into a frightful

Dickens’

s Last Plo t 1 3

sort of dream in which he threatens

most,as al ready quoted . Helena thus ,

and she alone , except Rosa , understands

Jasper thoroughly . She becomes Rosa’s

protectress .

“ Lei wkoinsoef

oen i i in osl

concennea’ look well l o i i .

”

Thus Jasper has a new observer and

enemy,i n addition to the omnipresent

street boy,Deputy

,and the detect ive old

hag of the opium den .

Leaving the Canon ’s house,Nevi l le

and Edwin quarrel violently over Rosa,

i n the open air ; they are fol lowed by

Jasper,and taken to h is house to be

reconci led over glasses of mulled wine .

Jasper drugs the wine,and thus pro

vokes a violent scene ; next day he tel l s

Crisparkle that Nevi l l e i s murderous .There is something of the t iger in hi s

dark blood . He spreads the story of

thefracas i n the town .

1 4; The Puzzle of

MR . GREWGIOUS

Grewgious,Rosa ’s guard ian

,now comes

down on business the girl fai ls to explain

to him the unsatisfactory relat ions between

her and Edwin : Grewgious i s to return

to her “ at Christmas,

” i f she sends for

h im,and she does send . Grewgious , an

angular man,al l duty and sent iment

(he had loved Rosa’s mother), has an

interview with Edwin ’s trustee, Jasper, for

whom he has no enthusiasm,but whom

he does not in any way suspect . They

part on good terms,to meet at Christmas .

Crisparkle , with whom Helena has fal len

suddenly in love, arranges with Jasper

that Edwin and Landless shal l meet and

be reconci led , as both are wil l ing to be ,at a d inner in Jasper ’s rooms , on Christ

mas Eve . Jasper, when Crisparkle pro

poses th is,denotes by his manner “ some

close internal calculat ion . We see that

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1 6 The Puzzle of

a gloomy wr i ter of an amateur unacted

tragedy . Edwin is to return the ring to

Grewgious,i f he and Rosa decide not to

marry . The ring is in a case,and Edwin

places it in h is breast . We must

understand,i n the breast-pocket of hi s

coat : no other interpretat ion wi l l pass

muster . “ Her ring— wil l i t come back

to me ? reflects the mournful Grewgious .

THE UNACCOUNTABLE E'PED ITION

Jasper now tel ls Sapsea,and the Dean

,

that he i s to make “ a moonl ight expe

dit ion with Durdles among the tombs,

vaults,towers

,and ruins to-n ight . The

impossible Durdles has the keys meces

sary for this,

“ surely an unaccountable

e

The moon seems to rise on this n ight at

about p m. Jasper takes a big case

bott le of l iquor— drugged , of course— and

Dickens’

s Last Plo t 1 7

goes to the den of Durdles . I n the yard

of this inspector of monuments he i s

bidden to beware of a mound of quick

l ime near the yard gate . “With a l i ttle

handy stirring,quick enough to eat your

bones,says Durdles . There i s some con

s iderable d istance between this “ mound

of quickl ime and the crypt,of which

Durdles has the key,but the interven ing

space is qu ite empty of human presence , as

the cit izens are unwi l l ing to meet ghosts .

In the crypt Durdles drinks a good

deal of the drugged l iquor .

“ They

are to ascend the great Tower , and

why they do that i s part of the Mystery ,though not an insoluble part . Before

they cl imb,Durdles tel l s Jasper that he

was drunk and asleep in the crypt,last

Christmas Eve,and was wakened by

the ghost of one terrific shriek,fo llo ived

by the ghost of the how l of a dog,a long

dismal , woeful howl , such as a dog gives

1 8 The Puzzle of

when a person ’s dead . Durdles has

made inquiries and,as no one else heard

the shriek and the howl , he cal ls these

sounds “ ghosts .

They are obviously meant to be under

stood as supranormal premonitory sounds ;of the nature of second s ight

,or rather of

second hearing . Forster gives examples

of Dickens ’s tendency to bel ieve i n such

premonit ions : Dickens had himsel f a

curious premonitory dream . He con

s iderably~

overdid the premonitory bus i

ness in his otherwise excel lent story , Tke

Signalman ,or so i t seems to a student

of these things . The shriek and howl

heard by Durdles are to be repeated,we

see , i n real l i fe, later, on a ChristmasE ve . The question is — when ? More

probably nol on the Christmas Eve just

imminent,when Edwin is to van ish

,but

on the Christmas Eve fo l lowing,when

Jasper is to be unmasked .

Dickens’

s Last Plot 1 9

All th is whi le , and later , Jasper exa

mines Durdles very closely,studying the

effects on him of the drugged drink .

When they reach the top of the tower,

Jasper closely contemplates that st i l lest

part of i t (the landscape)“which the

Cathedral overshadows ; but he contem

plates Durdles quite as curiously .

There i s a motive for the scrutiny in

either case . Jasper examines the part of

the precincts in the shadow of the Cathe

dral,because he wishes to assure h imsel f

that i t is lonely enough for his later un

described but eas i ly guessed proceedings

in this n ight of mystery . He wi l l have

much to do that could not brook wit

nesses,after the drugged Durdles has

fal len sound asleep . We have already

been assured that the whole area over

which Jasper is to operate i s “ utterly

deserted,

”

even when it l ies in ful l moon

l ight,about pm .

“One m ight fancy

2 0 The Puzzle of

that the t ide of l i fe was stemmed by Mr .

Jasper ’s own gate-house . The people of

Clo isterham,we hear

,would deny that

they bel ieve in ghosts ; but they give th is

part of the precinct a wide berth (Chapter

'II) . I f the region is utterly deserted

at n ine o ’clock in the even ing,when i t l ies

in the ivory moonl ight,much more wi l l i t

be free from human presence when i t l ies

in shadow,between one and two o ’

clock

after midnight . Jasper, however, from

the tower top closely scrut in izes the area

of his future operat ions . I t is,probably

,

for this very purpose of d iscovering

whether the coast be clear or not,that

Jasper cl imbs the tower .

He watches Durdles for the purpose

of finding how the drug which he has

admin istered works , with a view to future

operat ions on Edwin . Durdles i s now

in such a state that “he deems the ground

so far below on a level with the tower,

Dickens’

s Last Plo t 2 1

and would as l ief walk off the tower i nto

the air as not .

All this i s apparently meant to suggest

that Jasper,on Christmas Eve

,wil l repeat

h is exped it ion,wi lk Belwin

,whom he wil l

have drugged,and that he wi l l al low

Edwin to “ walk off the tower into the

air . There are later suggest ions to the

same effect,as we shal l see, but they are

°

slead ing. There are also

w

The pair return to the crypt,Durdles

fal ls asleep,dreams that Jasper leaves

him,

“ and that something touches him

and something fal ls from his hand . Then

something cl inks and gropes about , and

the l ines of moonl ight sh ift their d i rect ion ,as Durdles finds that they have real ly

2 2 The Puzzle of

done when he wakens,with Jasper bes ide

h im,while the Cathedral clock strikes

two . They have had many hours,not

less than five , for their exped it ion . The

key of the crypt l ies bes ide Durdles

on the ground . They go out,and as

Deputy begins stone-throwing,Jasper

half strangles h im .

PURPOSE OF THE E'PED ITION

Jasper has had ample t ime to take

model s i n wax of al l Durdles’

s keys .

But he could have done that in a few

minutes , whi le Durdles s lept , i f he had

wax with h im,without leaving the

crypt . He has also had t ime to con

vey several wheelbarrowfuls of quickl ime

from Durdles’

s yard to Mrs . Sapsea’

s

sepulchre,of which monument he pro

bably took the key from Durdles,and

tried its identity by cl inking . But even

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2 4. The Puzzle of

Edwin and Rosa meet,and have sense

enough to break off their engagement .

But Edwin,represented as real ly good

hearted , now begins to repent his past

behaviour,and

,though he has a kind

of fancy for Miss Landless,he pretty

clearly fal ls deeper in love with his late

fi ancee, and weeps his loss in private : so

we are told .

CHRISTMAS E 'E

Christmas Eve comes,the day of the

dinner of three , Jasper, Landless , and

Edwin . The chapter describing this

fateful day (xiv .) i s headed , Wken skall

lkese Tknee in eei¢ Again and Mr.

Proctor argues that Dickens intends that

they skal l meet again . The intent ion,

and the hint,are much in Dickens ’s

manner . Landless means to start , next

day,very early

,on a sol itary walking

Dickens’

s Last Plot 2 5

tour, and buys an exorbitantly heavy

stick . We casual ly hear that Jasper

knows Edwin to possess no jewel lery,

except a watch and chain and a scarf-pin .

As Edwin moons about,he finds the old

opium hag,come down from London

,

“ seeking a needle in a bottle of hay,

”

she says— that is,hunting vain ly for

Jasper.

Please remark that Jasper has run

up to town,on December 23,

and has

saturated his system with a debauch of

Opium on the very eve of the day when

he clearly means to ki l l Edwin . This

was a most injudicious indulgence,i n the

ci rcumstances . Amaiden murder needs

nerve ' We know that “ fiddlestrings

was weakness to express the state of

Jasper ’s “ nerves on the day after the

night of opium with which the story

opens . On December 24, Jasper returned

home,the hag at h is heel s . The old

2 6 The Puzzle of

woman,when met by Edwin , has a

curious fi lm over her eyes ;“ he seems to

know her . Great heaven,he th inks

next moment . “ Like Jack that n ight '

This refers to a kind of fit of Jasper’

s ,after d inner

,on the first even ing of the

story . Edwin has then seen Jack Jasper i n

one of his “ fi lmy seizures . The woman

prays Edwin for three shi l l ings and s ix

pence,to buy opium . He gives her the

money ; she asks h is Christ ian name .

“ Edwin .

” I s “ Eddy a sweetheart ’s

form of that ? He says that he has no

sweetheart . He 1 5 told to be thankful

that h i s name i s not Ned . Now,Jasper

alone cal l s Edwin “ Ned .

‘ Ned ’ i s

a threatened name , a dangerous name ,”

says the hag,who has heard Jasper

threaten Ned in h is opium dreams .

Edwin determines to tel l th i s adventure

to Jasper,ki l l nol on i kis n igkl : to

morrow wil l do . Now,d id he tel l the

Dickens’

s Last Plot 2 7

story to Jasper that n ight,i n the pre

sence of Landless,at d inner ? I f so

,

Helena Landless might later learn the

fact from Nevi l le . I f she knew it , she

would later tel l Mr . Grewgious .

The three men meet and dine . There

i s a fearful storm .

“ Stones are d is

placed upon the summit of the great

tower. Next morn ing , early , Jasper

yel ls to Crisparkle,who is looking out

of his window in M inor Canon Row,

that Edwin has d isappeared . Nevi l le

has already set out on his walking tour.

AFTE R THE D ISAPPEARANCE

Men go forth and apprehend Nevi l le,

who shows fight with hi s heavy st ick .

We learn that he and Drood left Jasper ’s

house at m idn ight,went for ten minutes

to look at the river under the wind,and

parted at Crisparkle’

s door . Nevi l le now

2 8 The Puzzle of

remains under suspicion : Jasper d irects

the search in th e river,on December 2 5 ,

2 6, and 27. On the even ing of December

2 7, Grewgious vis its Jasper . Now,Grew

gions , as we know ,was to be at Clois

terham at Christmas . True, he was en

gaged to d ine on Christmas Day with

Baz z ard,his clerk ; but , thoughtful as he

was of the moody Baz z ard,as Edwin was

leaving Clo isterham he would excuse

himsel f. He would natural ly take a great

part in the search for Edwin,above al l

as Edwin had i n h is possess ion the r ing

so dear to the lawyer. Edwin had not

shown it to Rosa when they determined

to part . He kept i t in h i s br 3 s t,

” and

ut our point,at present

,i s

that we do not know how Grewgious,

Dickens’

s Last Plo t 2 9

to whom this ring was so dear, employed

himsel f at Clo isterham— after Edwin ’s

disappearance— between December 2 5

and December 2 7. On the even ing of

the 2 7th ,he came to Jasper

,saying,

“ I

have jnsz‘

leji‘ Al iss Lana’less. He then

slowly and watchful ly told Jasper that

Edwin ’s engagement was broken off,

whi le the precentor gasped,perspired

,

tore h is hair,shrieked

,and final ly

subsided into a heap of muddy clothes

on the floor . Meanwhi le,Mr . Grewgious

,

calmly observing these phenomena,

warmed his hands at the fire for some

time before he cal led in Jasper ’s landlady .

Grewgious now knows by Jasper ’s

behaviour that he bel ieves h imself to

have committed a superfluous crime,

by murdering Edwin,who no longer

stood between him and Rosa,as thei r

engagement was already at an end .

Whether a Jasper,i n real l i fe, would

30 The Puzzle of

excite h imsel f so much , is another

question . We do not know , as Mr.

Proctor ins ists,what Mr . Grewgious

had been doing at Clo isterham between

Christmas Day and December 27, the

date of his experiment on Jasper ’s nerves .

Mr. Proctor supposes h im to have met

the l iving Edwin,and obtained informa

tion from him,after h i s escape from

a murderous attack by Jasper. Mr .

Proctor ins ists that th is i s the only

explanation of Grewgious’

s conduct,any

other “ is absolutely imposs ible . In

that case the experiment of Grewgious

was not made to gain information from

Jasper ’s demeanour,but was the begin

n ing of his pun ishment,and was intended

by Grewgious to be so .

But D ickens has been careful to

source of Grewgious’

s knowledge . I f

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32 The Puzzle of

with Jasper ’s consequent shriek and fit ,confirms the hypothesis . Thus Grew

gious had information enough , from Miss

Landless,to suggest h i s experiment

Dickens intentional ly made that clear

(though not clear enough for Mr .

Proctor and Mr. Cuming Walters)whi le h is experiment gives h im a moral

certainty of Jasper ’s crime,but yields no

legal evidence .

But does Grewgious know no more

than what Helena,and the fit and shriek

of Jasper,have told him ? I s h is know

ledge l imited to the evidence that Jasper

has murdered Edwi n ? Or does Grew

gions know more,know that Edwin

,i n

some way,has escaped from death ?

That i s D ickens ’s secret . But whereas

Grewgious, i f he bel ieves Jasper to be

an actual murderer,should take h im

seriously ; i n poin t of fact , he speaks of

Jasper in so l ight a tone, as

“ ou r local

Dickens’

s Last Plo t 33

friend,that we feel no certainty that he

i s not real ly aware of Edwin ’

s escape

from a

'

murderous attack by Jasper,and

of his continued existence .

Presently Cri sparkle , under some mys

terious impress ion , apparently telepath ic

(the book is rich in such psychical pheno

mena), vi s its the weir on the river , at n ight ,and next day finds Edwin ’s watch and

chain in the t imbers ; his scarf-pin in the

pool below . The watch and chain must

have been placed purposely where they

were found,they could not float th i ther

,

and,i f Nevi l le had slain Edwin

,he would

not have stolen hi s property , of course ,except as a bl ind

,neutral ised by the

placing of the watch in a conspicuous spot .

However,the increased suspicions drive

Nevi l le away to read law in Staple Inn,

where Grewgious als o dwel l s,and in

cessantly watches Nevi l le out of h is

window .

34. The Puzzle of

About six months later , Helena Landless i s to jo i n Nevi l le , who i s watched

at intervals by Jasper,who

,again

,i s

watched by Grewgious as the precentor

lurks about Staple I nn .

D ICK DATCHE RY

About the time when Helena leaves

Clo isterham for town,a new character

appears in Clo isterham,

“ a white-headed

personage with black eyebrows,onl l onea

’

no in a i zgkz‘

isk klae snni on l , with a buff

waistcoat,grey trowsers

,and something

of a mil itary air . His shock of white

hai r was unusual ly th ick and ample .

This man,

“ a buffer l iving id ly on his

means,

” named Datchery, i s ei ther, as

Mr . Proctor bel ieved , Edwin Drood , or,as Mr . Walters thinks , Helena Landless .

By making Grewgious drop the remark

that Baz z ard ,his clerk

,a moping owl of

Dickens’

s Last Plo t 35

an amateur traged ian,i s off duty here

,

at his chambers,D ickens hints that

Baz z ard i s Datchery . But that is a mere

false scent,a ruse of the author, scatter

ing paper i n the wrong place,i n this long

paper hunt .

AS for Helena, Mr . Walters j ustly

argues that D i ckens has marked her

for some important part in the ru in

of Jasper . “ There was a slumbering

gleam of fire in her intense dark eyes .

Let whomsoever i t most concerned look

wel l to i t . Again,we have been told

that Helena had high courage . She had

told Jasper that she feared him “ i n no

circumstances whatever . Again,we

have learned that in chi ldhood she had

dressed as a boy when She ran away

from home ; and she had the motives of

protecting Rosa and her brother,Nevi l le

,

from the machinations of Jasper,who

needs watching, as he is trying to ruin

36 The Puzzle of

Nev i l le’s al ready di lapidated character,and

,by spying on him

,to break down

his nerve . Really,of course

,Nev i l l e i s

quite safe . There i s no coffins a’el icl i ,

no carcase of the miss ing Edwin Drood .

For the reasons given,Datchery might

be Helena in d isgu ise .

I f so,the idea i s highly lud icrous

,whi le

nothing is proved either by the blackness

of Datchery’

s eyebrows (Helena’s were

black), or by Datchery’

s habi t of carrying

his hat under his arm,not on his head .

A person who goes so far as to wear a

conspicuous white wig , would not be

afraid also to dye his eyebrows black,i f

he were Edwin ; whi le e i ther Edwin or

Helena i nnsl have made up ” the face,

by the use of paint and sham wrinkles .Either Helena or Edwin would have

been detected in real l i fe,of course

,but

we al low for the accepted fict it ious c0n

vent ion of successful d isguise , and for

Dickens’

s Last Plo t 37

the necess it ies of the novel is t. A tightly

buttoned surtout would Show Helena’s

femin ine figure ; but let that also pass .

As to the hat,Edwin ’s own hai r was

long and thick : add a wig, and his hat

would be a burden to him .

What is most unl ike the stern , fierce ,sentent ious Helena

,i s Datchery

’

s habi t

of “chaffing.

” He fools the ass of a

Mayor,Sapsea

,by most exaggerated

deference : his tone i s always that of

indolent mockery,which one doubts

whether the “ i ntense ” and concentrated

Helena could assume . He takes rooms

i n the same house as Jasper,to whom

,

as to Durdles and Deputy, he introduces

himself on the n ight of h is arrival at

Clo isterham. He afterwards addresses

Deputy,the l i ttle ga in in ,

by the name“Winks

,which is given to him by the

people at the Tramps ’ lodgings the name

is a secret of Deputy ’s .

38 The Puzzle of

JASPE R,ROSA

,AND TARTAR

Meanwhi le Jasper formal ly proposes to

Rosa,i n the school garden : stand ing

apart and lean ing against a sundial , as

the garden is commanded by many win

dows . He offers to res ign h is hopes of

bringing Landless to the gal lows (perhaps

this bad man would provide a conpns

a’el icl i of h is own making ') i f Rosa wi l l

accept him : he threatens to “ pursue her

to the death,

” i f she wi l l not ; he frightens

her so thoroughly that she rushes to

Grewgious in h is chambers in London .

She now suspects Jasper of Edwin ’s

murder, but keeps her thoughts to

hersel f. She tel ls Grewgious,who is

watching Nevi l le,

—“ I have a fancy for

keeping him under my eye,

” that Jasper

has made love to her,and Grewgious

repl ies i n a parody of “ God save the

K ing

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The Puzzle of

Rosa . Tartar is a miraculously agi le

cl imber over roofs and up wal ls , a ret i red

Lieutenant of the navy,and a handy

man,being such a cl imber, to chase

Jasper about the roof of the Cathedral ,when Jasper ’s day of doom arrives .

JASPE R’

s OPIUM 'IS IONS

In July,Jasper revis i ts the London

opium den,and talks under opium

,

watched by the old hag . He speaks of

a th ing which he often does in vis ions“ a hazardous and peri lous journey

,over

abysses where a sl ip would be destruction .

Look down,look down ' You see what

l ies at the bottom there ? ” He enacts

the v i s ion and says ,“ There was a fel low

travel ler. He “ speaks in a whisper,and

as i f in the dark .

” The vis ion is,i n

this case,a poor vi s ion : no struggle

no consciousness of peri l,no entreaty .

Dickens’

s Last Plo t

Edwin,i n the remin iscent vis ion

,dies

very eas i ly and rapid ly .

“When it comes

to be real at last,i t i s so short that i t

seems unreal for the first t ime .

“And

yet I never saw ikai before . Look what

a poor miserable mean thing i t is . Tnal

must be real . It’

s over.

What can al l th is mean ? We have

been told that,shortly before Christmas

E ve, Jasper took to wearing a thick

black-S i lk handkerchief for h is throat .

He hung it over h is arm,

“ his face

kn itted and stern,as he entered h is

house for his Christmas Eve d inner .

If he strangled Edwin with the scarf, as

we are to suppose,he d id not lead him ,

drugged , to the tower top , and pitch him

off. Is part of Jasper ’s vis ion remin is

cent— the brief,unres ist ing death— while

another part i s a separate v i s ion , is

prospecl ive, premon itory ” ? Does he

see himsel f pitching Nevi l le Landless off

The Puzzle of

the tower top,or see him fal len from

the Cathedral roof ? I s Nevi l le’s body

“i kai “ I never saw lkaz

‘ before .

Look what a poor miserable mean th ing

i t i s ' Tko l must be real . ” Jasper“ never saw i ka i

‘— the dead body below

the height— before . Tkis vis ion , I th ink ,i s of the future

,not of the past , and is

DATCHE RY AND THE OPIUM WOMAN

The hag now tracks Jasper home to

C lo isterham. Here she meets Datchery ,

whom she asks how she can see Jasper ?

I f Datchery i s Drood , he now learns ,wkaz

‘

ke a’ia

’nol know oefone , i

‘

kai i kene

i s some connect ion between jasper ana’

eke kag. He walks with her to the

Dickens’

s Last Plo t

place where Edwin met the hag , on

Christmas Eve,and gave her money ;

and he j ingles h is own money as he

walks . The place , or the sound of the

money,makes the woman tel l Datchery

about Edwin ’s gift of three Shi l l ings and

S ixpence for opium . Datchery,

“ with a

sudden change of countenance,gives her

a sudden look . I t does not fol low that

he i s nol Drood , for, though the hag’s

love of opium was known to Drood,

Datchery i s not to reveal hi s recogn it ion

of the woman . He does what any

stranger would do ; he“ gives a sudden

look ,” as i f surprised by the mention of

Opium .

Mr . Walters says ,“ Drood would not

have changed countenance on hearing a

fact he had known s ixmonths previously .

But i f Drood was playing at being some

body else , he would , of course , give a

kind of start and stare,on hearing of

The Puzzle of

the opium . When he also hears from

the hag that her former benefactor’

s

name was Edwin,he asks her how

she knew that “ a fatuously u nneces

sary question,

” says Mr . Walters . A

needless question for Datchery’

s i nforma

t ion,i f he be Drood

,but as usefu l

a quest ion as another i f Drood be

Datchery,and wishes to maintain the

conversation .

DATCHE RY’

S SCORE

Datchery keeps a tavern score of hi s

d iscoveries behind a door,i n cryptic

chalk strokes . He does this,says Mr .

Walters , because , being Helena,he

would betray himself i f he wrote in a

female hand But nobody would wr i l e

secrets on a door ' He adds “ a moderate

stroke,after meeting the hag

,though

,

says M r . Walters , Edwin Drood would

Dickens’

s Last Plo t 4 5

have learned nothing new whatever from

the hag .

But Edwin would have learned some

thing quite new, and very important— that

the hag was hunting Jasper . Next day

Datchery sees the woman shake her fists

at Jasper i n church,and hears from her

that she knows Jasper “ better far than

al l the reverend parsons put together

know him .

”

Datchery then adds a

long th ick l ine to his chalked score,yet

,

says Mr . Walters,Datchery has learned

“ nothing new to Edwin Drood,i f al ive .

This i s an obvious error . I t i s abso

lutely new to Edwin Drood that the

opium hag is int imately acquainted with

his uncle , Jasper, and hates Jasper with

a deadly hatred . All th is i s not only new

to Drood,i f al ive

,but i s rich in promise

of further revelat ions . Drood,on Christ

mas Eve,had learned from the hag only

that she took opium,and that she had

The Puzzle of

come from town to Clo isterham, and had“ hunted for a needle in a bottle of hay .

That was the sum of h is i nformat ion .

Now he learns that the woman knows ,tracks

,has found

,and hates

,his worthy

uncle,Jasper . He may wel l

,therefore

,

add a heavy mark to his score .

We must also ask,How could Helena

,

fresh from Ceylon,know the old tavern

way of keeping scores ? Il legible exceptto the scorer . The scorer not committed

,

the scored debited with what i s against

him,as Datchery observes . An Eura

s ian girl of twenty , new to England,

would not argue thus with hersel f :she would probably know nothing of

Engl ish tavern scores . We do not hear

that Helena ever opened a book : we do

know that education had been den ied to

her. What acquaintance could she havewith old Engl ish tavern customs

I f Drood is Datchery, then D ickens

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The Puzzle of

THEORIES OF THE MYSTERY

F0RSTE R’

s E'IDE NC E

WE have some external evidence as to

D ickens’s solution of h is own problem

,

from Fo rster.

’le On . August 6,

1 869 ,

some weeks before he began to work at

hi s tale,D ickens

,i n a letter

,told Forster

,

I have a very curious and new idea for

my new story . Not communicable (or

the i nterest of the book would be gone),but a very strong one

,though difficult to

work .

” Forster must have instantly asked

that the incommunicable secret should be

communicated to kine , for he tell s us thatineneecl ial ely afl en I learnt — the secret .But d id he learn i t ? D i ckens was i l l

,and

L ife ofD ickens, vol . i ii . pp . 42 5—439.

Dickens’

s Last Plot

his plot,whatever i t may have been , would

be i rritatingly cri t icized by Forster before

i t was ful ly thought out. Pules and

bairns should not see hal f-done work ,and Dickens may wel l have fel t that

Forster should not see work not even

begun,but merely s immering in the

author ’s own fancy .

Forster does not tel l us that D i ckens

commun icated the secret i n a letter .

He quotes none : he says “ I was told,

oral ly,that i s . When he writes , five

years later “ Landless was,I

lkink,to have perished in ass i sting Tartar

final ly to unmask and seize the murderer,

”

he is clearly trusting,not to a letter of

D i ckens ’s,but to a defect ive memory ; and

he knows it. He says that a nephew was

to be murdered by an uncle . The criminal

was to confess in the condemned cel l .

He was to find out that h is crime had

been needless , and to be convicted by

E

5 0 The Puzzle of

means of the ring (Rosa’s mother

’

s ring)remain ing in the quickl ime that had

destroyed the body of Edwin .

Nothing “ new in al l th is,as Forster

must have seen .

“ The original i ty,he

explains,

“ was to cons ist in the review of

the murderer ’s career by h imsel f at the

Close,when i ts temptat ions were to be

dwel t upon as i f,not he the culprit

,but

some other man,were the tempted .

But al l th is is not hard to work,and

i s not “ original . As Mr . Proctor re

marks,D ickens had used that trick twice

already . (“ Madman ’s Manuscript

,i n

Pickwick ;“ Clock Case Confess ion

,i n

Master Hnnefikifey’

s Clock .) The quick

l ime trick i s also very old indeed . The

disguise of a woman as a man is as

ancient as the art of fiction : yet Helena

may be Datchery,though nobody guessed

it before Mr . CumingWalters . She ought

not to be Datchery ; She i s qu i te out

Dickens’

s Last Plot 5 1

of keeping in her speech and mafgpl er

as Datchery,and is much more l ike

Drood .

A NE W IDE A

There are no new ideas in plots . Al l

the stories have been told,and al l

the meri t l ies i n the manner of the

tel l ing. D ickens had used the unsus

pected watcher , as Mr . Proctor shows , i n

almost al l h is novels . I nMar l in Cknez le

wi l,when Jonas finds that Nadgett has

been the watcher , Dickens writes , The

dead man might have come out of h is

grave and not confounded and appal led

h im so Now,to Jasper

,Edwin was

the dead man,

” and Edwin ’s grave con

tained quickl ime . Jasper was sure that

he had done for Edwin : he had taken

Edwi n ’s watch,chain

,and scarf-pin ; he

bel ieved that he had left him,drugged

,i n

5 2 The Puzzle of

quickl ime,i n a locked vault . Conse

quently the reappearance of Edwin,quite

wel l,i n the vault where Jasper had buried

h im,would be a very new idea to

Jasper ; would“confound and appal l

h im . Jasper would have emot ions , at

that spectacle,and so would the reader '

I t i s not every day,even in our age of

s ixpenny novels,that a murderer i s com

pelled to vis i t , alone , at n ight , the vaul t

which holds his vict im ’s “ cold remains,

and therein finds the v ictim come up,

smil ing .

”

Yes , for bus iness purposes , th is idea

was new enough ' The idea was “ difficul t

to work,says D ickens

,with obvious

truth . How was he to get the quickl ime

into the vault,and Drood

,al ive

,out of

the vaul t ? As to the reader,he would at

first take Datchery for Drood , and then

th ink,N0

,that i s imposs ible

,and also is

stale . Datchery cannot be Drood and

Dickens’

s Last Plo t 5 3

thus the reader would remain in a p leasant

state of puzz ledom,as he does , unto th i s

day .

I f E dw 1 n i s dead , there i s not much

Mystery ” about him . We have as good

as seen Jasper strangle him and take his

pin,chain

,and watch . Yet by adroitly

managing the conduct of M r . Grewgious,

D ickens persuaded Mr . Proctor that cer

tain ly Grewgious knew Edwin to be al ive .

AS Grewgious knew ,from Helena , al l that

was necessary to provoke his experiment

on Jasper ’s nerves,Mr . Proctor argued

on false premises,but that was due to

the craft of Dickens . Mr . Proctor re

jected Forster’s report

,from memory

,of

what he understood to be the “ incommu

n icable secret of D ickens ’s plot , and I

think that he was just ified in the rejection .

Forster does not seem to have cared about

the th ing— he refers l ightly to “ the reader

curious in such matters — when once he

54. The Puzzle of

had rece ived his explanation fromD ickens .

His memory,i n the space of five years ,

may have been inaccurate : he probably

neither knew nor cared who Datchery

was ; and he may readi ly have misunder

stood what Dickens told him,oral ly

,about

the ring,as the instrument of detect ion .

Moreover,Forster quite overlooked one

source of evidence,as I shal l Show

later .

MR . PROCTOR’

S THEORY

M r . Proctor’s theory of the story i s

that Jasper, after Edwin’s return at mid

n ight on Christmas Eve,recommended

a warm drink— mul led wine,drugged

and then proposed another strol l of in

spect ion of the effects of the storm . He

then strangled him,somewhere

,and

placed him in the quickl ime in the

Sapsea vault,locked h im in

,and went

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5 6 The Puzzle of

the graveyard,and begin tapping at the

wal l of the vault ? Why not open the

door ? he had the key .

Suppose,however

,al l th i s to have

occurred , and suppose , with Mr . Proctor ,that Durdles and Deputy carried Edwin

to the Tramps ’ lodgings,would Durdles

fai l to recogn ize Edwin ? We are to

guess that Grewgious was present,or

d isturbed at his inn,or somehow brought

into touch with Edwin,and bribed

Durdles to s i lence,unti l a scheme for

the pun ishment of Jasper had been

devised .

”

All this set of conjectures i s crude to

the last degree . We do not know how

D ickens meant to get Edwin into and

out of the vault . Granting that Edwin

was drugged,Jasper might lead Edwin

in,cons idering the l i cence extended to

the effects of drugs in novels,and might

strangle h im there . Above all , how did

Dickens’

s Last Plo t 5 7

Grewgious , i f in Clo isterham,come to be

at hand at midn ight ?

ANOTH E R WAY

I f I must make a guess , I conjecture

that Jasper had one of h i s “fi lmy ” seizures ,was “ i n a frightful sort of dream

,

” and

bungled the murder : made an incom

plete j ob of i t . Hal f-strangled men and

women have often recovered . I n Jasper ’s

Opium vis ion and remin iscence there

was no res istance,al l was very soon over .

Jasper might even bungle the locking

of the door of the vault . He was apt to

have a seizure after opium ,i n moments

of excitement,and ke l i ao’

oeen az‘

i ke

ofi inm a’en lkrong/z ike n igkz

‘ofD ecember

2 3, for the hag tracked him from her house

in town to Clo isterham on December 24,

the day of the crime . Grant that his

accustomed fit came upon him during

5 8 The Puzzle of

the exci tement of the murder, as i t does

come after “ a n icht w i ’ opium , i n

chapter i i . , when Edwin excites h im

by contemptuous talk of the girl whom

Jasper loves so furiously— and then any

thing may happen

Jasper murders Edwin inefficiently ; he

has a fi t ; while he i s unconscious the

quickl ime revives Edwin,by burn ing hi s

hand,say, and , during Jasper

’s swoon,

Edwi n,l ike another famous prisoner

,

has a happy thought,he opens the

door,and walks out . ”

Being d rugged , he i s i n a dreamy

state ; knows not clearly what has o c

curred,or who attacked him . Jasper

revives ,“ look on ’t again he dare not

,

”

— on the body of his Vict im — and l i e

walks out and goes home,where his

red lamp has burned al l the t ime“ th inking it al l wery capital .

Another way ,”

— Jasper not only fai ls

Dickens’

s Last Plot 5 9

to strangle Drood,but fai l s to lock the

door of the vault,and Drood walks out

after Jasper has gone . Jasper has , before

his fi t,

“ removed from the body the

most last ing,the best known

,and most

eas i ly recognizable th ings upon it; the

watch and scarf-pin . So D i ckens puts

the popular view of the case against

Nevi l le Landless,and so we are to

presume that Jasper acted . I f he re

moved no more th ings from the body

than these,he made a fatal oversight .

Meanwhi le,how does Edwin

,once out

of the vault,make good a secret escape

from Clo isterham ? Mr . Proctor invokes

the aid of Mr . Grewgious,but does not

explain why Grewgious was on the spot .

I venture to think i t not inconceivable

that Mr . Grewgious having come down

to Clo isterham by a late train,on

Christmas Eve,to keep his Christmas

appointment with Rosa,paid a darkl ing

60 The Puzzle of

vis i t to the tomb of hi s lost love , Rosa’s

mother. Grewgious was very sent i

mental,but too secret ive to pay such a

v i s i t by dayl ight . “ A night of memories

and sighs ” he might consecrate to hi s

lost lady love,as Landor d id to Rose

Aylmer . Grewgious was to have helped

Baz z ard to eat a turkey on Christmas

Day . But he could get out of that em

gagement . He would wish to see Edwinand Rosa together , and Edwin was leaving

Clo isterham. The date of Grewgious’

s

arrival at Clo isterham i s studiously con

cealed . I offer at least a conceivable

motive for Grewgious’

s poss ible presence

at the churchyard . Mrs . Bud,h is lost

love,we have been told , was buried hard

by the Sapsea monument . I f Grewgious

vis ited her tomb , he was on the spot to

help Edwin,supposing Edwin to escape .

Unl ikel ier th ings occur in novels . I

do not,i n fact, cal l these probable

Dickens’

s Last Plo t 6 1

occurrences i n every-day l i fe , but none ofthe story i s probable . Jasper’s “ weird

seizures are meant tO l ead up to some

i‘

king. They may have been meant to

lead up to the fai lure of the murder and

the escape of Edwin . Of course Dickens

would not have treated these i ncidents ,when he came to make Edwin explain ,nobody else could explain

,i n my

studiously s imple style . The drugged

Edwin himsel f would remember the ci r

cumstances but m i st i ly : his evidence

would be of no value against Jasper.

M r. Proctor next supposes,we saw

,

that Drood got i nto touch with Grew

gious, and I have added the circum

stances which might take Grewgious to

the churchyard . Next,when Edwin re

covered health,he came down

,perhaps ,

as Datchery,to spy on Jasper . I have

elsewhere said,as Mr . Cuming Walters

quotes me,that “ fancy can suggest no

6 2 The Puzzle of

reason why Edwin Drood,i f he escaped

from his wicked uncle,should go Spying

about instead of coming openly forward .

No plaus ible unfantast ic reason could be

invented .

” Later,I shal l explain why

Edwin,i f he is Datchery, might go

spying alone .

I t i s also urged that Edwin left Rosa

in sorrow,and left blame on Nevi l le

Landless. Why do th is ? Mr . Proctor

repl ies that Grewgious’

s i ntense and

watchful interes t i n Nevi l le,otherwise

unexplained,i s due to his knowledge that

Drood is al ive,and that Nevi l le must be

cared for,while Grewgious has told Rosa

that E dwin l ives . He also told her of

Edwin ’s real love of her,hence Miss Bud

says,Poor

,poor Eddy

,

” quite a propos

de kofl es,when she finds herself many

fathoms deep in love with Lieutenant

Tartar,R.N.

“ ‘ Poor,poor Eddy '’

thought Rosa,as they walked along

,

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64. The Puzzle of

what other evidence could be adduced ?

Thus I had worked out Drood ’s con

d ition,i f he really was not ki l led , i n

th is way : I had supposed him to escape ,i n a very mixed frame of mind , when

he would be encountered by Grewgious,

who , of course , could make l i ttle out of

him in his befogged state . Drood could

not even prove that it was not Landless

who attacked h im . The resul t would

be that Drood would l ie low,and later

,

would have reason enough for d isguis ing

himself as Datchery, and playing the

spy i n Clo isterham.

At th is point I was reinforced by an

opin ion which Mr. Will iam Archer had

expressed,unknown to me

,i n a news

paper art icle . I had described Edwin ’s

confused knowledge ofhi s own experience,

i f he were thoroughly drugged,and then

half strangled . Mr. Archer also took

that point,and added that Edwi n being

Dickens’

s Last Plo t 6 5

a good-hearted fel low,and fond of h is

uncle Jasper,he would not bring, or let

Grewgious bring,a terrible charge against

Jasper,t i l l he knew more certainly the

whole state of the case . For that reason,

he would come d isgu ised to,

Clo isterham

and make inquiries . By letting Jasper

know about the ring,he would compel

him to enter the vault , and then , Mr .

Archer th inks,would induce h im to

“ repent and begin l i fe afresh .

”

I scarcely think that Datchery’

s pur

pose was so truly honourable : he rather

seems to be gett ing up a case against

Jasper. Sti l l,the idea of Mr . Archer

i s very plaus ible,and

,at least

,given

Drood ’s need of evidence , and the lack

of evidence against Jasper,we see reason

good , i n a novel of this kind , for h is

playing the part of amateur detect ive .

66 The Puzzle of

D ICKE Ns’

s UNUSE D DRAFT OF A

CHAPTE R

Forster found,and publ ished , a very

i l legible sketch of a chapter of the tale

How Mr . Sapsea ceased to be a Member

of the Eight Club,Told by H imself.

This was a cramped , i nterl ined , and

blotted ” draft,on paper of only half the

s ize commonly used by Dickens . Mr .

Sapsea tel l s how his Club mocked him

about a stranger,who had m i staken him

for the Dean . The jackass,Sapsea

,left

the Club,and met the stranger

,a y onng

man,who fooled him to the top of his

bent,saying

,

“ I f I was to deny that I

came to thi s town to see and hear you,Sir

,

what would i t avai l me ? ” Apparently

thi s paper was a rough draft of an idea

for introducing a detect ive,as a y onng

man , who mocks Sapsea j ust as Datcherydoes in the novel . But to make the spy

Dickens’

s Last Plo t 67

a yonng man , whether the spy was Drood

or Helena Landless,was too d ifficul t ;

and therefore D ickens makes Datchery“ an elderly buffer ” i n a white wig. I f

I am right,i t was eas ier for Helena

,a

girl , to pose as a young man , than for

Drood to reappear as a young man , not

h imself. Helena may be Datchery,and

yet Drood may be al ive and bid ing his

t ime ; but I have disproved my old objec

t ion that there was no reason why Drood,

i f al ive , should go spying about in d is

guise . There were good D i ckens ian

reasons .

A 'UEST I ON OF TASTE

Mr. Cuming Walters argues that the

story i s very tame if Edwin is st i l l al ive ,and left out of the marriages at the close .

Besides,

“ Drood is l i tt le more than a

name-label,attached to a body, a man

6 8 The Puzzle of

who never excites sympathy,whose fate

causes no emotion,he is saved for no

useful or sentimental purpose,and lags

superfluous on the stage . All of whichis bad art

, so bad that D ickens would

never have been gui lty of i t . ”

That i s a quest ion of taste . On re

reading the novel,I see that Dickens

makes Drood as sympathet ic as he can .

He is very young,and speaks of Rosa

with bad taste,but he is real ly in love

with her, much more so than She with

him,and he i s p iqued by her ceaseless

mockery,and by the i r false posit ion . To

Jasper he i s s ingularly tender , and re

morsefu l when he th inks that he has

shown want of tact . There is noth ing

ominous about his gaiety : as to his one

fault,we leave h im

,on Christmas E ve ,

a converted character : he has a kind

word and look for every one whom he

meets,young and o ld . He accepts Mr .

Dickens’

s Last Plot 69

Grewgious’

s very stern lecture in the best

manner poss ible . I n short , he is marked

as faulty I am young , so he excuses

himself,i n the very words of Darn ley

to 'ueen Mary ' ( i f the Glasgow letterbe genuine); but he i s also marked as

sympathetic .

He was,I th ink

,to have a lesson

,and

to become a good fel low . Mr . Proctor

rightly argues (and Forster“ th inks that

D i ckens meant to ki l l Nevi l le Landless

Mr . Cuming Walters agrees with h im ,

but Mr . Proctor truly adds that Edwin

has none of the s igns of Dickens ’s doomed

men,his S idney Cartons

,and the rest .

You can tell,as i t were by the sound of

the voice of Dickens , says Mr . Proctor,that Edwin is to l ive . The impress ion

is merely subject ive,but I feel the im

press ion . The doom of Landless i s

conspicuously fixed,and why is Landless

to be ki l led by Jasper ? Merely to have

70 The Puzz le of

a count on which to hang Jasper ' He

cannot be hanged for ki l l ing Drood,i f

Drood is al ive .

MR . PROCTOR’

S THE ORY CONTINUE D

Mr . Proctor next supposes that Datcheryand others

,by aid of the Opium hag

,have

found out a great deal of ev idence against

Jasper. They have discovered from the

old woman that h is crime was long pre

med itated : he had threatened “Ned in

his opiated dreams : and had clearly

removed Edwin’s trinkets and watch

,

because they would not be destroyed ,with his body

,by the quickl ime . This

i s al l very wel l , but there i s st i l l , so far ,no legal evidence , on my theory, that

Jasper attempted to take Edwin ’s l i fe .

Jasper ’s enemies,therefore

,can only do

their best to make his l i fe a burden to

him,and to give him a good fright

,

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72 The Puzzle of

by that agi le cl imber,Tartar

,and by

Crisparkle,always in the pink of condit ion .

There is now something to hang Jasper

for— the slaying of Landless (though , as

far as I can see,i ka i‘ was done in sel f

defence). Jasper confesses al l ; Tartar

marries Rosa ; Helena marries Crisparkle .

Edwin is only twenty-one,and may

eas i ly find a consoler of the fai r sex :

i ndeed he is ower young to marry yet . ”

The capture of Jasper was fixed,of

course,for Christmas Eve . The phantom

cry fo reheard by Durdles,two years

before , was that of Nevi l l e as he fel l ;and the dog that howled was Nevi l le ’s

dog, a character not yet introduced into

the romance .

MR. CUMING WALTE RS ’

S THEORY

Such is Mr . Proctor ’s theory of the

story,i n which I main ly agree . Mr.

Dickens’

s Last Plot 73

Proctor rel ies on a piece of evidence

overlooked by Forster, and certainly

mis interpreted,as I think I can prove

to a certainty,by Mr . Cuming Walters ,

whose theory of the real conduct of the

plot runs thus : After watching the

storm at midn ight with Edwin,Nevi l le

left h im,and went home : “ his way lay

in an opposite d irect ion . Near to the

Cathedral Jasper intercepted his nephew .

Edwin may have been al ready

drugged . How the murder was worked

Mr . CumingWalters does not say , but he

introduces at th is point,the two sounds

fo reheard by Durdles , without explain ing“ the howl of a dog Durdles would

hear the cries , and Deputy“ had seen

what he could not understand,whatever

it was that he saw . Jasper,not aware

of Drood’s possess ion of the ring,takes

only his watch,chain

,and pin

,which he

places on the t imbers of the weir,and in

74 The Puzzle of

the river,to be picked up by that per

s istent winter-bather,Crisparkle of th

telescopic and micro sc0pic eyes ight .

As to the ring,Mr . Cuming Walters

erroneously declares that Mr . Procto“ ignores ” the power of the ring “ t

hold and drag,and says that potent

passage i s “ without mean ing and mus

be d isregarded . Proctor,i n fact

,give

more than three pages to the mean in

of the ring,which “ drags Jasper int

the vaul t,when he hears of its existence .

Next,Mr . Cuming Walters suppose

Datchery to learn from Durdles,who

he is to vis i t,about the second hearin

of the cry and the dog’s howl . Deput

may have seen Jasper “ carrying hi

burden ”

(Edwin) towards the Sapse

J . Cuming Walters , p. 1 0 2 ; Procto r, pp . 1 3 1- 1 35

Mr. Guming Walters used an edition of 1 896, apparent'a reprint ofa paper by Procto r, written earlier than hifinal book of 1 887. Hence the erro r as to Mr . Procto r’last theo ry.

Dickens’

s Last Plo t 75

vault . I n fact,Jasper probably saved

trouble by making the drugged Edwin

walk into that receptacle . “ Datchery

would not th ink of the Sapsea vault

unaided .

” NO unless Datchery was

Drood ' “ Now Durdles i s useful again .

Tapping with his hammer he would find

a change inquiry must be made .

Why should Durdles tap the Sapsea

monument ? As Durdles had the key,

he would s imply walk into the vault,

and find the quickl ime . Now , Jasper

also,we presume

,had a key

,made from

a wax impress ion of the original . I f he

had any sense,he would have removed

the quickl ime as eas i ly as he inserted i t,

for Mr . Sapsea was mortal : he might

die any day,and be buried

,and then

the qu ickl ime,lying where i t ought not

,

would give rise to awkward inquiries .

I nquiry being made,i n consequence

of Durdles’

s tappings,the ring would

76 The Puzzle of

be found,as Mr . CumingWalters says .

But even then,unless Deputy actual ly

saw Jasper carry a man into the vault ,nobody could prove Jasper ’s connect ion

with the presence of the ring in the

vault . Moreover, Deputy hated Jasper,and if he saw Jasper carrying the body

of a man,on the n ight when a man

d isappeared,he was clever enough to

lead Durdles to examine the vaul t , ai‘

once . Deputy had a great d isl ike of

the Law and i ts officers,but here was

a chance for h im to d ist inguish h imself,

and conci l iate them .

However these things may be,Mr .

Cuming Walters supposes that Jasper,finding himsel f watched

,re-enters the

vaul t , perhaps , to see that every trace

of the crime had been removed . In the

vault he finds— Datchery, that i s , Helena

Landless ' Jasper certain ly vis ited the

vault and found somebody .

No. I' APRIL, 1 870. [Pri ce One ShIlling.

I’

ll l li iUSTRll'

l’

lO

LONDON CHAPMAN HALL,1 93, PICCADILLY.

Adv er t i s emen ts t o b e sen t to th e Pu b h sh er s , an d ADAMS FRANCIS , 69 , Fl ee t St r eet , 1 2 C.

[Tofocep 76 .

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78 The Puzzle of

Sir) Luke Fi ldes undertook the task .

Mr . Coll ins d ied in 1 873 . I t appears

that Forster never asked him the mean ing

of his des igns— a s ingular overs ight .

The cover l ies before the reader. In

the left-hand top corner appears an al le

go rical female figure of joy , with flowers .

The central top Space contains the front

of Clo isterham Cathedral , or rather , the

nave . To the left walks Edwin , with

hyacinth ine locks,and a thoroughly

class ical type of face,and Grecian nose .

Like Dal ckery ,ke cloes not wear , a n

car r ies kis kal ; thi s means nothing , i f

they are in the nave . He seems bored .

On his arm is Rosa ; ske seems bored ;She trai ls her parasol , and looks away

from Edwin , looks down , to' her right.

On the spectator ’s right march the sur

pl iced men and boys of the Choir . Beh ind

them is Jasper,black whiskers and al l ;

he stares after Edwin and Rosa ; his

Dickens’

s Last Plo t 79

right hand hides his mouth . I n the

corner above him is an al legorical female ,Clasping a st i letto .

Beneath Edwin and Rosa is,first

,an

al legorical female figure,looking at a

placard,headed “ LOST

,on a door.

Under that , again , i s a girl i n a garden

chai r ; a young man , whiskerless , with

wavy hair,kneels and kisses her hand .

She looks rather unimpass ioned . I con

ce ive the man to be Landless , taking leave

of Rosa after urging h is hopeless su it,for

which Helena,we learn

,

“ seems to com

He has avowed h ispass ionate him .

’

pass ion,early in the story

,to Cri sparkle .

Below,the opium hag is smoking . On

the other s ide,under the figures of Jasper

and the Choir,the young man who

kneels to the girl is seen bounding up

a Spiral staircase . His left hand is on

the iron rai l ing ; he stoops over i t ,looking down at others who fol low

80 The Puzzle of

him . His right hand,the index finger

protruded,points upward

,and

,by chance

or design,points straight at Jasper in

the vignette above . Beneath th is man

(clearly Landless) fol lows a tal l man in

a “ bowler hat , a“ cut-away coat

,and

trousers which show an inch of white

stocking above the low shoes . His pro

fi le i s h id by the wal l of the spiral

staircase : he might be Grewgious of

the shoes,white stockings

,and Short

trousers,but he may be Tartar : he takes

two steps at a stride . Beneath him a

youngish man,i n a low

,soft

,clerical

hat and a black pea-coat,ascends

,look

ing downwards and backwards . This

i s clearly Cri sparkle . A Chinaman is

smoking opium beneath .

I n the central lowest space,a dark and

whiskered man enters a dark chamber ;his left hand is on the lock of the door ;i n his right he holds up a lantern . The

Dickens’

s Last Plot 8 1

l ight of the lantern reveals a young manin a soft hat of Tyrolese shape . His

features are purely class ical , his nose i s

Grecian,his locks are long (at least ,

according to the taste of to-day) ; he

wears a l ight paletot,buttoned to the

throat ; his right arm hangs by his s ide ;his left hand is thrust into the breast of

his coat . He calmly regards the dark

man with the l antern . That man,of

course , i s Jasper. The young man i s

EDWIN DROOD,of the Grecian nose

,

hyacinthine locks , and class i c features ,as in S ir L . Fi ldes

’

s th ird i l lustration .

Mr . Proctor correctly understood the

unmistakable meaning of th i s last des ign,

Jasper entering the vault

To-a’oy eke dead are l iving,

T/ze lost isfound fo-a’

ay .

Mr . Cuming Walters tel ls us that he

did not examine these designs by Mr .

G

80 The Puzzle of

him . His right hand,the index finger

protruded,points upward

,and

,by Chance

or des ign,points straight at Jasper in

the vignette above . Beneath th is man

(clearly Landless) fol lows a tal l man in

a “ bowler hat,a “

cut-away coat , and

trousers which show an inch of white

stocking above the low shoes . His pro

fi le i s hid by the wal l of the spiral

staircase : he might be Grewgious of

the Shoes,white stockings

,and short

trousers,but he may be Tartar : he takes

two steps at a stride . Beneath him a

youngish man,i n a low

,soft

,clerical

hat and a black pea-coat,ascends

,look

ing downwards and backwards . This

is clearly Cri sparkle . A Chinaman i s

smoking opium beneath .

I n the central lowest space,a dark and

whiskered man enters a dark chamber ;h is left hand is on the lock of the door ;i n his right he holds up a lantern . The

Dickens’

s Last Plo t 8 1

l ight of the lantern reveals a young man

in a soft hat of Tyrolese shape . His

features are purely class ical , his nose i s

Grecian,his locks are long (at least ,

according to the taste of to-day) ; he

wears a l ight paletot,buttoned to the

throat ; his right arm hangs by his s ide ;his left hand is thrust into the breast of

his coat . He calmly regards the dark

man with the l antern . That man,of

course,i s Jasper. The young man i s

EDWIN DROOD,of the Grecian nose

,

hyacinthine locks , and class i c features ,as in S ir L . Fi ldes

’

s th ird i l lustration .

Mr . Proctor correctly understood the

unmistakable meaning of thi s last des ign,

Jasper entering the vault

To-a’

ay ike a’

eaa7are l iving,

T/ze lost isfonna’

ia-o’

ay .

Mr . Cuming Walters tel l s us that he

did not examine these designs by Mr .

G

82 The Puzzle of

Col l ins t i l l he had formed his theory,

and finished his book .

“ On the con

clusion of the whole work the pictures

were referred to for the first t ime , and

were then found to support in the most

striking manner the opin ions arrived at ,namely

,that Drood was ki l led

,and that

Helena is Datchery . Thus does theory

bl ind us to facts '

Mr . Cuming Walters connects the

figure of the whiskerless young man

kneel ing to a girl in a garden seat,with

the whiskered Jasper ’s proposal to Rosa

in a garden seat . But Jasper does

not kneel to Rosa ; he stands apart ,l ean ing on a sundial ; he only once

vaguely “ touches her,which she re

sents ; he does not kneel ; he does not

kiss her hand (Rosa“ took the kiss

sedately,l ike Maud in the poem) ;

and— Jasper had lustrous thick black

whiskers .

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84. The Puzzle of

Jasper ’s lamp,Mr . Cuming Walters

says,

“ the large hat and the t ightly

buttoned surtout must be observed ;they are the art icles of cloth ing on

which most stress is laid in the de

scription of Datchery. But the face is

young . The face of Datchery was

elderly,and he had a huge shock of

white hair,a wig. Datchery wore

“ a

t ight ish blue surtout,with a buff waist

coat and grey trousers ; he had some

thing of a mil itary air . The young

man in the vault has anything but a

mil itary air ; he shows no waistcoat , and

he does not wear “ a t ight ish blue sur

tout,

o r any surtout at al l .

The surtout of the period is shown ,worn by Jasper, i n S ir L . Fi ldes

’

s s ixth

and n i nth i l lustrat ions . I t is a frock

coat ; the col lar descends far below the

top of the waistcoat (buff or otherwi se),displaying that garment ; the coat i s

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86 The Puzzle of

s icken ing under fears engendered by the

darkness of n ight and the charnel-house

air he breathed,Jasper opens the door

of the tomb and holds up his lantern ,shuddering at the thought of what i t

may reveal to him .

“ And what sees he ? I s i t the spiri t

of h is Vict im that stands there,

‘ i n h is

habi t as he l ived,

’ his hand clasped on

his breast,where the ring had been when

he was murdered ? What else can Jasper

deem it ? There,clearly vis ible in the

gloom at the back of the tomb,stands

Edwin Drood,with stern look fixed on

him —pale,s i lent

,relentless '

Again,

“ On the t itle-page are given

two of the smal l pictures from the Love

s ide of the cover,two from the Murder

s ide,and the central picture below ,

which

presents the central horror of the story— the end and aim of the

‘ Datchery

assumption ’ and of Mr . Grewgious’

s

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88 The Puzzle of

MR . WALTE RS’

S TH E ORY CONTINUE D

Mr . Cuming Walters guesses that

Jasper was to aim a dead ly blow (with

his left hand,to j udge from the picture)

at Helena,and that Nevi l le “ was to

give h is l i fe for hers . But,manifestly ,

Nevi l le was to lead the hunt of Jasper

up the spi ral stai r,as in Col l ins ’s des ign ,

and was to be dashed from the roof

his body beneath was to be “i kal

,I

never saw before . Tkal must be real .

Look what a poor mean miserable th ing

it i s ' as Jasper says i n his vis ion .

Mr . Cuming Walters , pursu ing his

idea of Helena as both Datchery and

also as the owner of “ the y onng face

of the youth in the vault (and also of the

young hands,a young girl ’s hands could

never pass for those of “ an elderly

buffer exclaims : “ Imagine the intense

power of the dramat ic cl imax , when

Dickens’

s Last Plot 89

Datchery, the elderly man , is re-trans

formed into Helena Landless , the young

and handsome woman ; and when She

reveals the seemingly impenetrable secret

which had been closed up in one gui lty

man ’s mind .

The S i tuations are startl i ng,I admit

,

but how would Canon Crisparkle l ike

them ? He is,we know

,to marry

Helena,

“ the young person,my dear ,

Miss Twinkleton would say ,

“ who for

months l ived alone,at inns

,wearing

a blue surtout,a buff waistcoat

,and

grey Here horror chokes the

utterance of M iss Twinkleton .

“ Then

she was in the vault in anoiker disguise ,not more womanly

,at that awful scene

when poor Mr . Jasper was driven mad ,so that he confessed al l sorts of nonsense

,

for, my dear , al l the Close bel ieves that

i t was nonsense,and that Mr . Jasper was

reduced to insan ity by persecution . And

90 The Puzzle of

Mr . Crisparkle,with that elegant dainty

mother of his— it has broken her heart

is marrying this hal f—caste gipsy l r ol lop ,

with her blue surtout and grey — oh,i t

i s a d isgrace to Clo isterham

The cl imax,i n fact

,as devised by Mr .

Cuming Walters , is rather too dramatic

for the comfort of a minor canon . A

humorist l ike Dickens ought to have

seen the absurdity of the s ituation . Mr .

Walters may be right , Helena may be

Datchery ,but she ought not to be .

WHo WAS THE PRINC E SS PUFFE R ?

Who was the opium hag,the Princess

Puffer ? Mr . Cuming Walters writes

We make a guess,for Dickens gives

us no sol id facts . But when we remem

ber that not a word is said throughout

the volume of Jasper’

s antecedents,who

he was,and where he came from ; when

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9 2 The Puzzle of

seemingly a model of decorum and

devoted to h is art,he complains of

his “ dai ly drudging round ” and “ the

cramped monotony of his existence .

He commits his crime with the ruthless

ness of a beast,his own nature being

whol ly untamed . I f we deduce that

his father was an adventurer and a

vagabond,we shal l not be far wrong .

I f we deduce that h is mother was the

opium-eater,prematurely aged

,who had

transmitted her vicious propens ity to

her chi ld,we shal l almost certain ly be

right .

WHO WAS JASPE R ?

Who was Jasper ? He was the brother

in-law of the late Mr . Drood , a respected

engineer,and Un ivers i ty man . We do

not know whence came Mrs . Drood ,Jasper ’s s ister, but i s i t l ikely that her

Dickens’

s Last Plot 9 3

mother “ drank heaven ’s-hard — so the

hag says of herself— then took to keeping

an opium den,and there entertained her

son Jasper,already an accompl ished

vocal ist,but in a lower stat ion than

that to which h is mus ical gen ius later

raised h im,as lay Precentor ? I f the

Princess Puffer be , as on Mr . CumingWalters

’

s theory she i s,Edwin ’s long

lost grandmother , her d iscovery would

be unwelcome to Edwin . Probably she

did not l ive much longer ;“ my lungs

are l ike cabbage nets,she says . Mr .

CumingWalters goes on“ Her purpose is l eft obscure . How

easi ly,however, we see poss ibi l i t ies in

a d irect ion such as this The father,

perhaps a proud,handsome man

,deserts

the woman,and removes the chi ld . The

woman hates both for scorn ing her, but

the father dies,or d isappears

,and is

beyond her vengeance . Then the chi ld,

94 The Puzzle of

Victim to the i l l s in his blood,creeps

back to the opium den,not knowing his

mother,but immediately recogn ized by

her . She wi l l make the chi ld suffer for

the s ins of the father,who had destroyed

her happiness . Such a theme was one

which appealed to D ickens . I t must

not,however

,be urged ; and the crucial

quest ion after al l i s concerned with the

opium woman as one of the unconscious

instruments of just ice,aid ing with her

trifle of c ircumstantial ev idence the

Nemes is await ing Jasper .

Another hypothesis— fol lowing on the

Carker theme in ‘ Dombey and Son ’

i s that Jasper,a d issolute and degenerate

man,lascivious

,and heartless

,may have

wronged a chi ld of the woman ’s ; but i t

is not l ikely that Dickens would repeat

the Mrs. Brown story .

”

Jasper, were , father of John Jasper

and of Mrs . Drood , however handsome ,

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9 6 The Puzzle of

make a Poss ibly Jasper

managed to take his own l ife,i n the

cel l poss ibly he was duly hanged .

Jasper,after al l

,was a fai lure as a

murderer,even i f we suppose him to

have strangled his nephew successful ly .

I t i s obvious to the most excruciat ingly

feeble capacity that,i f he meant to get

rid of proofs of the ident ity of Drood ’s

body by means of qu 1 ck1 ime , i t d id notsuffice to remove Drood

’s pin,watch

,and

chain . Drood would have coins of the

realm in his pockets,gold

,S i lver

,bronze .

'uickl ime would not destroy thesemetal l ic objects

,nor would i t destroy

keys,which would eas i ly prove Drood ’s

ident ity . I f Jasper knew his business,

he would , of course, rifle all of Edwin’s

pockets minutely,and would remove the

So Mr. GumingWalters quotes M r. Hughes , who quote sSir L. Fi ldes . He believes that Jasper strangled E dwinwith the black-silk scarf, and , no doubt, Jasper was fo rlong of that opinion himself.

Dickens’

s Last Plo t 9 7

metal l ic buttons of his braces,which

general ly d isplay the maker ’s name,or

the tai lor’s . On research I find “ H .

Poole Co .

,Savi le Row on my

buttons . In th is inquiry of h is , Jasper

would have d iscovered the ring in

Edwin ’s breast pocket,and would have

taken it away . Perhaps Dickens never

thought of that l i ttle fact : i f he d id

think of i t,no doubt he found some

mode of accounting for Jasper’s un

workmanl ike negl igence . The trouser

buttons would have led any inquirer

straight to Edwin ’s tai lor ; I i ncl ine to

suspect that neither Dickens nor Jasper

noticed that Ci rcumstance . The con

scient ious artist in crime cannot afford

to neglect the humblest and most obvious

detai ls .

9 8 The Puzzle of

CONCLUS ION

ACCORD ING to my theory, which mainly

rests on the unmistakable evidence of

the cover drawn by Col l i ns under

Dickens ’s d irect ions,al l “ ends wel l .

Jasper comes to the grief he deserves :

Helena,after her period of mourn ing for

Nevi l le,marries Crisparkle : Rosa weds

her mariner . Edwin,at twenty-one

,i s

not heart-broken,but

,a greatly improved

character,takes

,to quote hi s own words

,

“ a sens ible interest in works of engi

neering ski l l,especial ly when they are

to change the whole condit ion of an

undeveloped country —Egypt .

These conclus ions are inevitable un

l ess we either suppose Dickens to have

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I 0 0 , 55 Plo t

apothecaries in fiction and the drama,

and are a recogn ized convention of

romance .

So ends our unfold ing of the Mystery

of E dw in D ro od .

THE E ND

UNI'E RSITY OF CALIFORNIA L IBRARYBE RKE LE Y

Re turn to desk from wh i ch bo rrowed .

Th i s book is DUE on the las t date s tamped belo w .

HAUG’5BHJ

ZlUNll 2 20051 4MY’62MW

LD 2 1 — l oom

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