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Florence's Plight
Harry Furniss
1910
14.5 x 9.5 cm, framed
Dickens's Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son: Wholesale, Retail, and for Exportation, the Charles Dickens Library Edition, IX, facing 80.
"I have had my clothes taken away, since — and I am not dressed in my own now — and my name is Florence Dombey, my little brother’s only sister — and, oh dear, dear, take care of me, if you please!"
[Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
"I am lost, if you please!" said Florence.
"Lost!" cried the boy.
"Yes, I was lost this morning, a long way from here — and I have had my clothes taken away, since — and I am not dressed in my own now — and my name is Florence Dombey, my little brother’s only sister — and, oh dear, dear, take care of me, if you please!" sobbed Florence, giving full vent to the childish feelings she had so long suppressed, and bursting into tears. At the same time her miserable bonnet falling off, her hair came tumbling down about her face: moving to speechless admiration and commiseration, young Walter, nephew of Solomon Gills, Ships’ Instrument-maker in general.
Mr. Clark stood rapt in amazement: observing under his breath, I never saw such a start on this wharf before. Walter picked up the shoe, and put it on the little foot as the Prince in the story might have fitted Cinderella’s slipper on. He hung the rabbit-skin over his left arm; gave the right to Florence; and felt, not to say like Richard Whittington — that is a tame comparison — but like Saint George of England, with the dragon lying dead before him.
"Don’t cry, Miss Dombey," said Walter, in a transport of enthusiasm. "What a wonderful thing for me that I am here! You are as safe now as if you were guarded by a whole boat’s crew of picked men from a man-of-war. Oh, don’t cry."
"I won’t cry any more," said Florence. "I am only crying for joy." [Chapter 6, "Paul's Second Deprivation," 78]
Fred Barnard's frontispiece for the Household Edition:
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 23 December 2019