"Let me in! Let me in!" — forty-fifth illustration by W. L. Sheppard for Dickens's "Dombey and Son" (American Household Edition, 1873)

"Let me in! Let me in!" by W. L. Sheppard. Forty-fifth illustration for Dickens's Dombey and Son in the American Household Edition (1873), Chapter LIII, "More Intelligence," page 305. Page 305's Heading: "The Broken Toy." 9.3 x 13.7 mm (3 ⅝ by 5 ⅜ inches) framed. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]

Passage Illustrated: Alice Marwood startles Harriet Carker at her window

The room resumed its shadowy terrors, the moment she left it; and she had no more power to divest herself of these vague impressions of dread, than if they had been stone giants, rooted in the solid earth.

It was almost dark, and she was sitting near the window, with her head upon her hand, looking down, when, sensible of a sudden increase in the gloom of the apartment, she raised her eyes, and uttered an involuntary cry. Close to the glass, a pale scared face gazed in; vacantly, for an instant, as searching for an object; then the eyes rested on herself, and lighted up.

“Let me in! Let me in! I want to speak to you!” and the hand rattled on the glass.

She recognised immediately the woman with the long dark hair, to whom she had given warmth, food, and shelter, one wet night. Naturally afraid of her, remembering her violent behaviour, Harriet, retreating a little from the window, stood undecided and alarmed.

“Let me in! Let me speak to you! I am thankful—quiet—humble—anything you like. But let me speak to you.”

The vehement manner of the entreaty, the earnest expression of the face, the trembling of the two hands that were raised imploringly, a certain dread and terror in the voice akin to her own condition at the moment, prevailed with Harriet. She hastened to the door and opened it.

“May I come in, or shall I speak here?” said the woman, catching at her hand.

“What is it that you want? What is it that you have to say?”

“Not much, but let me say it out, or I shall never say it. I am tempted now to go away. There seem to be hands dragging me from the door. Let me come in, if you can trust me for this once!”

Her energy again prevailed, and they passed into the firelight of the little kitchen, where she had before sat, and ate, and dried her clothes.

“Sit there,” said Alice, kneeling down beside her, “and look at me. You remember me?”

“I do.” [Chapter LIII, "More Intelligence," pp. 304-305]

Commentary: Alice Marwood explains her history to Harriet Carker

Fred Barnard's British Household Edition illustration of the consequences of Harriet's inviting Alice in: Still upon her knees, and with her eyes upon the fire (1877).

Dombey haas fired John Carker for what his brother James has done. However, John and his sister, Harriet, may have a protector in a clerk named Morphin, who has worked alongside James Carker at Dombey and Company for years. Morphin knows precisely what financial chicanery James has engaged in.

The night after Morphin's visit to Harriet, she is alone in the house and sitting at her window when Alice startles her with an urgent plea to be admitted. Alice explains to Harriet that when she was young and beautiful, her avaricious mother tried to turn a profit on her daughter's allure. Since their low social class meant that a lucrative marriage was not possible, Mrs. Brown arranged for Alice to become James Carker's mistress. Eventually, of course, he discarded her, and she was forced to beg, prostitute herself, and steal in order to survive on London's streets. Thus reduced to poverty, she was eventually tried for theft and sentenced to Australian transportation. Only recently has she returned. But fate has enabled her through her mother and Rob the Grinder to ascertain Carker's whereabouts and communicate his refuge to the wronged husband. Since then, she has been tormented with guilt at what Dombey may do with her intelligence. Alice tells Harriet that Carker has fled to Dijon, and begs her to find a way to warn him that Dombey is on to him. Then Alice flees the house.

In Sheppard's version of the second meeting of Harriet and Alice, Harriet twists away from the fireplace and towards the window in response to Alice's rapping on the window-pane. Both young women look much as we saw them in their first appearance in the Sheppard sequence, "I used to be handsome once." (Ch. XXXIII). Among the domestic realia suggesting Harriet's middle-class respectability are the vase with flowers, open book, and embroidery upon the table (right) and shelf of books on the dresser (left).

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 25 February 2022