John Galazin: The Tragedy of Edwin Drood
The Penguin Books edition of The Mystery of Edwin Drood includes a lengthy introduction by noted novelist and Dickens scholar Angus Wilson which concludes with:
In fact, all unwillingly, one is always brought back to the simple distress that the book was not finished. We could have known more had Queen Victoria only been more inquisitive. In March 1870, two months and a half before his death, he (Dickens) had been received by the queen in an hour and a half private interview. He wrote afterwards to his friend, Sir Arthur Helps, the Clerk of the Privy Council, ‘If Her Majesty should ever be sufficiently interested in my tale to desire to know a little more of it in advance of her subjects, you know how proud I shall be to anticipate publication.’ Alas, she was not.
As it turns out Dickens wrote a lengthy and sincere thank you note to the queen, as was the custom, and expressed his gratitude for the time she spent with him. He then enclosed a detailed summary of the remainder of Drood and with characteristic humility hoped that Her Majesty would enjoy knowing the outcome of the story prior to publication.
Victoria read the ending of Drood and because she had a great deal of respect for Dickens and also because the premature disclosure of the story’s outcome would, of course, have an adverse financial impact on Dickens and his publisher, she was very careful to keep the mystery a mystery, as it were. And so Queen Victoria bundled Dickens’ letter around the Drood document and in her own hand noted on the letter “Not to be opened until the signature of Charles Dickens is verified.” and affixed her own signature. She then placed the package with her personal correspondence, a most secure location. The queen had no way of knowing that this was the only record of the outcome of Drood.
It must be recalled that the queen was living a very private life in this period. She had lived in virtual seclusion for several years after her husband Prince Albert’s death in 1861. Her eldest son Edward participated in many ceremonial functions on the queen’s behalf and scrupulously guarded his mother’s personal life especially when rumors abounded in 1864 that she was linked romantically with Scottish highlander John Brown. Early tabloid journalists were to keep this relationship in the forefront for 20 years.
Edward succeeded to the throne upon Queen Victoria’s death in 1901 and also became the custodian of his mother’s personal effects including the copies of her personal correspondence. However, these were of no interest to Edward who lived an extravagant lifestyle and traveled frequently in hopes of promoting international understanding. And so the Drood mystery remained unresolved, the solution tucked away in a vault in Buckingham Palace with so many of the late queen’s personal possessions.
Edward died in 1910 and was succeeded by his son George. In the process of taking an inventory, initiated by King George, of royal family documents in early 1912 the court chamberlain William Why came upon Queen Victoria’s Dickens letter and the sealed Drood ending. By this time there had been a frenzy of interest in the unfinished Drood. Within the past year (1911-1912) Henry Jackson had written About Edwin Drood which was followed by W. Robertson Nicoll’s The Problem of Edwin Drood and J. Cuming Walters’ The Complete Mystery of Edwin Drood. Why and King George agreed that the answer to the Drood mystery was likely to be found in the package discovered in Queen Victoria’s personal effects and devised a plan to reveal the contents on the anniversary of Dickens’ death on June 9, 1912.
But first there was the problem of adhering to Victoria’s instruction to verify the Dickens signature before the document could be opened. King George and Why, of course, did not know Victoria’s reason for this instruction but for propriety’s sake the royal family must be seen to have proceeded with all proper decorum in fulfilling the posthumous royal command. But who could they turn to in order to verify Dickens’ signature? His contemporaries and confidants had long since died – John Forster in 1876 and Wilkie Collins in 1889 as well as the individuals Dickens personally worked with among his publishers. And so Why turned to the Dickens family for assistance. Unfortunately, Dickens’ only surviving children, daughter Kate and son Henry Fielding Dickens were touring in America where Henry in the style of his father was performing readings of Charles Dickens’ works to raise money for charity. After a series of hastily delivered messages were exchanged a plan was settled upon: A royal courier would bring the package containing the letter and Drood document to New York where he would be met by Henry Fielding Dickens, who would validate his father’s signature. The courier would immediately return to England so that the denouement of Drood could be announced and published on June 9th.
And so the courier sailed from England in the early spring of 1912 and while at sea he decided to entrust the care of the precious package he was carrying to the captain. Officer Edward Chapman was summoned to the courier’s stateroom and took custody of the documents which he placed in the inside pocket of his overcoat. It was early evening and Chapman was just beginning his duty watch. He decided to bring the package to the captain later on since he, the captain, was at that time probably just sitting down to enjoy the evening’s culinary fare of quail eggs with caviar and lobster thermidor.
Some time later during the clear, cold, quiet night Chapman remembered the envelope and took it out of his coat pocket. But as he did so it slipped from his cold fingers and fell to the deck. Perhaps due to the jostling in and out of his pocket or the effect of the salt air on the glue the entire package had opened and lay at his feet. Chapman scooped up the papers and as he was about to reassemble the package could not but help to see what was the nature of the contents. Almost instantly he realized the importance of what he held in his hands. Chapman, you see, was the grandson of Frederic Chapman, a partner of Chapman and Hall, Dickens’ publishers. Officer Chapman became thoroughly absorbed in reading the conclusion of Edwin Drood as set forth in Dickens’ own hand. And as he finished reading he smiled inwardly knowing that he alone knew the secret which had led to so much speculation for so long a time.
As he looked up and peered over the edge of the crow’s nest (for that was the location of Chapman’s post) his eyes focused on something which instantly brought him back to the reality of his duty. At the same time he lifted the phone and rang the bridge.
“What did you see?” asked a calm voice at the other end.
To which Chapman replied, “Iceberg right ahead.”
THE END
Notes to The Tragedy of Edwin Drood
- Angus Wilson’s introduction is published in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Penguin Books, 1974
- Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, 1837 – 1901
- Prince Albert died in 1861
- John Brown, Albert’s favorite servant, was Victoria’s companion 1864 – 1884
- Edward VII, son of Victoria, was King of Great Britain and Ireland, 1901 – 1910
- George V, son of Edward VII, was King of Great Britain and Ireland, 1910 – 1936
- The name of William Why, although fictitious, is taken from Charles Dickens’ Book of Memoranda, edited by Fred Kaplan, The New York Public Library, 1981
- About Edwin Drood by Henry Jackson published 1911
- The Problem of Edwin Drood by W. Robertson Nicoll published in 1912
- The Complete Mystery of Edwin Drood by J. Cuming Walters published in 1912
- John Forster died in 1876
- Wilkie Collins died in 1889
- Dickens’ daughter Kate McReady Dickens died in 1929
- Dickens’ son Henry Fielding Dickens read his father’s works for charity. He died in 1933
- The menu for April 14, 1912 on the Titanic included quail eggs with caviar and lobster thermidor. Last Dinner on the Titanic, Hyperion, 1997
- Frederic Chapman was a partner, Chapman and Hall, publishers of several Dickens works
- Concluding dialogue is from A Night to Remember, Walter Lord; Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1955
First published: The Dickens Fellowship of New York, January 1999