The Eustace Diamonds
by Anthony Trollope

young woman showing an open jewel case to a young man

. . . had Lizzie Eustace been trained as an actress, she would have become a favourite with the town. When there came to her any fair scope for acting, she was perfect. In the ordinary scenes of ordinary life . . . she could not acquit herself well. There was no reality about her, and the want of it was strangely plain to most unobservant eyes. But give her a part to play that required exaggerated, strong action, and she hardly ever failed.

Now and then, I can say exactly how a particular book came to my notice. Here, it was a Miss Manners column that drifted onto the subject of heirlooms. She pointed to The Eustace Diamonds as an illustration of just how tangled the subject can get. Could anyone but Anthony Trollope home in on some obscure point of law, and spin an entire novel out of it?

Is it just me, or . . . does the book’s central character, a woman in her early 20s, bear a striking resemblance to a well-known political figure of today? Habitual liar: Check. In excellent financial circumstances, but complains of being ill-treated: Check. Refers to people by insulting nicknames: Check. Doesn’t really understand the situations she professes to describe: Check. Claims that anything she particularly wants is her personal property, when it legally is not: Check.

About the Book

The 80 chapters of The Eustace Diamonds originally appeared in the Fortnightly Review—which, as its name indicates, came out once a month—in twenty install­ments, from July 1871 through February 1873.

In Chapter IX, the author helpfully names all the Fawn girls. The married sister is Clara (Mrs. Hittaway); the others in order of age are Augusta (“who was not wise”), Amelia (“the wise one of the family”), Georgiana (later spelled Georgina), Diana, Lydia, Cecilia, and lastly Nina. In Chapter III, the unmarried daughters’ age spread is given as “down from seven-and-twenty to thirteen”. By the time the main narrative picks up, the youngest is “not yet fifteen”, making the oldest sister dangerously close to thirty. Later in the book Cecilia is sometimes grouped with Nina, sometimes not, suggesting that she is no more than seventeen: almost grown up, but not yet “out”.

Disheartening detail: Three engaged couples figure prominently in the book: Lucy Morris and Frank Greystock, Lizzie Eustace and Lord Fawn, Lucinda Roanoke and Sir Griffin Tewett. Of these six people, only one shows consistent, unwavering affection for her fiancé; a second may have feelings, but he’s such a weasel it’s hard to care. Among the rest, most of them actively dislike each other.

Illustrations

The serial publication had no illustrations. (Darn!) Each volume of the book had a frontispiece. The one for Volume I is shown above; the one for Volume II is shown with installment 13, which includes the scene it depicts. The artist isn’t named, but fortunately he has a nice clear signature:

Bardwell signature

That’s George Willis Bardwell (1868–1937), whose dates mean that the illus­trations might still be under copyright in a few “Life + A Whole Lot” countries.

Formalities

This ebook is based on the two-volume Dodd, Mead (New York, 1912) edition (Volume I; Volume II). I’ve divided it into 20 segments, corresponding to the installments of the original serial publication.

Typographical errors are marked with mouse-hover popups and are listed again at the end of each four-chapter segment. The word “invisible” means that the letter or punctuation mark is missing, but there is an appropriately sized blank space. “Corrected from Fortnightly Review” means that I had doubts, so I checked the book’s reading against the serial version.

THE

EUSTACE DIAMONDS

 
BY

ANTHONY TROLLOPE

 

VOL. I.
VOL. II.

 
 

NEW YORK
DODD, MEAD & COMPANY
1912

University Press:

John Wilson and Son, Cambridge

Works of Anthony Trollope

The Chronicles of Barsetshire. Comprising:
THE WARDEN, 1 Vol.
BARCHESTER TOWERS, 2 Vols.
DR. THORNE, 2 Vols.
FRAMLEY PARSONAGE, 2 Vols.
THE SMALL HOUSE AT ALLINGTON, 3 Vols.
LAST CHRONICLE OF BARSET, 3 Vols.

The Parliamentary Novels. Comprising:
THE EUSTACE DIAMONDS, 2 Vols.
CAN YOU FORGIVE HER, 3 Vols.
PHINEAS FINN, 3 Vols.
PHINEAS REDUX, 3 Vols.
THE PRIME MINISTER, 3 Vols.
THE DUKE’S CHILDREN, 3 Vols.

The Manor House Novels. Comprising:
ORLEY FARM, 3 Vols.
THE VICAR OF BULLHAMPTON, 2 Vols.
IS HE POPENJOY, 2 Vols.
JOHN CALDIGATE, 2 Vols.
THE BELTON ESTATE, 2 Vols.

The Autobiography of Anthony Trollope. 1 Vol.

Contents

I.v

Volume I

CHAPTER PAGE
I. Lizzie Greystock 1
II. Lady Eustace 13
III. Lucy Morris 25
IV. Frank Greystock 37
V. The Eustace Necklace 49
VI. Lady Linlithgow’s Mission 65
VII. Mr. Burke’s Speeches 76
VIII. The Conquering Hero comes 89
IX. Showing what the Miss Fawns said, and what Mrs. Hittaway thought 98
X. Lizzie and her Lover 114
XI. Lord Fawn at his Office 130
XII. I only thought of it 138
XIII. Showing what Frank Greystock did 147
XIV. “Doan’t thou marry for Munny!” 160
XV. “I’ll give you a Hundred-guinea Brooch” 173
XVI. Certainly an Heirloom 188
XVII. The Diamonds are seen in Public 199
XVIII. And I have Nothing to give 211
XIX. As my Brother 225
XX. The Diamonds become Troublesome 240
XXI. “Ianthe’s Soul” 248
I.vi XXII. Lady Eustace procures a Pony for the Use of her Cousin 263
XXIII. Frank Greystock’s First Visit to Portray 271
XXIV. Showing what Frank Greystock thought about Marriage 285
XXV. Mr. Dove’s Opinion 295
XXVI. Mr. Gowran is very Funny 304
XXVII. Lucy Morris Misbehaves 319
XXVIII. Mr. Dove in his Chambers 327
XXIX. I had better go away 343
XXX. Mr. Greystock’s Troubles 355
XXXI. Frank Greystock’s Second Visit to Portray 367
XXXII. Mr. and Mrs. Hittaway in Scotland 383
XXXIII. It won’t be True 391
XXXIV. Lady Linlithgow at Home 404
XXXV. Too Bad for Sympathy 415
XXXVI. Lizzie’s Guests 428
XXXVII. Lizzie’s First Day 439
XXXVIII. Nappie’s Gray Horse 455
II.v

Volume II

CHAPTER PAGE
XXXIX. Sir Griffin takes an Unfair Advantage 1
XL. You are not angry 7
XLI. Likewise the Bears in Couples agree 13
XLII. Sunday Morning 26
XLIII. Life at Portray 34
XLIV. A Midnight Adventure 47
XLV. The Journey to London 61
XLVI. Lucy Morris in Brook Street 72
XLVII. Matching Priory 88
XLVIII. Lizzie’s Condition 100
XLIX. Bunfit and Gager 108
L. In Hertford Street 120
LI. Confidence 132
LII. Mrs. Carbuncle goes to the Theatre 140
LIII. Lizzie’s Sick-Room 155
LIV. “I suppose I may say a Word” 170
LV. Quints or Semitenths 182
LVI. Job’s Comforters 188
LVII. Humpty Dumpty 201
LVIII. “The Fiddle with One String” 216
LIX. Mr. Gowran up in London 222
LX. Let it be as though it had never been 234
II.vi LXI. Lizzie’s Great Friend 249
LXII. “You know where my Heart is” 269
LXIII. The Corsair is afraid 279
LXIV. Lizzie’s Last Scheme 290
LXV. Tribute 298
LXVI. The Aspirations of Mr. Emilius 310
LXVII. The Eye of the Public 322
LXVIII. The Major 334
LXIX. “I cannot do it” 347
LXX. Alas! 363
LXXI. Lizzie is threatened with the Treadmill 371
LXXII. Lizzie’s Triumphs 385
LXXIII. Lizzie’s Last Lover 395
LXXIV. Lizzie at the Police-Court 412
LXXV. Lord George gives his Reasons 421
LXXVI. Lizzie Returns to Scotland 429
LXXVII. The Story of Lucy Morris is concluded 445
LXXVIII. The Trial 458
LXXIX. Once more at Portray 470
LXXX. What was said about it all at Matching 482