Chapter-12
A hackney coach was on its way to Mrs. Bardell’s house. Within the coach were Mr. and Mrs. Raddle and Mrs. Cluppins. The two ladies, who were sisters, scold the gentleman who believed Mrs. Bardell’s house had a yellow door. The ladies contented Mrs. Bardell’s house had a green door.
The ladies prevailed as the hackney driver pulled up to the house with the green door when the head of Tommy Bardell was espied looking out of a house with a red door. The hackney driver pulled up to the house with the red door. There Mrs. Cluppins engaged Tommy and learnt that Mrs. Sanders and Mrs. Bardell’s current lodger Mrs. Rogers would join them for a picnic. As to the contents of the cupboard (which would be the substance of the picnic’s provisions), to Mrs. Cluppins’ chagrin, Tommy refused to say in accordance with his mother’s directive.
By and by, the recent arrivals exchanged greetings with Mrs. Bardell and her already arrived guests. It wasn’t long before the ladies ganged up and took Mr. Raddle to task for giving her wife a hard time. Indeed, they temporarily banished him to the backyard on account of his words which caused Mrs. Raddle to hyperventilate and faint.
When Mr. Raddle was reinstated, Mrs. Bardell ordered a servant “to put the wine on,” revealing the contents of the cupboard. The contents included oranges, biscuits, and “the celebrated East India sherry”. Subsequently, the party made their way, on foot, to the Spaniard tea-gardens, their picnic grounds.
When they arrived at their picnic grounds, Mrs. Bardell’s new lodger Mrs. Rogers praised the countryside at the expense of the city only to be contradicted by Mrs. Bardell, Mrs. Cluppins, and Mr. Raddle, whose argument was that there was nothing like the city for socializing. Indeed, Mr. Raddle went so far as to say that the countryside was only good for broken-hearted people, people who made no one to love, causing Mrs. Bardell to lose consciousness and weep. Consequently, Mrs. Raddle berated her husband for always saying the wrong thing at the wrong time which in turn caused Mrs. Cluppins to adjure Mrs. Raddle to calm down lest she should hyperventilate and lose again.
Mrs. Bardell regained her composure by hugging her son when the arrival of a hackney-coach announced the presence of Mr. Jackson from Dodson & Fogg. Mrs. Bardell asked if Mr. Jackson had come to apprise her of a new development in the case vis-à-vis Mr. Pickwick. Mr. Jackson said no, but he told Mrs. Bardell that her immediate presence was required to settle an important matter, and that she must go with Mr. Jackson at once. Mrs. Bardell’s friends advised her to do as Mr. Jackson said. Mrs. Bardell obliged Mr. Jackson, but not before having Mr. Jackson and a man with an ash stick, who was Mr. Jackson’s aid, partook of some wine.
Mrs. Cluppins, Mrs. Sanders, and Tommy accompanied Mrs. Bardell as she went with Mr. Jackson to their mystery destination. In transit, while Mrs. Cluppins and Mrs. Sanders were asleep, Mr. Jackson reminded Mrs. Bardell of the lawyer’s fees which she had failed to pay. Mrs. Bardell replied that lawyers must make allowances for lost fees from time to time. Mrs. Bardell fell asleep.
By and by, the hackney coach arrived at its destination, which had a large wall and a gate. The awakened passengers were led by Mr. Jackson, down a flight of steps at the end of which Mr. Jackson bade his fellow passengers goodnight. The ladies and Tommy cried in anguish; Mrs. Bardell lost consciousness. Presently, Sam Weller attended to Mrs. Bardell while Mr. Pickwick looked on indignantly. Mrs. Bardell had been incarcerated in Fleet Prison for failing to pay her lawyers’ fees owed to Dodson & Fogg.
Sam Weller commissioned Job Trotter to fetch Mr. Pickwick’s attorney Mr. Perker.
By the time Job Trotter fulfilled Sam Weller’s commission and found Mr. Pickwick’s lawyer Mr. Perker, through Mr. Perker’s assistant Mr. Lowten, the gates of Fleet Prison had closed for the night. Despite Mr. Lowten’s concern, Job Trotter assured the law clerk that he would manage and he did, spending his night in a vegetable basket at Covent Garden Market.
The next day, Mr. Perker visited Mr. Pickwick the first thing in the morning. Having ascertained that Mr. Pickwick was awwere of Mrs. Bardell’s imprisonment, courtesy of Dodson and Fogg, Mr. Perker apprised Mr. Pickwick of his advantageous position. If Mr. Pickwick would consent to pay Mrs. Bardell’s debt, which was a trifle sum to Mr. Pickwick, she would not only drop her charge against Mr. Pickwick but also formally admitted that the charge was initially cooked up by Dodson and Fogg for the expressed purpose of extorting money from Mr. Pickwick. Though Mr. Perker admitted that Dodson and Fogg were too clever to allow the charge to stick yet he urged Mr. Pickwick to take Mrs. Bardell’s offer as Mr. Pickwick had everything to gain by securing his freedom.
At Mr. Perker’s behest, Mr. Pickwick mulled over the matter only to be interrupted by Sam who had with him guests who were anxious to meet Mr. Pickwick. At Sam’s insistence, Mr. Pickwick admitted his new guests who turned out to be Mr. Winkle and his new bride Mrs. Winkle, formerly Miss Arabella Allen. Apparently, Mr. Winkle had managed to secure Arabella’s freedom from her aunt’s house with Mary’s help, the successful operation of which led to their getting married in secret.
Astonished, Mr. Pickwick welcomed Arabella and congratulated Mr. Winkle with a slap on his back. Mr. Perker followed suit and congratulated Mr. Winkle with a poke in the chest. Presently, Arabella pleaded Mr. Pickwick to act as liaison between her and her brother Ben Allen who would otherwise banish her from his heart. Mr. Perker took the opportunity to reinforce his argument that it’s in Mr. Pickwick’s best interest to took Mrs. Bardell’s offer. By doing so, not only could Mr. Pickwick reconcile Arabella to her brother, but also Mr. Pickwick could reconcile Mr. Winkle to Mr. Winkle, senior, who would otherwise disown his son for his rash behavior.
Presently, Mr. Tupman and Mr. Snodgrass arrived on the scene, and they too urged Mr. Pickwick to do as Mr. Perker advised. At this point, the argument to do as Mr. Perker advised was so overwhelming that Mr. Pickwick decided to pay Mrs. Bardell’s debt and thereby secured his—Mr. Pickwick’s—freedom.
Subsequently, Sam, who had been hobnobbing with Mary who had come with Mr. and Mrs. Winkle, commissioned Job Trotter to go to Mr. Pell to secure his—Sam’s—release and then treated everyone in the prison to mild porter (beer). At three in the afternoon, Mr. Pickwick, having advised Alfred Jingle to mind Mr. Perker, acknowledged the heartfelt good wishes of every Fleet Prison inmate as he made his exit from the debtor’s prison. Ironically, on account of all the sad people he’s leaving behind, Mr. Pickwick left the prison with a heavier heart than the one with which he came to prison.
Mr. Ben Allen and Mr. Bob Sawyer were discussing the latter’s prospects of turning a profit and of providing for Arabella with his medical practice when a horse and carriage conveying Ben Allen’s old aunt arrived at Bob Sawyer’s medical shop. The two medical students quickly could hid the bottles of liquor that were lying about, and they did all they could to vent and mask the tobacco smoke lingering in the air before welcoming Ben Allen’s aunt. By and by, the aunt pulled Bob Sawyer aside and engaged him in a private conference. It took a while for her to get to the point, but the aunt eventually did, telling Bob Sawyer of Arabella’s elopement and marriage; she wanted Bob to break the news to Ben who was liable to lose his head should the aunt break the news.
When Bob told Ben that his sister had eloped and got married, Ben’s reflex compelled him to choke Mr. Martin, his aunt’s surly servant. Presently, the two wrestled and fell to the floor when Mr. Pickwick and Sam Weller walked in. Believing that Mr. Martin was a guinea pig, that Bob Sawyer experimented the effects of various new drugs on Mr. Martin, Sam idly stood by and watched. But Mr. Pickwick was quick to help Mr. Ben Allen to his feet. Meanwhile, the aunt who had fainted due to her nephew’s violence was brought back to consciousness. Presently, introductions were made and greetings exchanged.
When Ben was brought to his feet, Ben had attributed his unbecoming state to the news of his sister’s elopement to which Mr. Pickwick had assured Ben that his sister was safe and well. It was this assurance which Mr. Pickwick by and by explained. He told the assembled audience that Arabella had eloped and married Mr. Winkle, that he—Mr. Pickwick—approved of Mr. Winkle’s actions, and that he—Mr. Pickwick—would personally vouch for Mr. Winkle’s character and integrity.
At first, Bob Sawyer vowed to exact revenge on Mr. Winkle, and Ben Allen vowed to forever banish his sister from his heart. However, on account of the aunt, who was persuaded by Mr. Pickwick’s convictions, both Bob Sawyer and Ben Allen came around to the aunt’s way of seeing things. Bob Sawyer apologized for his harsh words and offered a toast to Mr. and Mrs. Winkle, compelling Ben Allen to do likewise.
Presently, Bob and Ben urged Mr. Pickwick to join them for about drinking and celebration, but Mr. Pickwick, citing fatigue, declined. The aunt offered Mr. Pickwick tea, but again Mr. Pickwick declined. The truth was Mr. Pickwick was anxious to get away from the aunt who, Mr. Pickwick had noticed, had taken a liking to him. Meanwhile, Sam and Mr. Martin agreed to share a drink one day.
When Mr. Pickwick and Sam returned to their lodgings, Mr. Pickwick decided to spend some time in the travellers’ room where the landlord and a peculiar looking one-eyed man were conversing and sharing a drink. By and by, Mr. Pickwick made the acquaintance of the one-eyed man who reminded Mr. Pickwick that they had met once before in Eatans. The one-eyed man mentioned a mutual acquaintance named Tom Smart. Mr. Pickwick wondered if Tom Smart was the one-eyed man’s uncle. The one-eyed man replied that Tom Smart was a friend of his uncle. The landlord interjected that the one-eyed man’s uncle was a wonderful man. The one-eyed man agreed and offered to tell a story concerning his uncle. Mr. Pickwick and the landlord encouraged the one-eyed to proceed.