The Governess and Her Dancing Men

Few detective stories are better known than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes tales. Likewise, arguably one of the most famous ghost stories is Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw, though it is debated whether this is a ghost story or the sinister tale of a mentally unstable governess. This governess will be reimagined as Elsie Cubitt of Doyle’s The Adventure of the Dancing Men, in this essay. The resulting implications on how the story would be told with this crossover will be analysed. Following this, a potential plot twist that might accompany such a change is examined. It will be argued it was Mrs Cubitt, in the bedroom, with the revolver, in this literary version of Cluedo.

In The adventure of the dancing men, Hilton Cubitt, a well-known and respected man in the County of Norfolk, seeks the aid of genius detective, Sherlock Holmes (Doyle). Cubitt discloses the details, or lack thereof, concerning his wife, Elsie Cubitt, nee Patrick, and her mysterious past. The couple have been married a year and met only one month prior to the wedding. It was a condition of Patrick’s accepting Cubitt’s hand in marriage that he would never enquire of her “painful” (4) past prior to the couple’s meeting; he agrees to her terms. The marriage was, by all accounts, a happy one up until the past month. Cubitt recounts this is when he first saw “signs of trouble” (4). Doyle’s word choice here implies Cubitt is sensing something is not quite right with his wife and conveys a sense of suspicion. This referred to a letter from America that Mrs Cubitt turned white upon reading and tossed into the fire. She did not share its contents with Cubitt before destroying it and he does not question her, citing his promise to never ask about her past. Given this past now crossed into the couple’s present, one could argue the promise did not extend to such circumstances. Still, Cubitt remains silent, and this may indicate an underlying fear of his wife’s secrets. This is likely exacerbated by Mrs Cubitt’s unease. Cubitt expresses frustration at his wife’s unwillingness to trust him. Nevertheless, he affirms his own trust in her, assuring Holmes her troublesome past can be no fault of hers—an assumption based on little evidence and likely clouded by his love for her.

The crux of Cubitt’s dilemma was clusters of what look like dancing stick figures, which started appearing on the couple’s property. Sometimes they were in chalk; others, scrawled on paper. Some appear different to the previous sets; others repeat. Mrs Cubitt becomes exponentially more anxious with each new message. When Mrs Cubitt finds her husband waiting for the vandal, she attempts to placate him by purporting the ordeal as a practical joke. She offers the solution of a holiday to escape the torment. Cubitt refuses out of what appears to be pride, putting it to his wife the couple would become the laughingstock of the county. Perhaps, this was Cubitt’s own placation to avoid globetrotting with a woman who is becoming more psychologically unhinged each day. Eventually, Cubitt sights the culprit, referring to it as “…a dark, creeping figure which crawled round the corner and squatted in front of the door” and “the creature” (6). The entity vanishes before Cubitt reaches the yard, largely because his wife intervenes, claiming fears for his safety. Cubitt expresses anger at his wife’s actions which he feels prevented him from catching the perpetrator. Betrayal sets in, as he questions whether it was his life or the tormenter’s Mrs Cubitt was protecting. The vandal is later revealed as Mrs Cubitt’s ex-fiancé, Abe Slaney. Gordon specifically refers to the perpetrator as Mrs Cubitt’s lover, and Belsey (in Gordon 3) notes, “…on the question of her motives the text is characteristically elusive.” Readers are told little about Mrs Cubitt and the information that is revealed, comes from questionable sources. Cubitt has known her only a year and Slaney is a convicted criminal; both men are in love with her which introduces emotional bias (Doyle). Holmes and his narrator, Watson’s, only dealings with Mrs Cubitt are when she is unconscious, and the tale’s ending tells only of what is heard of her recovery and future endeavours. At no time does she speak for herself or offer any firsthand insight into the events occurring.

Holmes cracks the code of the dancing men by discovering each man represents a letter. He warns the outlook is grim, describing it as a “singular and dangerous web” (7) Cubitt is trapped in. Watson is filled with “dismay and horror,” describing the situation as “a dark crisis” (7). There is no mention of Mrs Cubitt or any danger to her. Holmes and Watson arrive at the Cubitts’ manor and learn Mrs Cubitt clings to life, though should she live, will be hung for murdering her husband. After thoroughly examining the crime scene in the couple’s bedroom, Holmes claims Mrs Cubitt is innocent and lures the alleged murderer, Slaney, to the scene using the dancing men code. Holmes rightly assumes he would believe it was Mrs Cubitt requesting his presence. Slaney is shocked that Mrs Cubitt participated in the trap, not knowing Holmes has cracked their code. This reaction is important because it indicates an ongoing relationship between the pair. This is confirmed by the despair Slaney feels on learning Mrs Cubitt has suffered life-threatening injuries. It is only through his confession that he is charged with murder. It is thus possible Slaney confessed to protect his beloved. The pair may have been working together to see Mrs Cubitt inherit Cubitt’s estate. Slaney may nobly have taken the fall, believing it the least he could do for his gravely ill lover. Holmes succeeded in cracking the code but his interpretation of how the crime unfolded is debatable.

Perhaps Cubitt caught his wife and her lover mid-rendezvous, and an argument ensued. After being shot at by Cubitt, Slaney may have slunk away while the couple continued quarrelling. Cubitt potentially threatened to leave his wife and vowed she would not see a penny in the divorce settlement. Mrs Cubitt may then have become enraged and shot Cubitt. With his dying breath, he plausibly wrestled the gun from her and returned fire. Alas, Mrs Cubitt’s injuries were not fatal, and she does inherit Cubitt’s estate. And with Slaney behind bars for her crime, she has it to herself. In considering this version of events, as opposed to the biased descriptions of Mrs Cubitt’s good character, it becomes easier to assimilate James’s governess into her shoes. As Roberts notes, Mrs Cubitt tried to bribe Slaney to go away and was meeting her alleged ex-lover in secret. This was Slaney’s explanation for the large sum of money found at the crime scene (Doyle). If true, these are arguably not the actions of an honest woman and they allude to her deceitful nature; if Slaney’s account is false, he may have needed cash and could not wait for Cubitt’s passing. As Slaney is involved in a criminal gang run by Mrs Cubitt’s father, it follows that he would know dangerous underworld figures and may have been indebted to any number of them.

In James’s Turn of the Screw, the governess of two orphaned children, Miles, and Flora, begins seeing the ghosts of Miss Jessel, a deceased governess, and the master’s deceased valet, Peter Quint. The identities of the ghosts are confirmed by the housekeeper, Mrs Grose, based on descriptions provided by the governess.

The tale is told in a framed narrative, by a man named Douglas, who claims the governess has been dead 20 years. A further layer of unreliability underscores this when the reader learns Douglas harbours feelings of affection for her. For instance, he describes her as “most charming”, “worthy of any whatever” and “awfully clever and nice” (James 4–5). Douglas describes their time together as “beautiful” and goes on to state that he “liked her extremely” (5) and was glad she liked him in return. The unnamed narrator, another layer of unreliability, puts it to Douglas this governess was in love with him and, while Douglas neither confirms nor denies this, he states she was in love with somebody in her story. The story reveals little and leaves much to interpretation, as was James’s intention (New York Times). The master of the manor is described as a handsome, charming man. The governess meets with him only twice, but Douglas agrees she was seduced by his charms, and the narrator cites “the beauty of her passion” (James 8) by way of explanation. This may be the first hint of the governess’s relational instability—she falls in love swiftly and deeply. Indeed, Douglas says the master merely held her hand, yet this gesture left her feeling “rewarded” (9). Douglas states this was the governess’s last encounter with the master, though Douglas can only reiterate what the governess told him prior to her death.

Douglas met the governess when she was charged with the care of his sister. Despite stating the governess was 10 years older, it is unclear how old Douglas was at the time of their meeting. This sets a problematic scene for the ensuing chronicle of the governess’s infatuation with the children at Bly, particularly Miles. In psychoanalysing the governess, McCollum found she meets all DSM diagnostic criteria for paedophilia. Flora escapes the governess after the woman berates her, demanding she admit to seeing the ghost of Jessel (James). This exchange is witnessed by Grose, whom Flora clings to, begging to be taken away from the governess. Flora soon after falls ill and the governess agrees to allow Grose to get her to safety. The governess purports this is to keep the girl safe from Quint and Jessel but she neglects to include Miles in the exit strategy. Perhaps this was the plan all along, to render the governess and Miles alone together. As Williamson notes, there is no evidence whatsoever to support the children seeing ghosts. Grose, also denies seeing them (James), heightening the likelihood the governess is psychotic, or inventing the spectres in a ploy to be alone with Miles. This theory is supported by Butterworth-McDermott, who argues the governess employs the ghosts in her story to solidify her role as heroine. When her happy ending at Bly failed, she began a new story with Douglas’s family.

In James’s closing lines, the governess refers to Miles as, “my own” (92) and declares she has him to herself, while Quint has lost him forever. The story thus morphs into one, not of demonic possession, but of human possession and a depraved obsession with children. Miles utters “the cry of a creature hurled over an abyss” (92) and this is perhaps indicative of Miles realising how dangerous the governess is. The narrative ends with the governess seizing her prey and clutching him to her until his heart stops. At last, he is safe; she has saved him from the only horror there was—herself.

Miles died on the governess’s watch, but the master was not summoned—as stated above, the governess claimed she never saw the master again after accepting the job. This forms the first thread used to weave the governess into The Adventure of the Dancing Men. After murdering Miles, the governess may have fled Bly and sought the help of her infamous father in forging a new identity, becoming Elsie Patrick. The recompense for her father’s assistance perhaps was accepting her destiny with Slaney, whom her father promised her hand in marriage to when she was 7 years old (Doyle). In this crossover, this callous act could have been the catalyst for the governess’s predilection for children (McCollum); it was normalised to her from a young age. Under her new identity, Patrick potentially took on the role of governess for Douglas’s sister. During this employment, she may have met Cubitt and, together with Slaney, hatched a plot for Patrick to seduce and marry Cubitt to steal his estate. If Patrick abandoned her post with Douglas’s family, he likely never got over her and now, clings to the story she entrusted him with, to hold onto her memory.

In this crossover storyline, it was the governess, in the sleeping quarters, with the gun. It is argued Mrs Cubitt murdered Cubitt in a final, cold blooded, turn of the screw. Slaney, stricken with grief at the prospect of losing her again, falsely confessed to the crime to protect his lover; Mrs Cubitt agreed with his version of events to save herself. The Adventure of the Dancing Men concludes Mrs Cubitt remained a widow, dedicating her life to caring for the poor. The age of those she cares for is not disclosed in Doyle’s narrative but, for the purposes of a crossover, it is deduced that her preference was young, orphaned, or vulnerable children. By examining concealed information within both narratives, as well as the credibility of that which is revealed, the governess can be smoothly transitioned into Doyle’s story.

Works Cited

Butterworth-McDermott, Christine. “James’s Fractured Fairy-Tale: How the Governess Gets Grimm,” The Henry James Review, vol. 28, no. 1, 2007, pp. 43-56. ProQuest, doi: 10.1353/hjr.2007.0001.

Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Adventure of the Dancing Men. Edited by Christoph Ender, The Complete Sherlock Holmes Canon, 2014, sherlock-holm.es/stories/pdf/a4/1-sided/danc.pdf.

Gordon, Meghan R. “Women: Worldly, Wordy, or Un-written An Analysis of the Women of Sherlock Holmes and the Victorian English Era,” Rollins Undergraduate Research Journal, vol. 5, no. 2, art. 4, 2011, pp. 1–5, scholarship.rollins.edu/rurj/vol5/iss2/4.

James, Henry. The Turn of the Screw. Norton Critical Edition, 3rd edition, edited by Jonathan Warren, Norton, 2021, pp. 1–92.

McCollum, Jenn. “The Romance of Henry James’s Female Pedophile,” MP: An Online Feminist Journal, vol. 3, no. 1, 2010, pp. 39–56. Academist.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/030104McCollum_Femaleped.pdf.

New York Times. “Magic of Evil and Love.” The Turn of the Screw. Norton Critical Edition, 3rd edition, edited by Jonathan Warren, Norton, 2021, p. 177.

Roberts, Timothy Jay. Ratiocination, Romanticism and Realism in the Detective Story: A Study of Poe, Doyle and Hammett. 1984. Morehead State U, MA thesis. MSU ScholarWorks, scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/msu_theses_dissertations/293.

Williamson, Alan. “The Turn of the Screw and the Locus of Psychoanalytic Criticism,” Literary Imagination, vol. 16, no. 3, 2014, pp. 322–330. ALSCW, doi: 10.1093/litimag/imu005.

Wormington, Carla. "The Governess and her Dancing Men," B.A. Essay, Semester 3, 2021. English Literature.