I am back in the Victorian Era!
This short novel under consideration is a strange one; but very much of its time. If it wasn’t for the fact that the occult powers actually worked (!), I would have thought this was all melodramatic farce!
Suddenly from the black marble clock over the mantelpiece there sounded the hour of nine, in deep hollow tones, like the knell of a funeral bell. One! two! three! four! five! six! seven! eight! nine!—they rang heavily through the silence of the night, while the listeners, overcome by the strangeness of the scene, stood immovable, counting each sonorous stroke with mute lips. As the last died away in silence, there was an awful pause, as if the absence of sound made the quiet more ghastly, and then——
This edition of The Gentleman Who Vanished was published by Black Heath Editions in 2016. Black Heath Editions republishes lesser known works of supernatural fiction from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the Kindle format for incredibly reasonable prices. I would not have even heard of many of these authors (and their works) had it not been for Black Heath Editions.
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As the fifth novel (plus one collection of tales) written by Hume, The Gentleman Who Vanished was published originally in 1890 by F. V. White & Co. of London.
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Born in England, Hume and family moved to New Zealand while he was a toddler. Admitted to the New Zealand Bar in 1885, he moved to Australia where he began his writing career. He wrote his first and best-selling work, The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, in 1886. Not a big deal when published in Australia, however when published in England, The Mystery of a Hansom Cab was an amazing success, making his name as an author.[i] Though Hume’s crime novels have been surpassed by later authors and their works, The Mystery of a Hansom Cab is considered the bestselling crime novel of the nineteenth century with over ¾ million copies sold.
The Mystery of a Hansom Cab was published—a year before Sherlock Holmes first appeared in A Study in Scarlet. Interestingly, it is unknown what, if any, debt Doyle’s writing owes to Hume. It is known, however, that Doyle read Hume’s work and was not impressed.
Following this and a few other publications, Hume returned to England in 1888, where he would remain until his death in 1932. Over the course of his literary life, Hume wrote over 120 novels as well as other works and utilized his writing to highlight social conditions affecting a segment of the populace.
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Rarely do I do this, but this short tale is so strange that I felt it absolutely necessary to provide a detailed, though with much subtlety of plot left out, chapter-by-chapter summation for ease of understanding.
Chapter-by-Chapter Summary
Chapter I — Flying From Justice
Two gentlemen acquaintances are playing cards. It is unclear if they are friends, though it seems unlikely. One is a tall, good-looking, bad-tempered, sore loser, named Adrian. The other is a short, crass and petty man, named Philip. Tempers are hot and they argue. Adrian believes that he unintentionally kills Philip in the heat of the moment. Only knowing that he cannot stay, Adrian flees London in a panic.
Chapter II — The Recluse
Believing himself a hunted fugitive, Adrian takes a Hansom cab to the countryside. When he arrives he does not have any idea where he is. He approaches a secluded country house. After entering and receiving a bit of a shock, he is welcomed by the homeowner. The homeowner, a Doctor Michael Roversmire seems to know of Adrian somehow. Using his mesmeric mental powers, he compels Adrian to tell him everything. The Doctor agrees to aid him. Then Roversmire relates his own story.
Chapter III — The Dissection of a Soul
The child of a mixed race marriage in India, Roversmire was orphaned young and was given over to his maternal grandfather, a Brahman priest in a temple in India. Growing up, Roversmire learned many profound secrets of the hidden mysteries of the spiritual world. Shockingly, this included how to incarnate a soul into another’s body. But all this could not prevent him from falling in love. The object of his affections, however, informed him that she loved another. Roversmire, tired of life and desiring to leave the world, proposed that Adrian incarnate into Roversmire’s body. Thus Adrian would live on as Doctor Roversmire.
Chapter IV — A Curious Transformation
Adrian asked Roversmire a few more questions about the spirit transference procedure, himself being only slightly acquainted with occult sciences. Roversmire reassures him, stating that Adrian’s body will repose in Roversmire’s own home in a secret chamber. After a few more questions, Adrian agrees and Roversmire performs the transference ritual. Sometime later, Adrian awakened in Roversmire’s body; his own lying still nearby.
Chapter V — New Wine in an Old Bottle
The next morning, Adrian, still in Roversmire’s body, begins to grasp the enormity and the implication of what he has done. Meanwhile, little things draw the attention of the butler, Dentham (himself a suspicious man). He thinks Roversmire (actually Adrian) is involved in something nefarious. Reading the morning’s paper, Adrian sees that Philip was not killed by his attack. If only he hadn’t run, but now he is stuck, having taken Roversmire’s offer (of his own body).
Chapter VI — The Tortures of Hell
Adrian is tormented with remorse over his actions regarding Roversmire. Having agreed to the soul-swap, he is trapped in another’s body, alone. Weeks later, searching through Roversmire’s personal papers, Adrian discovers that the woman who rejected Roversmire was Adrian’s own fiancée, Olive. He is determined to go to Olive and confirm her true feelings. Curious at this strange behavior, Denthan observes and plots.
Chapter VII — The Woman He Loved
Olive Maunders is at her country home, The Nook, with her father, Sir John. Olive knows about Adrian’s fight with Philip and that little will come of it. She wants him to return. Her father suggests she consult with the occultist Roversmire. Olive does not want to, but before she can do anything, Roversmire (Adrian) arrives.
Chapter VIII — The Man She Hated
Adrian, in Roversmire’s body, realizes that he doesn’t know anything about Roversmire’s relationship to Sir John or the first thing about matters occult. Olive is struck by the change in Roversmire’s manner. She shocks Adrian by asking for his help to find Adrian! Recovering quickly, and his heart swelling, he listens to her defend Adrian’s honor. She implores Roversmire to use his occult power (which she doesn’t in the least believe in) to locate Adrian. He agrees and departs.
Chapter IX — The Philosophy of Mr. Dentham
Leaving The Nook and Olive, Adrian (in Roversmire’s body), does not know what to do; but he is pleased at how Olive is devoted to him. A few days later, Adrian begins to suspect that Dentham thought something weird happened to Adrian—something did, just not what Dentham thinks. Finding out about Olive, Dentham plots to use this information to his advantage.
Chapter X — Teddy Rudall’s Ideas
Olive and Teddy Rudall, her escort, await the arrival of an informant concerning Adrian. While talking, Olive voices her fears that Roversmire may have harmed Adrian using occult means. The informant arrives.
Chapter XI — A Modern Judas
Dentham, the informant, before divulging what he knows, haggles over the price of his information. Pleased with the sum, he implicates Roversmire in Adrian’s fate. Dentham describes in detail the goings on at Roversmire’s home the night of Adrian’s disappearance. Dentham goes on to imply that Adrian may still be at Roversmire’s residence. Olive and Teddy make plans and Dentham is happy.
Chapter XII — A Perilous Situation
Dentham goes over his scheme to double cross both Olive and Roversmire for maximum profit. Meanwhile, Adrian, as Roversmire, receives an invitation to visit Sir John at The Nook; where he intends to breakdown and tell him all. Adrian hopes Sir John can help him. And as Adrian is visiting Sir John, Olive will be searching Roversmire’s house for any clue about Adrian.
Chapter XIII — A Startling Discovery
Dentham let Olive and Teddy into Roversmire’s home. Teddy and Dentham are concerned about possible legal repercussions, but Olive is gung-ho. Using deduction, they work out the location of a secret room. Upon finding it, they enter and find Adrian’s body, cold and lifeless. Bringing Adrian’s body out to the sitting room, Dentham goes for the police . . . and to blackmail Roversmire (Adrian).
Chapter XIV — Dentham Makes Terms
Later that evening, Dentham informs Roversmire (Adrian) of what happened and that Dentham will help him for a price. Adrian feels trapped. There is no one he can turn to. Then, he remembers what Roversmire told him about the conditions upon which Adrian’s soul would return to its own body. Dentham was too slow to stop him.
Chapter XV — Resurgam
Olive and Teddy stay with Adrian’s body even after a doctor has declared him dead. Teddy doesn’t believe it; rather he believes that Adrian was in a trance. Suddenly at the moment Roversmire’s body expires, Adrian awakes, back in his own body.
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As an interesting literary side note, H. P. Lovecraft used the soul swap as a plot mechanic in two of his more notable titles: “The Thing on the Doorstep” written in 1933 and the novella “The Shadow Out of Time” (1934-1935). “The Thing on the Doorstep” soul swap was performed via occult magic, while the soul swap in “The Shadow Out of Time” was the result of alien technology.
It is believed that Lovecraft’s “The Thing on the Doorstep” and possibly “The Shadow Out of Time” were influenced in the soul swap mechanic by Barry Pain’s novel An Exchange of Souls (1911). Not having read An Exchange of Souls (yet!), I cannot comment on this. However, I do find it noteworthy that while Pain’s novel was first published in 1911, The Gentleman Who Vanished’s soul swapping adventure precedes it by a full 20 years. An Exchange of Souls was known to Lovecraft as a copy was in his library; no mention is made of Hume or The Gentleman Who Vanished.
Another note of interest stems from the surprising and frustrating fact that there appears to be very few materials online for The Gentleman Who Vanished—no reviews, no commentaries. This is especially surprising in light of the fact that just four years earlier (1886), Hume released what would be considered the one of the bestselling novels in the Victorian Era. Aside from several advertisements in the journal, The Athenaeum, just after the novel’s release[ii], one is hard pressed to discover a review or comment concerning The Gentleman Who Vanished—see below.
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While plot elements in The Gentleman Who Vanished reflect cultural aspects from late 19th century England; in particular the attitudes regarding belief in the power of occult, I am not sure The Gentleman Who Vanished qualifies as horror fiction, or, rather as a melodrama in the vein of the penny dreadfuls.
I am not sure if I liked it.
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References
Print Resources
Sutherland, John. The Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction. Stanford: Stanford University Press. 1989.
Digital Resources
Hume, Fergus. The Gentleman Who Vanished. Black Heath Editions. 2016. Kindle Edition.
Online Resources
Caterson, Simon. “Fergus Hume’s Startling Story.” Inside Story. 08 May 2012. Web. 22 September 2018. https://insidestory.org.au/fergus-humes-startling-story/
“Fergus Hume.” Fantastic Fiction. Fantastic Fiction. Web. 20 September 2018. https://www.fantasticfiction.com/h/fergus-hume/
“Fergus Hume Bibliography.” Classic Crime Fiction. Web. 02 October 2018. http://www.classiccrimefiction.com/fergus-hume.htm
Kirk, Pauline M. “Hume, Fergusson Wright (Fergus) (1859–1932).” Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography. Web. 02 October 2018. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hume-fergusson-wright-fergus-3817
Wikipedia contributors. "Fergus Hume." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 16 August 2018. Web. 27 September 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fergus_Hume
[i] Sutherland, The Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction. Page 313, 454-455.
[ii] Including the example below from The Athenaeum, 04 October 1890, page 460.
