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The Cloven Foot
Chapitres (46)
- I: The Heir Presumptive 0:00
- II: Jasper Treverton’s Will 37:03
- III: A Mysterious Visitor 53:35
- IV: La Chicot 1:19:10
- V: A Disappointed Lover 1:55:26
- VI: La Chicot Has Her Own Way 2:12:06
- VII: “A Little While Such Lips as Thine to Kiss” 2:40:21
- VIII: “Days That Are Over, Dreams That Are Done” 3:30:28
- IX: “And Art Thou Come! and Art Thou True!” 4:01:02
- X: Engaged 4:25:18
- XI: No Trousseau 4:50:49
- XII: An Ill-Omened Wedding 5:05:55
- XIII: The Settlement 5:36:42
- XIV: “You Have but to Say the Word” 5:45:54
- XV: Edward Clare Discovers a Likeness 6:02:05
- XVI: Shall It Be “Yes” or “No”? 6:26:38
- XVII: Murder 6:44:06
- XVIII: What the Diamonds Were Worth 7:01:55
- XIX: “To a Deep Lawny Dell They Came” 7:29:50
- XX: The Church Near Camelot 7:53:25
- XXI: Halcyon Days 8:11:59
- XXII: A Village Iago 8:26:50
- XXIII: “In the Meanwhile the Skies ’Gan Rumble Sore” 8:53:16
- XXIV: “And Purple Light Shone Over All” 9:08:48
- XXV: The Children’s Party 9:20:50
- XXVI: A Disinterested Parent 9:31:14
- XXVII: Desrolles Is Not Communicative 10:17:33
- XXVIII: Edward Clare Goes on a Voyage of Discovery 10:32:32
- XXIX: George Gerard 11:05:26
- XXX: Thou Art the Man 11:21:17
- XXXI: Why Don’t You Trust Me? 11:45:33
- XXXII: On His Defence 11:59:39
- XXXIII: At the Morgue 12:27:50
- XXXIV: George Gerard in Danger 12:41:51
- XXXV: On a Voyage of Discovery 13:05:54
- XXXVI: Kergariou’s Wife 13:22:23
- XXXVII: The Tenant from Beechampton 13:40:19
- XXXVIII: Celia’s Lovers 13:56:23
- XXXIX: On Suspicion 14:44:02
- XL: Mr. Leopold Asks Irrelevant Questions 15:01:54
- XLI: Mrs. Evitt Makes a Revelation 15:14:32
- XLII: The Undertaker’s Evidence 15:54:48
- XLIII: An Old Lady’s Diary 16:14:28
- XLIV: Three Witnesses 16:32:11
- XLV: The Hunt for Desrolles 16:40:11
- Epilogue 17:05:21
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The Cloven Foot follows the fortunes of John Treverton, who is at a very low point in his life. He has squandered his small inheritance and has had to sell his commission as a lieutenant in a cavalry regiment. Though he has been making a small amount of money from drawing comic sketches, he is feeling desperate and miserable when a telegram unexpectedly summons him to the death-bed of his wealthy uncle Jasper. The dying man tells him that he will will his estate to the younger man on one condition—that he marry Jasper’s adopted daughter Laura within twelve months. But events in Treverton’s past threaten this boon, and soon complications multiply.
The novel was generally well-received, with praise for Braddon’s deft handling of a complex plot. Sensational elements such as murder, mistaken identity, and bigamy feature prominently in The Cloven Foot, as they do in many of her novels; but an important new theme is that of fraud—a theme which has been identified as part of an increasing trend in the era’s sensation fiction towards featuring more white-collar crimes.
The Cloven Foot was initially published in serial form in the Newcastle Weekly Chronicle in 1878. It was subsequently published in three volumes in 1879. A stage play based on the novel, radically simplifying the plot, was performed in 1890.