CASE FOR JACK

Jack of All Trades, Thief of Emma’s Heart

Jack: man of intrigue, a brilliant mastermind, a master of disguise, an actor with a thousand faces and voices, a villain… and a hero…? The name “Jack” is defined as “any man” by Shakespeare in Act 3 of Romeo and Juliet- very appropriate for his ability to appear to be anyone he wants. We think that Hawkes is endgame¹ in The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower, but we actually would LOVE it to be Jack. Here’s why:

Image: The many faces of Jack, original photo by the RHSS

-Jack loves Emma! He says so himself, let us prove it! Jack and Emma have the most fun terms of endearment, all being pastry/dessert names. Emma started this but Jack loved it and didn’t stop even after the Jane Eyre adventure was completed. He continues to call her the most ridiculously sweet names whenever they are together. So how does this prove that Jack loves Emma? Well, in Vol 3 Jul 24, he sighs with “contentment” as he is out to tea with Emma and says, “I love one thing in this world, Miss Lion.” Emma responds, “Yourself?” He grinned and corrects himself saying he loves two things: himself and “sweet pastries.” And who does he always call names of sweet pastry and dessert? Emma! And why is he sighing with contentment? Because he is with her in that moment! So he is covertly telling her- his sweet pastry- that he loves her!

-Emma likewise needs and wants Jack. It is shown in this way: Emma desperately wants a pocket watch, and Jack IS the pocket watch. Here is the author’s clever connection and symbolism: Emma says multiple times in the series that she wants a pocket watch. It is the one gift that she has been pretty consistent about wanting and no one seems to have picked up on this. But this is actually symbolic of her wanting Jack, though it’s subtle at this point in the series. Only readers who have read the author’s paid substack subscription with great attention to detail will have this sneak peek of insight! In Brower’s paid Substack, it is revealed that Jack is the embodiment of time. He has a stolen watch and looks at it, but only as a dignified accessory, he doesn’t actually need it because he always knows exactly what time it is to the second inside his head. In a flash decision, he tells one of his minions to sell it. He doesn’t need it, he knows what time it is. Therefore, when Emma is wanting a pocket watch, she is symbolically expressing her desire to have Jack - who is a living pocket watch.

-Emma has expressed desires to travel and loves to exercise through taking lots of long walks. With Jack, they will always be on the run and they will see lots new sights as they scramble through their adventures together- let’s stop kidding ourselves: a life of travel and staying super fit because you’re always running? Isn’t this ALL of our dreams come true???

-Emma might be one of the only people to have ever surprised Jack. She instantly saw through him when she met him, which surprised him. And she briefly broke his acting face when she first called him a pastry term of endearment for the first time. This delighted Jack who has been drowning in boredom and predictability.

-Emma has lots of fun fantasies and daydreams: she envisions herself as a pirate, a painting in the windowsill, being held at gunpoint, being a blue-stocking, etc. With Jack she can be anyone she wants! Literally! Every day! What a fun life.

-Jack mirrors Emma’s own secret rebellion. They both are stuck with the rules and strict society chains, which- let’s face it- stink! Jack represents freedom, which Emma clearly desires again and again.

-Jack needs a co-conspirator who is up to the task. Emma is described as his good luck charm (Vol 7 Mar 7) and Jack says he doesn’t trust other women, only Emma (Vol 4 Sept 14). And-spoiler-! Even this early on, Emma says that she was flattered! She loves that she is his one and only!

-We think of Hawkes as being the athletic one, but Jack is also extremely athletic and agile. He has all the power, grace and danger of a jungle cat (Vol 1 Apr 14). For example, he jumped easily from the moving cab without problem on their way to the Drunken Duck. Sexy.

-He’s also alluringly mysterious. Emma recognizes that he’s “a bit of a magician” and he disappears into crowds and appears out of nowhere, like in her drawing room. He also seems to have been keeping an eye out and protecting her and making sure she’s safe, as he seems to know everywhere she has been and all of her acquaintances. He once sent her a note stating that he saw her out in the park. He is aware of her comings and goings. (Aside: we don’t call this stalking. We call it…. Love Eyes…?)

-In Vol 5 Dec 13, when Jack meets Emma at the train station to go to his mother’s house, he slips his arm through hers in a “proprietary manner.” He has claimed her! She belongs to him. And he to her.

-A lot of people like the banter between Islington and Emma, but the banter between Emma and Jack is just as good if not better. It doesn’t have the same edge as Islington, and Jack always wins her over at the end with his sweet talk. For example, Jack says (Vol 4 Sep 14) if Emma didn’t see him, she would miss him. She says “doubtful” and he responds “probable.” Charming! And on (Vol 6 Feb 2) when Jack is dressed as a Catholic priest, he says, “Do you want to get tea?” Emma responds, “Never! Also, yes.” This is classic Emma. She initially pushes back but then turns quickly to Jack. We see this also when Jack has tricked Emma into playing a role in his gambling win upstairs at the Drunken Duck. She starts out furious, but by end of the evening they are laughing, walking arm in arm down Traitor’s Road looking at the street lamps together.

-Jack wanted Emma to be with him on one of his most difficult and somber days: He wanted her with him as his mother was dying, knowing she would be every mother’s dream daughter-in-law and his own choice for a wife. He didn’t trust anyone else, or ask other friends for support. One might think he’d ask Mary as he seems to have spent more time with her, but Emma is his choice. Emma did everything she could to help Jack’s mother and support Jack because she cares about him so much. She even said, “I’m doing this for YOU!” She was slightly ruffled by the lie of being pregnant with his child, but she is a “good sport” and soon fell into her role completely. She even eventually appeared *quite* comfortable with the idea of being the mother of Jack’s children. When Jack again needed comfort and support on Dec 28, he showed up in Emma’s house and she made him chocolate to drink - symbolic of the comfort she gives him as his …Peach cream? Strawberry Strudel? [Readers: insert your favorite pastry endearment here.]

-Emma is a passionate person. She loves fiercely, she laughs, she speaks her mind, she grins, and she even makes her own pockets (scandalous!). She cannot be with some stiff-collared, uptight, not a hair-out-of-place type of guy who feels constantly constrained by duty. (Hello, Islington, looking at you!) She needs the passion of a REBEL who lives on the edge without fear, like Jack. The risk is highly seductive. What young woman hasn’t been attracted to the BAD BOY, Byronic hero? Jack is likewise intrigued by the similarities in Emma and notes that she is “unexpectedly fierce” (Vol 4, Sept 15) and he is HOOKED. Their passion equals each other: When they visit Jack’s mother emotions are running high and Emma slaps Jack. He backs her into a corner and puts his hand on her shoulders and shakes her a bit. He never hurts her but they both display their emotions physically from a visceral level. (Aside: Shouldn’t this scene have ended in a passionate kiss as they realize their physical interactions were a cover for the heat they carry for each other?Maybe in book 22.) Their interaction is honest and intense, and we don’t usually see the honest emotion of Jack, only Emma can produce this. This scene shows that Jack seeks passion as much as Emma does. Emma is all that he needs.

-Jack fantasizes about Emma being his wife. He created this role twice for her! He calls her the “wife of my youth” and has even bragged about his relationship with her to others who know her as his occasional wife. At his mother’s house he wants Emma to be convincing not just for his mother, but because he wanted to be lost in the fantasy too. He pleads with Emma “Let me believe it could be true.” Emma does this and weaves an entire idyllic life with a home, kids, where they would go to school and vacation. She creates this life knowing Jack’s mother cannot hear- she does it for Jack. Jack hears and yearns for that dream to be reality.

-Jack has a deep connection to the sea just like Emma. The first time he went to the seaside as a boy he cried. His mother said he almost never cried even as a baby, even when he broke his arm, so she asked him why? He answered he “could not imagine all our troubles would feel so small.” The sea represents to him the vastness of the world unexplored, ready to be discovered and conquered. He became a bit of an optimist (like Emma) that day, realizing that his problems seemed huge until he gained the perspective of the whole world. It gave him courage and determination; he can manage anything because if others before him have done it, so can he.

-Emma calls him owing her a favor, “dangerous. Intriguing. An ace to keep up my sleeve.” (Vol 5 Dec 28.) Now that Emma has paid her obligations to Jack, he makes SURE that they are still connected by offering a favor to her. He knows that is how he keeps their lives tied together. And she likes it, too!

-Jack appears a little jealous when Emma chooses to sit with Hawkes instead of continuing to walk with him on Mar 7 (Vol 7). He insinuates that she is toying with him by saying, “Whatever suit you wish to play, sweets.” Then, to demonstrate to Hawkes his claim on Emma, he shows physical ease and acquaintance with Emma by touching her shoulder and lifting her hand to his lips to kiss. He refers to having her coat and her having his cloak which seems a little suggestive. Then he spins away on his heel, which seems like a jealous move covering as nonchalant. Emma notes it all in detail and if Emma picked up on those subtle gestures, we can be sure Hawkes did too.

-Jack also appears overly interested or jealous when Emma wants to include Islington under her “protection,” and even sneaks into Islington’s opera box to try to figure out the relationship between them.

-Emma says repeatedly that she wants to marry a Dissolute Viscount. Well! Jack is half of that at least as he is definitely dissolute! So she is half way to her dream which is closer than anyone else in her orbit.

-JACK DOES THE DISHES! (Vol 5 Dec 28). In 1880s England! Just. Stop. Right. There. Some of the other men Emma hangs out with can barely dress themselves (cough, cough - Islington²) ARE WE NOT ALL CONVINCED THAT JACK IS THE CHOSEN ONE NOW?? Yes, we will die on this hill…Men doing dishes is our love language.

Speculations:

-Uhhhhh, We love ya, Emma, but someone *responsible* has to acknowledge the elephant in the room, so it falls to us as your good friends to make this intervention: We say with all kindness, “Emma you do not appear to want to work and you’re running out of money.” Emma has done very little to obtain a job except write down a ridiculous comical list of potential non-existent jobs, circle openings occasionally in the paper, and spectacularly bungle a trial position that she was not well suited for in the first place. Yet, she maintains some expensive lifestyle habits: a large house in a fancy London neighborhood, entertaining friends frequently, enabling the lazy Cousin Archibald, and keeping on TWO servants… Emma needs money. She is too proud to ask Islington, Pierce or Hawkes for help. She will turn to Jack and realize he’s a gold mine. Her debt to Jack for supporting her lifestyle? Jack will say it’s “until death do us part”. Which she will protest slightly but secretly be delighted about it.

-The man with the scar from the Drunken Duck is going to recognize Emma somewhere because he “never forgets a face.” He will then kidnap Emma to try to punish Jack as Jack has cheated him multiple times. Jack will rescue her with style in a complex and daring plot.

-Jack will witness Argus Fard grab Emma inappropriately in public. He will not intervene in the moment, either 1- because he likes to see how Emma handles herself in difficult situations, like being on stage at the first Drunken Duck episode (there’s NO WAY Jack wasn’t watching hidden away from somewhere in the dance hall!), or 2- because Emma’s alchemy men will take action and beat Argus up on the spot. However, Jack will plot financial revenge on Argus Fard and will ruin him in what he presumes is a chivalrous gesture towards Emma. Emma may never know all the details.

-Jack’s father will be someone prominent who had an affair with Jack’s mother and she hid his identity. Emma will discover this and confront him. He didn’t realize he had a son in Jack and will be proud to claim him as his heir. (Dissolute viscount, anyone???)

-Jack and Hawkes are TWINS! When they first met each other, they both recognized something surprising and they studied each other- as if looking in a mirror- doing some arithmetic on their faces. (Vol 6, Feb 2). They were separated at birth in a tragic and complex hospital mix up that Beth Brower will publish sometime in the future (after completing the Emma M. Lion series, thank you very much!) This book will be called “A Tragedy of Errors.” It will showcase what happens when genius grows up in different environments. This is the reason that Jack cried when he saw the ocean as a boy (Vol 5, Dec 14.) He suddenly realized his cosmic connection to the ocean-just like Hawkes- and mourned the loss, the bitterness of his fated experience with reality, and the universal truths and depths of himself. He sensed his twin loss and felt his absence acutely. He and Hawkes will discover their relationship in “A Tragedy of Errors” and -plot twist- it will not actually end in tragedy as they will join forces to rule the world - in peace, and good will, obviously. Beth will have the last laugh, as usual. (Ok, we don’t actually buy this one, but it’s fun and ridiculous and sometimes wild speculations have to be fun and ridiculous! But seriously, what else are we supposed to do with our time while we patiently wait for the next book?)

-Jack was the person Damian hired to go to Cambridge for him. That is why he is so well educated and poised despite his humble upbringing. He wore a disguise the entire time so his classmates wouldn’t recognize him afterwards- he looked remarkably like Damian. This is how he got to know many of the upper class society members and learned to blend and imitate them. He probably caused a bit of mischief there too: breaking into the school kitchens, his professor’s rooms, the admissions office, the chambers of finance, the locked area of special collections at the college library, etc, while he was there- but just try and prove it!

-Jack is BOTH sides of the prophesy. He is the deep love AND the complete love, the sharp, the house of mirrors, the difficult, and the less free, etc. He’s both sides because this story can go two ways, which is why there are two sides to the prophesy. But either way, Emma ends up with Jack. See below for our explanation:

*Option #1: Jack doesn’t change and Emma joins his underground world. They become like Bonnie and Clyde without dying at the end, because they are far too clever to get caught. It can really be justified that they are not doing anything wrong. The rich of this era appear to be extremely exploitive and lazy. They take advantage of people to be house servants and pay them next to nothing. They gamble away inherited money they didn’t earn and do very little to contribute to a productive society. Therefore, if there’s a little cheating at the gambling table or some stealing of their riches, Emma and Jack would be doing the world a favor! Just like Robinhood! (Jack’s associate made this connection already in Beth’s Substack) In this option, Jack is the deep love because Emma he and Emma are DEEP thinkers. He is the “sharp as a knife” choice, because not only is he a genius mastermind but he’s physically also quite capable and dangerous. (And looks “sharp” as well!) It would be the more difficult choice because let’s face it, being on the lamb constantly would be a little tiring and a difficult lifestyle.

*Option #2: Jack reforms and uses his brilliance to earn a legitimate living. Emma is his redemptive angel and she inspires him to want to live an upstanding life. Thus, the promise to Jack’s mother is fulfilled. Because of his brilliance, he easily can succeed in a day-time, legitimate and well paying job. He would then be the complete love, as this route completes his redemption journey and he is at peace. He knows his mother will be proud of him, Emma, and little Jackie. He of course is the game of mirrors as he can be any person and easily adapt to any future he wants with his incredible skills. He would be less free- literally- because as part of his redemptive process, he will come clean and have to spend a little time in jail to atone for his crimes. But not too much time -just a few months- because he will offer to help the police solve other crimes as a plea deal. Emma will only love him more for his sacrifice.

1. If you missed it, check out our Case for Hawkes, Islington, Pierce, Roland and Tad!

2. Islington said he had a hard time getting dressed and presentable by himself on Apr 20, Vol 7, because his house staff were all out of town. He said, “I barely managed to pull myself together.” Emma responded, “You’re fending entirely for yourself?” And Islington said, “Which a man ought to be able to do…on occasion.”