Cryptogram from Frankenstein; or, the modern prometheus, chapter 6

The third of seven cryptograms from chapter 6 of Frankenstein; or, the modern prometheus. Every letter below stands for a different one, the same way all the way through, and no letter ever stands for itself.

Hkhmvpqxnqxflmwwvhr;vwhmdwapucffqbvhmcsw,khuvmkwwufcxsvhysgfxwwpwm,lcaowpwfcmvwm,cylnxafhysvcha.

Where it comes from

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley wrote it in chapter 6 of Frankenstein; or, the modern prometheus. Here is the prose either side of it, with the sentence you are solving left out.

"One by one, her brothers and sister died; and her mother, with the exception of her neglected daughter, was left childless. The conscience of the woman was troubled; she began to think that the deaths of her favourites was a judgement from heaven to chastise her partiality. She was a Roman Catholic; and I believe her confessor confirmed the idea which she had conceived. Accordingly, a few months after your departure for Ingolstadt, Justine was called home by her repentant mother. Poor girl! She wept when she quitted our house; she was much altered since the death of my aunt; grief had given softness and a winning mildness to her manners, which had before been remarkable for vivacity. Nor was her residence at her mother's house of a nature to restore her gaiety. The poor woman was very vacillating in her repentance. She sometimes begged Justine to forgive her unkindness, but much oftener accused her of having caused the deaths of her brothers and sister. Perpetual fretting at length threw Madame Moritz into a decline, which at first increased her irritability, but she is now at peace for ever. She died on the first approach of cold weather, at the beginning of this last winter. Justine has just returned to us; and I assure you I love her tenderly. She is very clever and gentle, and extremely pretty; as I mentioned before, her mien and her expression continually remind me of my dear aunt.

The sentence you are solving goes here.

"Now, dear Victor, I dare say you wish to be indulged in a little gossip concerning the good people of Geneva. The pretty Miss Mansfield has already received the congratulatory visits on her approaching marriage with a young Englishman, John Melbourne, Esq. Her ugly sister, Manon, married M. Duvillard, the rich banker, last autumn. Your favourite schoolfellow, Louis Manoir, has suffered several misfortunes since the departure of Clerval from Geneva. But he has already recovered his spirits, and is reported to be on the point of marrying a lively pretty Frenchwoman, Madame Tavernier. She is a widow, and much older than Manoir; but she is very much admired, and a favourite with everybody.

Text from the Project Gutenberg edition, which is in the public domain in the United States.

Want the answer?

Have a proper go at it first. The solution is on a page of its own, so you won’t run into it by accident.

Show the solved quotation

Nearby in the book

The puzzles either side of this one in the novel.

About as hard as this one

Scored closest to it by the model behind our guide to solving cryptograms.

Every Frankenstein; or, the modern prometheus cryptogram · About the collection · More by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley