Hi T. (high tea?)
It is difficult to appreciate the hysteria this story invoked in London when it first gained ground, thanks mainly to it being taken up by the infant tabloid media of the day. It almost led to the demise of the fledgling metropolitan police force when they were pressurised to commit the scant resources they then had at their disposal into "solving" the case. In the end they almost solved it too well, having identified and prosecuted several different suspects who were, in the eyes of the police, using the occasion as a cover for various nefarious activities - assaulting women chief amongst them. The prosecutions had limited success, though they did at least expose some of the plaintiffs' "testimony" to public inquisition where it was found lacking. However it also served to prolong the affair over several years, practically inviting others to copycat the alleged technique of the assailant.
One such suspect, the Marquis of Waterford, was never brought to trial. Prior to being interviewed by the police he had established quite a reputation for drunken assaults on women (amongst other debauchery and bad-eggness) and whether he had ever actually been responsible for any of the "Jack" attacks or not his behaviour certainly fitted the bill, or so the Bill seemed to think. His experience of being grilled however seems to have been the making of him. He left London and retired to Waterford, where he soon married and settled down to being, by all accounts, an exemplary husband and estate owner.
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