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45 - Life and Letters of Mary Shelley by Mrs. Julian Marshall · Life and Letters of Mary Shelley

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  Speaker 1: Chapter sixteen, Part one of the Life and Letters of
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  Speaker 1: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Volume one by Julian Missus Marshall. This
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  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter sixteen, Part one,
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  Speaker 1: April through July eighteen twenty two. Evil news not well.
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  Speaker 1: These few words are Mary's record.
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  Speaker 2: Of this frightful blow.
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  Speaker 1: She was again in delicate health, suffering from the same
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  Speaker 1: depressing symptoms as before Percy's birth, and for a like reason,
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  Speaker 1: no wonder, she was made downright ill by the shock
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  Speaker 1: and by the sickening apprehension of the scene to follow
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  Speaker 1: when Claire should hear the news on the next day,
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  Speaker 1: but one the twenty fifth of April, the travelers returned.
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  Speaker 1: Williams says in his diary for that day meet s
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  Speaker 1: his face bespoke his feelings. Ses child was dead, and
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  Speaker 1: he had the office to break it to her, or
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  Speaker 1: rather not to do so, but fearful of the news
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  Speaker 1: reaching her, ears to remove her instantly from this place.
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  Speaker 1: Shelley could not tell Claire at once, not while they
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  Speaker 1: were in Pisa, and with Byron close by. One unfurnished
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  Speaker 1: house was to be had, the Casamangyi in the Bay
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  Speaker 1: of Ladichi thither on the chance of getting it, they
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  Speaker 1: must go, and instantly Mary's indisposition must be ignored. She
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  Speaker 1: must undertake the negotiations for the house. Within twenty four
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  Speaker 1: hours she was off to Spezzia with Claire and little Percy,
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  Speaker 1: escorted by Trelawney. Poor Claire, quite unconscious of the burden
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  Speaker 1: on her friend's minds. Shelley remained behind another day to
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  Speaker 1: pack up the necessary furniture, but on the twenty seventh he,
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  Speaker 1: with the whole Williams family, left Pisa for Leddici. Thence,
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  Speaker 1: while waiting for the furniture to arrive by sea, he
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  Speaker 1: wrote to Mary at Spezzia. Shelley to Mary Ledichi, Sunday,
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  Speaker 1: twenty eighth of April eighteen twenty two, Dearest Mary, I
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  Speaker 1: am this moment arrived at Leddichi, where I am necessarily
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  Speaker 1: detained waiting the furniture which left Pisa last night at midnight.
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  Speaker 1: And as as the sea has been calm and the
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  Speaker 1: wind fair, I may expect them every moment.
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  Speaker 2: It would not do to.
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  Speaker 1: Leave affairs here in an impicchio. Great as is my
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  Speaker 1: anxiety to see you. How are you, my best love?
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  Speaker 1: How have you sustained the trials of the journey. Answer
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  Speaker 1: me this question, and how my little babe and Claire
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  Speaker 1: are now to business? Is the Manyi House taken? If
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  Speaker 1: not pray, occupy yourself instantly in finishing the affair, even
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  Speaker 1: if you are obliged to go to Sarzana and send
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  Speaker 1: a messenger to me to tell me of your success,
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  Speaker 1: I of course cannot leave Leddichi, to which port the
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  Speaker 1: boats for we were obliged to take two are directed.
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  Speaker 1: But you can come over in the same boat that
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  Speaker 1: brings you this letter and return in the evening. I
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  Speaker 1: hear that Trelawney is still with you. Tell Claire that,
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  Speaker 1: as I must probably in a few days return to
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  Speaker 1: Pisa for the affair of the lawsuit, I have brought
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  Speaker 1: her box with me, thinking she might be in want
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  Speaker 1: of some of its contents. I ought to say that
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  Speaker 1: I do not think there is accommodation for you all
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  Speaker 1: at this inn, and that even if there were, you
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  Speaker 1: would be better off at Spatsia. But if the Magni
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  Speaker 1: House is taken, then there is no possible reason why
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  Speaker 1: you should not take a row over in the boat
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  Speaker 1: that will bring this. But do not keep the men long.
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  Speaker 1: I am anxious to hear from you on every account,
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  Speaker 1: ever yours. S Mary's answer was that she had concluded
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  Speaker 1: for Casamagni, but that no other house was to be
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  Speaker 1: had in all that neighborhood. It was in a neglected
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  Speaker 1: condition and not very roomy or convenient, but such as
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  Speaker 1: it was, it had to accommodate the Williams as well
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  Speaker 1: as the Shelleys and Claire. Considerable difficulty was experienced by
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  Speaker 1: Shelley in obtaining leave for the landing of the furniture.
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  Speaker 1: This obstacle got over they at last took possession. Edward
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  Speaker 1: Williams journal. Wednesday, May first, cloudy with rain, came to
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  Speaker 1: Casamagni after breakfast, the Shelleys having contrived to give us
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  Speaker 1: rooms without them, Heaven knows what we should have done.
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  Speaker 1: Employed all day putting the things away, all comfortably settled
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  Speaker 1: by four, passed the evening in talking over.
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  Speaker 2: Our folly and our troubles.
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  Speaker 1: The worst trouble, however, was still impending finding how crowded
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  Speaker 1: and uncomfortable they were likely to be. Claire, after a
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  Speaker 1: day or two, decided that it was best for herself
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  Speaker 1: and for everyone, that she should return to Florence, and
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  Speaker 1: announced her intention accordingly compelled by the circumstances. Shelley then
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  Speaker 1: disclosed to her the true state of the case. Her
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  Speaker 1: grief was excessive, but was after the first succeeded by
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  Speaker 1: a calmness unusual in her and surprising to her friends,
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  Speaker 1: a reaction from the fever of suspense and torments in
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  Speaker 1: which she had lived for the weeks past, and which
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  Speaker 1: were even a harder strain on her powers of endurance
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  Speaker 1: than the truth. Grievous though that was putting an end
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  Speaker 1: to all hope as well as to all fear. For
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  Speaker 1: the present, she remained at the Villemagni. The ground floor
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  Speaker 1: of this habitation was appropriated, as is often done in Italy,
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  Speaker 1: for stowing the implements and produce of the land, as
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  Speaker 1: rent is paid in kind. There in the autumn you
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  Speaker 1: find casks of wine, jars of oil, tools, wood, occasionally carts,
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  Speaker 1: and near the sea boats and fishing nets. Over this
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  Speaker 1: floor were a large saloon and four bedrooms, which had
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  Speaker 1: once been whitewashed, and nothing more. There was an out
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  Speaker 1: built for cooking and a place for the servants to
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  Speaker 1: eat and sleep. Him the Williams had one room, and
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  Speaker 1: Shelley and his wife occupied two more facing each other,
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  Speaker 1: facing the sea, and almost over it. A verandah, or
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  Speaker 1: open terrace, ran the whole length of the building. It
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  Speaker 1: was over the projecting ground floor and level with the
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  Speaker 1: inhabited story. The surrounding scenery was magnificent, but wild to
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  Speaker 1: the last degree, and there was something unearthly in the
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  Speaker 1: perpetual moaning and howling of winds and waves. Poor Mary
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  Speaker 1: now began to feel the ill effects of her enforced
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  Speaker 1: over exertions. She became very unwell, suffering from utter prostration
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  Speaker 1: of strength and from hysterical affections. Rest, quiet, and freedom
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  Speaker 1: from worry were essential to her condition, but none of
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  Speaker 1: these could she have, nor even sleep at night. The
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  Speaker 1: absence of comfort and privacy, added to the great difficulty
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  Speaker 1: of housekeeping, and the melancholy with which Claire's misfortune had
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  Speaker 1: infected the whole party, were all very unfavorable to her.
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  Speaker 1: After staying for three weeks, Claire returned for a short
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  Speaker 1: visit to Florence. Shelley's letters to her during her absence
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  Speaker 1: afford occasional glimpses from which it is easy to infer
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  Speaker 1: more and to the state of affairs at Casamangni. Missus
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  Speaker 1: Williams was by no means acquiescent in the present system
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  Speaker 1: of things. The plan of having all possessions in common
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  Speaker 1: does not work well. In the kitchen, their respective servants
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  Speaker 1: of the two families were always quarreling and taking each
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  Speaker 1: other's things. Jane, who was a good housekeeper, had the
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  Speaker 1: defects of her qualities, and pined for her own house
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  Speaker 1: and saucepans. It is a pity, remarks Shelley, that any
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  Speaker 1: one so pretty and amiable should be so selfish. Not
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  Speaker 1: that these matters troubled him much. Such little squalls gave
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  Speaker 1: way to calm, in accustomed vicissitude to use his own words,
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  Speaker 1: and Missus Williams had far too much tact to dwell
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  Speaker 1: on domestic worries. To him, his own nerves were for
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  Speaker 1: a time shaken and unstrung. But he recovered, and after
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  Speaker 1: the first.
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  Speaker 2: Was unusually well.
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  Speaker 1: He was in love with the wild, beautiful place, and
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  Speaker 1: with the life at sea. For to his boat he
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  Speaker 1: escaped whenever any little breezes ruffled the surface of domestic life,
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  Speaker 1: so that its mirror no longer reflected his own unwontedly
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  Speaker 1: bright spirits. At first, he and Williams had only the
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  Speaker 1: small flat bottomed boat in which they had navigated the
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  Speaker 1: Arnoux and Serchio. But in a fortnight there arrived the
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  Speaker 1: little schooner which Captain Roberts had built for Shelley at Genoa.
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  Speaker 1: And then their content was perfect. For Mary, no such
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  Speaker 1: escape from care and discomfort was open. She was too
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  Speaker 1: weak to go about much, and it is no wonder
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  Speaker 1: that after the Williams installation she merely chronicles the rest
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  Speaker 1: of May a blank. William's diary partly fills this blank,
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  Speaker 1: and it is so graphic in its exceeding simplicity, that,
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  Speaker 1: though it has been printed before, portions may well be
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  Speaker 1: included here. Extract from William's diary. Thursday May second, cloudy,
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  Speaker 1: with intervals of rain, went out with Shelley in the boat,
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  Speaker 1: fish on the rocks. Bad sport went in the evening
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  Speaker 1: after some wild ducks, saw nothing but sublime scenery, to
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  Speaker 1: which the grandeur of a storm greatly contributed. Friday, May third, fine,
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  Speaker 1: the captain of the port dispatched a vessel for Shelley's
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  Speaker 1: boat went to La Ricci, with s being obliged to
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  Speaker 1: market there, the servant having returned from Sarzana without being
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  Speaker 1: able to procure anything.
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  Speaker 2: Snday, May fifth Fine.
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  Speaker 1: Kept awake the whole night by a heavy swell which
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  Speaker 1: made a noise on the beach like the discharge of
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  Speaker 1: heavy artillery. Tried with Shelley to launch the small flat
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  Speaker 1: bottomed boat.
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  Speaker 2: Through the surf.
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  Speaker 1: We succeeded in pushing it through, but shipped a sea
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  Speaker 1: on attempting to land. Walked to lu Richi along the
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  Speaker 1: beach by a winding path on the mountain side. Delightful evening,
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  Speaker 1: the scenery most sublime. Monday, May sixth fine. Some heavy
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  Speaker 1: drops of rain fell today without a cloud being visible.
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  Speaker 1: Made a sketch of the western side of the bay
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  Speaker 1: read a little Walked with Jane up the mountain after tea.
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  Speaker 1: Walking with Shelley on the terrace and observing the effect
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  Speaker 1: of moonshine on the waters, he complained of being unusually
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  Speaker 1: nervous and stopping short. He grasped me violently by the
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  Speaker 1: arm and stared steadfastly on the white surf that broke
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  Speaker 1: upon the beach under our feet. Observing him sensibly affected,
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  Speaker 1: I demanded of him if he were in pain, but
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  Speaker 1: he only answered in saying there it is again there.
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  Speaker 1: He recovered after some time and declared that he saw,
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  Speaker 1: as plainly as he then saw me, a naked child
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  Speaker 1: alegra rise from the sea and clap its hands as
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  Speaker 1: in joy, smiling at him. This was a trance that
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  Speaker 1: it required some reasoning and philosophy entirely to awaken him
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  Speaker 1: from so forcibly had the vision operated on his mind. Conversation,
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  Speaker 1: which had been at first rather melancholy, led to this,
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  Speaker 1: and my confirming his sensations by confessing that I had
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  Speaker 1: felt the same, gave greater activity to his ever wandering
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  Speaker 1: and lively imagination. Sunday, May twelfth, cloudy and threatening weather
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  Speaker 1: wrote During the morning, mister Maglian called after dinner, and
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  Speaker 1: while walking with him on the terrace, we discovered a
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  Speaker 1: strange sail coming round the point of porto Venere, which
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  Speaker 1: proved at length to be Shelley's boat. She had left
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  Speaker 1: Genoa on Thursday, but had been driven back by prevailing
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  Speaker 1: bad winds. A mister Heslop and two English seamen brought
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  Speaker 1: her round, and they speak most highly of her performances.
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  Speaker 1: She does indeed excite my surprise and admiration. Shelley and
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  Speaker 1: I walked to l Ricci and made a stretch off
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  Speaker 1: the land to try her, and I find she fetches
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  Speaker 1: whatever she looks at. In short, we have now a
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  Speaker 1: perfect plaything for the summer. Monday, May thirteenth, rain during
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  Speaker 1: night in Torrents, a heavy gale of wind from southwest
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  Speaker 1: and a surf running heavier than ever at four gale,
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  Speaker 1: unabated violent squalls.
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  Speaker 2: In the evening, an.
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  Speaker 1: Electric arch forming in the clouds announces a heavy thunder storm.
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  Speaker 1: If the wind lulls distant thunder gale increases. A circle
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  Speaker 1: of foam surrounds the bay. Dark evening and tempestuous, with
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  Speaker 1: flashes of lightning at interval, which gives us no hope
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  Speaker 1: of better weather. The learned in these things say that
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  Speaker 1: it generally lasts three days. When once it commences, as
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  Speaker 1: this has done, we all feel as if we were
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  Speaker 1: on board ship, and the roaring of the sea brings
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  Speaker 1: this idea to us even in our beds. Wednesday, May fifteenth,
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  Speaker 1: fine and fresh breeze and puffs from the land. Jane
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  Speaker 1: and Mary consent to take a sail, run down to
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  Speaker 1: porto Venere and beat back at one o'clock. The boats
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  Speaker 1: sailed like a witch after the late gale. The water
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  Speaker 1: is covered with purple nautili, or as the sailors call them,
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  Speaker 1: Portuguese men of war. After dinner, Jane accompanied us to
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  Speaker 1: the point of the Magra, and the boat beat back
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  Speaker 1: in wonderful style. Wednesday May twenty second, Fine, after a
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  Speaker 1: threatening night after breakfast, Shelley and I amused ourselves with
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  Speaker 1: trying to make a boat of canvas and reeds as
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  Speaker 1: light and as small as possible. She is to be
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  Speaker 1: eight and a half feet long and four and a
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  Speaker 1: half broad. Wednesday, June twelfth launched the little boat, which
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  Speaker 1: answered our wishes and expectations. She is eighty six pounds
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  Speaker 1: English weight and stows easily on board. Sailed in the evening,
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  Speaker 1: but were becalmed in the offing, and left there with
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  Speaker 1: a long ground swell which made Jane little better than dead.
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  Speaker 1: Hoisted out our little boat and brought her on shore
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  Speaker 1: her landing, attended by the whole village. Thursday, June thirteenth,
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  Speaker 1: Fine at nine saw a vessel between the straits of
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  Speaker 1: Portovenere like a man of war brig She proved to
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  Speaker 1: be the Bolivar, with Roberts and Trelawney on board, who
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  Speaker 1: are taking her round to Livorno. On meeting them, we
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  Speaker 1: were saluted by six guns, sail together to try the
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  Speaker 1: vessels in speed. No chance with her, but I think
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  Speaker 1: we keep as good a wind. She is the most
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  Speaker 1: beautiful craft I ever saw, and will do more for
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  Speaker 1: her size. She costs Lord Byron seven hundred and fifty pounds,
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  Speaker 1: clear off and ready for sea, with provisions and conveniences
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  Speaker 1: of every kind. In the midst of this happy life,
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  Speaker 1: one anxiety there was, however, which pursued Shelley everywhere, and
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  Speaker 1: neither on shore nor at sea could he escape from it.
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  Speaker 1: That of Godwin's imminent ruin. The first of the letters
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  Speaker 1: which follow had reached Mary while still at Pisa. The
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  Speaker 1: next letter, and that of Missus Godwin, were, at Shelley's request,
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  Speaker 1: intercepted by Missus Mason and sent to him. He could
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  Speaker 1: not and would not show them to Mary, and wrote
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  Speaker 1: at last to Missus Godwin to try and put a
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  Speaker 1: stop to them. Godwin to Mary Skinner Street, nineteenth of
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  Speaker 1: April eighteen twenty two, My dearest Mary, the die, so
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  Speaker 1: far as I am concerned, seems now to be cast,
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  Speaker 1: and all that remains is that I should entreat you
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  Speaker 1: to forget that you have a father in existence? Why
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  Speaker 1: should your prime of youthful vigor be tarnished and made
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  Speaker 1: wretched by.
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  Speaker 2: What relates to me.
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  Speaker 1: I have lived to a full age of man, and
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  Speaker 1: as much comfort as can reasonably be expected to fall
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  Speaker 1: to the lot of a human being. What signifies what
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  Speaker 1: becomes of the few wretched years that remain. For the
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  Speaker 1: same reason I think I ought for the future to
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  Speaker 1: drop writing to you. It is impossible that my letters
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  Speaker 1: can give you anything but unmingled pain. A few weeks
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  Speaker 1: more and the formalities which still restrain the successful claimant
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  Speaker 1: will be over, and my prospects of tranquility must, as
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  Speaker 1: I believe, be eternally closed.
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  Speaker 2: While William Godwin end of Chapter sixteen, Part one