3703. EBB to Julia Martin
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 22, 54–56.
3. Rue du Colisée–
Avenue des Champs Elysées.
December 28. [1855]
[1]My dearest Mrs Martin
Surely you have a letter of mine which either crossed yours or was lost—who knows? If you have not received it, I dont like thinking what you must think of me–
I am better, dearest friend, & inclined to be better still. Our new house is delightfully warm—and the weather itself has turned round into Italy– Oh, of course it cant continue so. We shall have the frost & wind back again of course– But it’s a respite, & one can breathe meanwhile, & one gets time to pack up a full portmanteau of philosophy & patience & other threadbare, too necessary suits for the season to come–
I have a letter from Arabel & another from Henrietta– In Wimpole Street they seem duller than usual, but Arabel is better & stronger she says, .. to make up! Henrietta is well too, & full of pleasant estimates of her little children .. who must really be good & precious. Uncle Hedley has complained much of England, .. has suffered & been shut up, & talks now of spending the rest of the winter at Torquay– He is not to be reasoned or persuaded into the London plan—which must disappoint aunt Jane, & Ibbit & Fanny. Indeed that going to England for the winter, after his long continental habits, was extremely unwise, & I expected nothing better from it than has happened. Aunt Jane tells Henrietta that “his heart is in Paris,” and that he is not likely to try the dear native air in January, any more– Aunt Bell comes to Arlette in a few days, & from her house, [2] is invited to pay a visit to Wimpole Street. I cant think of any more news.
I am setting to work again—but the wheels are stiff, & require a little use after disuse, in order to move prosperously– Mrs Dickens called on me the other day, & as he has arrived from England, we are sure of seeing him next. Meantime Penini is invited to a Christmas Tree by the little Dickens’s– [3] He goes too to Mrs Sartoris’s (Adelaide Kemble) on New Year’s Eve– He shall have a “merry Christmas & happy new year,” as long as possible, if it depends on me, darling child. Such kitchens with “real fire,” & dinner sets, & knapsacks we have bought him!
It was hard upon me to break on me such a jest. Too hard! A letter, without a word about you! Not a sign of your being well or ill!! Now, if my letter reached you, let your remorse wring from you a long answer, an account of you in detail.
Our new rooms not only are warm, but of excellent arrangement, & convenient in all ways– The advice you gave us respecting the Rue de Rivoli, came too late.
Madame Blaze de Bury [4] has called on me; & though Madme Mohl hates her, I am glad—because of the access she gives to characteristic French society– For the rest, I dont much mind whether she has a mind (or not) to be Lord Brougham’s daughter, or a descendant of the Scottish Kings–
But I shall go no where till the spring—no where– Only, Robert .. must.
I have extraordinary letters from Florence, and if poor Mrs Trollope is “in her dotage,” [5] all flesh there is going the same way–
I want you to have this without delay, so I wont write any more. May God bless both of you. My wayfaring letter says something, I believe, of the true pleasure I had in seeing you, dearest & kindest friends.
Your ever affectionate Ba
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Wellesley College.
1. Year provided by reference to the return address.
2. The Reynoldses were then living at 6 Oxford Square, Hyde Park.
3. Charles Dickens and his wife, Catherine, had nine surviving children at this time. The three closest to Pen’s age were Sydney (1847–72), Henry (1849–1933), and Edward (1852–1902).
4. Marie Pauline Rose, Baroness Blaze de Bury (née Stuart, 1813–94), Scottish-born novelist, was the daughter of William Stuart, British army officer, but she was rumored to be the illegitimate daughter of Henry Peter Brougham. She married in 1844 Baron Henri Blaze de Bury (1813–88), music critic and miscellaneous writer. Known for her Paris salon, Madame Blaze de Bury was described in 1876 by Henry James as “the grossest & most audacious lion-huntress in all creation” (Michael Anesko, Letters, Fictions, Lives: Henry James and William Dean Howells, New York, 1997, p. 120).
5. See the sixth paragraph in letter 3697.
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