4022. EBB to Henrietta Cook
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 24, 106–108.
La Villa. Bagni di Lucca. Toscana.
Saturday. [Postmark: 1 August 1857]
My beloved Henrietta I must write to you, though I shall have to throw this to the general post-office, not knowing your address. But I do hope I shall have a letter from Seaton before you get this. I am anxious about you both, you & our darling Arabel– You have not been well, dearest– May it be a “have been” by now! The change & the sea air will in all probability have set you up again. Pray dont be in a hurry to go away, and pray hold Arabel tight that she may not go away—for it struck me there were symptoms already of her being restless to get back to that horrible London which at the present time of year is so contrary to nature– Hold her tight, Henrietta– Do the children bathe?– Are their dear cheeks sprouting roses? As for us we have left Florence at last & have been here since the day before yesterday. We lingered still after taking our house here, through the sudden apparition of Robert Lytton, whom we did’nt like to leave directly, since he was in Florence chiefly for us– He found it intolerably hot of course, having been entirely disacclimatized by four years (nearly) in the north, & his intention when we left him at Isa Blagden’s house, was to follow us as soon as we could look out for accom[m]odation suitable to him & her. This place is cooler than Florence .. in the evenings & at night comparatively quite cool .. but I am half sorry to have come, because of Robert, who will certainly find it dull, knowing as he does all the country by heart, & who leaves behind quantities of interest in various ways– We have a rather pretty house .. a most beautiful garden .. long alleys of walks, oleanders of majestic proportions & all colours .. tall tree, a standard peach-tree, like a forest-tree .. a great terrace with curtains to shut out the sun, opening on said garden .. very pretty—only the rooms themselves are small, and the number not equal to what was promised. So small are the bedrooms, that married pairs are forced to divide into separate ones,—& Peni too has a whole one to himself– Also, the situation admits of no views but the garden– It’s what may be called “stuffy” with trees. Side glances at mountain-tops from one or two windows—but no view– And houses & hotels pressing, elbowing one a little, behind the trees– Its not my favorite position, certainly– Still, there’s the garden—& we shall get out on the mountains presently. Peni was on a donkey yesterday, & proposed this morning to have one “twice a day”—(Peni is ambitious—) but I say (tell Altham) that he is to have one only when he is good .. when he has done his lessons well. We fancied we might have taken in Lytton & Isa Blagden for a while,—but we cant, unfortunately—though, if Henry would come (which he wont) we would manage—the very walls would stretch, I think. Only I dont waste myself in hoping, I am so sure he wont or cant come.
Mrs Jameson left Florence the day before we did– We parted in all affection, but it runs in my head that she was disappointed in us somehow, & that there was a very slight degree of coldness on her part .. the sort of small thing which is rather felt than observed. She is nervous & susceptible—& in that intense heat, I could not go out in the carriage with her in the morning to see churches & pictures—I could not, and Robert would not, much– Perhaps it was that– Who knows? We were attentive, I think– We drove her out in the evening—& sometimes she dined with us, & very very often had tea. But then, Isa Blagden was much with us, & if she took me out in her carriage, it happened often that she did not ask Mrs Jameson– Well—I may perhaps fancy it all– She dined with us on the last day, & half settled it that she would come to Lucca after her business at Sienna was over– I cant say. I feel a little, a little, uncomfortable—having a real regard for her, dear Mrs Jameson–
Lytton spent a day in Paris as he passed through & met Hume on the Boulevard,—stopped & spoke to him, & heard that there were new developments of the spiritual appearances & that the whole figure had repeatedly been seen. From other sources, I had heard this– Did I tell you? In a house in Paris, two whole spirits male & female, were seen, & five or six persons, including the medium, fainted– The two were recognized by their friends present. It was the vividness & unusualness of this apparition which produced the impression of terror. Lord Holland [1] told Lytton that he could not doubt the reality of the manifestations—& the Count de Morny, a great sceptic, has come over to the belief. [2] We mean to try to hire a low carriage, which Robert can drive– I shall like it better at first than the donkies– On our arrival here at half past ten at night, [3] tell my dearest Arabel we were so reminded of her goodness to us by seeing the table spread ready for us .. tea—a pigeon pie & a tart .. bottles of lemonade kept in ice—all Mrs Stisted’s welcome to us! Tell Arabel, it quite affected me,—& I could have sate down & cried, thinking of her!–
Just now Peni says—“Oh—I do like the Bagni di Lucca. It is so nice to smell the green, and to watch the lizards, and to hear every moment the little hoofs of donkies.” Indeed the last poetical circumstance commends itself strongly to Pen. We have brought heaps of lesson-books in all languages, & mean to be industrious– (He gets on with his German, tell Altham. Have you begun the French reading with Altham?–) Then I have brought, for myself, a mass of books from the circulating library [4] which I can change as I read them, there being a daily carrier between this place & Florence. And we find a pretty good piano– The worst is that Robert has no models for his drawing, & no studio– Well—now poetry must have its turn, and I shall not be sorry for that. He has taken a passion for drawing, & through the facilities of Florence, devotes himself to it too much perhaps, neglecting his own art. We had several delightful evenings, by the way, at Isa’s villa before we came off,—on that exquisite terrace of her’s, listening to new poems of Lytton’s which he read musically & which seemed to receive modulation from the divine stars & ringing mountains– He talks of going to the lake of Como for a few months, to domesticate himself with some Italian family & acquire the familiarity with the language, which is necessary to his diplomatic advancement. We must make our boys familiar with living languages Henrietta, for the character of the times makes them indispensible to success in life– In fact, the world is thrown open now—& an intelligent man must’nt be simply an Englishman or a Frenchman but a citizen of all countries.
I write of these things, instead of writing as my heart would lead me—which would be at once sad & vain. I am anxious about you in many ways— When can another letter come from Storm?– Is not Arabel uncomfortable without Bonser? It seems to me that there must be a great deal of discomfort & dreariness, over & above what is necessary—that’s my impression—& I am moved in the spirit always to get up & meddle, & put everybody in the place I want them to stand in. Which is foolish, & very provoking, I dare say. Is’nt Arabel vexed with me? Tell me the truth. Never mind– If she will but be well & satisfied, I shall learn wisdom in time, & how to keep my place & be silent. Then she will forgive me for having ‘pushed & pulled’ & teazed about houses & lands & all the rest of it– Dearest Henrietta try to write me a good account of yourself & her– You were naughty to have nursed your giant so long– Love to dear Surtees & the children. I love you, dear– My two dearest sisters, may God bless you prays your own Ba– Robert’s love–
Address: Angleterre viâ France– / Mrs Surtees Cook. / Seaton / near Lyme Regis. / Devon.
Publication: Huxley, pp. 275–277 (in part, as 4 August 1857).
Manuscript: British Library.
1. Henry Edward Fox, 4th Baron Holland (1802–59), former British minister plenipotentiary to the court of Tuscany (1839–46).
2. Charles Auguste Louis Joseph Demorny, self-styled Comte de Morny (1811–65), later (1862) Duc de Morny, was the illegitimate son of Charles Joseph, Comte de Flahaut, and Hortense de Beauharnais; and thus, half-brother to Napoleon III. From 1854 Morny was President of the Corps Législatif. When the emperor took up spiritualism and reports that he was a believer began to circulate, Morny “felt it [his] duty to contradict” them (Madame Dunglas Home, D. D. Home: His Life and Mission, 1888, pp. 78–79). We are unable to confirm EBB’s news about Morny’s conversion to spiritualism.
3. The Brownings arrived on 30 July.
4. Either Vieusseux’s reading rooms or Brecker’s bookshop, both of which included a circulating library.
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