4064. EBB to Arabella Moulton-Barrett
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 24, 161–164.
Bagni di Lucca.
Friday– Oct. 2. [1857] [1]
My beloved Arabel it will make you easier to know that we are getting on well. My precious child was up for two hours yesterday, & was allowed to have two fingers breadth of roast turkey, which I cut up very very small, with a little bit of bread crumbled in to it– It is the first solid food he had had for long, & there was no touch of fever afterwards. Indeed I stand astonished at the extent of God’s mercy—for, considering the discipline as to diet & nearly a fortnight’s confinement to bed, (to say nothing of the fever itself) it is strange how strong he remains– A few days since he could’nt stand (when taken up for a moment) but yesterday after being dressed, & when I proposed his being carried into the drawing-room, he laughed me to scorn, & said he would “not only walk but run” .. which he actually did, & took his place on the sofa with all his books round him, looking rather more delicate certainly but not altered in the least degree otherwise[.] Thinner, paler, but no more– His eyes bright, his spirits, excellent, his appetite most alarming– The doctor says that he shall give him in a few days a course of steel medecine [2] to strengthen him up,—that’s all he wants– Only in the meanwhile we must be careful of over fatigue or chill, or indigestion—for it is hard to know when this fever is so far gone as not to be easily brought back. After ten days even, it may be brought back by rashness– So we wont be rash. As for me .. even when my Peni looks at me with tears in his eyes, & says that really I am a “naughty unkind mama” for not giving him more to eat, I hold out sternly– I believe Lytton was so long ill chiefly because the moment he felt better he ate something which the digestion could’nt accept—when immediately, the fever returned. The doctor says (our Italian—) that Peni’s case is so well over, both because of his great docility, and also because of his remarkable healthiness of constitution. The medecines took effect directly, and the patient rallied quickly from the necessary weakness– I thank God, I thank God– Though he never was ‘in danger,’ (so called) what I suffered during one or two nights, it will not be easy for me to forget– He was in pain & cried one night!– Oh, that little voice in the night!– My heart sinks now to think of it–
And he looked so .. half an angel .. as he lay on the pillow with his two scarlet cheeks & the golden trails of hair lying patiently!–
Well—it is over, I thank God. Today again he is up, & is to stay up three or four hours,—and we are to have chicken[,] a morsel of bread, .. everything very moderately: and tomorrow the doctor says he may go out in the carriage. We are very anxious to get away, & shall be in Florence early next week (tuesday or wednesday) if it pleases God. The air is dryer in Florence & lighter,—and the change also will be very favorable to him–
But in the complication of our distresses the wonderful new broom that swept so clean, the poor new Italian maid, Annunciata Lena, who devoted herself so to nursing Peni, was siezed with what seemed to be an attack on the chest, but turned fast to gastric fever– Ah—now you set it down as contagious– But it is’nt. Only there are certain states of the atmosphere which produce a tendency to it,—often here in Italy—and she had exposed herself by running out to the kitchen to prepare things for Peni, without her stockings or sufficient covering,—the kitchen being out of doors, in this house built for the Italian summer only– She has been in bed three days– We had her removed to a room farther off Peni’s– But the fever, which was strong one night, has quite gone off, and she too is to be up today for two hours,—& the doctor says that in a day or two she will be perfectly well if she is prudent– Well—but you may suppose what a difficulty I have been in. So distressed for Penini too! He had quite taken to this girl. I went to him & said .. “What would you like me to do? We must have somebody.” The child reflected for a moment & then said decidedly .. “I will have one of Annunciata’s sisters– I have seen two: and I like the one who is not tall & has a rosy face.” Unfortunately this favorite was in a situation, but I sent for the other—who got on very well till she was sent for after four & twenty hours by a lady who had previously engaged her!– And then Peni & I were reduced to a third youngest sister who is very young & as stupid as possible, [3] & has never been in a situation,—but she is goodnatured, & I dress Peni myself—and Ferdinando sleeps close to him, so as to be ready to get his broth for him at six in the morning. After all, I was so easy in my mind yesterday evening, that I slept soundly last night—& it is long since I have done so. As to Peni he has excellent nights now, & in the day he accom[m]odates himself cheerfully to all our difficulties– He gets [on] better with Italian strangers, than he would with English strangers,—the Italians have so little reserve & stiffness, & slide into intimacy so quickly– Also Peni understands their ways better—. Anyhow I am very, very thankful to think that he has not been as unhappy with these strangers during his illness, as we might have expected naturally. Wilson’s going away was managed capitally. He had been before weaned from her personal close attendance, & she went chiefly, he considered, to prepare a great cake for his arrival in Florence. Then the family of our landlord, the chymist of the village, [4] have come up from time to time to gossip with him– He was very unwell one morning when I heard him enquiring quite in a matter of business way .. “Now tell me about the vintage– How many barrels of wine are there?” He is full of the gossip of the country & has made heaps of friends here. To hear him talk Italian, with all the turns & idioms & intonations of one born to it, is really amusing– Just now he is writing a note to you which I shall enclose, [5] just as he has written it by himself, with his own spelling &c while I write this, because it will satisfactorily prove to you sooner than any words of mine how well he is.
Dearest darling Arabel, if I could have a cheerful satisfying account of your precious self, how much good it would do me after all this weary work!– Do take care of your body– The soul is pretty well cared for I know. Tell me too all the little things .. just as I tell you– I tell you so much more than you ever tell me– Even in the midst of the painful absorption lately, my heart has gone out to you. I have loved you & prayed for you constantly, dear, dear.
When do you join the party in Wales– Perhaps you are there now– Tell me all about Storm’s liking for the house, [6] & whether the shooting & fishing are satisfactory– And tell dearest Storm & all of them how faithfully I love them–
I think Peni’s illness will decide about Ægypt. I should’nt like to take him where any risk from climate or overfatigue can be run—though Robert is at this moment declaring, that “unless he had been told, he should not know that the child had been ill, he looks now so very well.” I will not go quite so far,—but he does look wonderfully, considering all. Poor Lytton rose up frightful to look upon, he was so reduced– His very features seemed changed.
Have the Strattens spent an evening with you yet? Tell me, dear– I have heard much of spiritualism lately—& I know & love a most interesting woman who is a medium– [7] She & I are going to sit together when we get to Florence. The spirits came the other evening in a strong wind (a very frequent mode) which first gutted the candle & then blew it out. She is one of the sweetest creatures I ever knew,—& pious & pure––only too timid, & afraid of being known as a medium. Robert believes in her truth absolutely. Not that he believes yet in the spirits– We shall see presently. Oh—here’s the post. I must go. Darling Arabel, your very own Ba.
Robert’s very best love.
Address: Angleterre viâ France– / Miss Barrett / 7. Delamere Terrace / Harrow Road / London. Redirected: Bryngwyn / Oswestry / Salop.
Publication: EBB-AB, II, 316–319.
Manuscript: Berg Collection and Gordon E. Moulton-Barrett.
Enclosure:
My dearest Arabel It is such a time that I have not written to you. But now I am writing to you. I hope that you will keep me my Parrot [8] till I come to see you. Write to my uncles and tell them that if they have any thing to tell me. If so you must write to me.
I have been very ill for if it was not for that you would have had my letter.
Your dearest friend
Robert Browning.
Give my love to Minny and the others.
Address, on cover sheet: Miss Barrett.
1. Year provided by postmark.
2. A preparation of iron—most often as “subcarbonate of iron,” “sulphate of iron,” or “tartarized iron”—recommended especially as a tonic for the promotion of digestion (see Thomas J. Graham, Modern Domestic Medicine, 11th ed., 1853, pp. 49–51). As indicated by EBB in letter 4074, Pen was given this medicine in pill form.
4. Adriano Betti; see letter 4027, note 6.
5. See the enclosure at the end of this letter.
6. At Bryngwyn.
7. Sophia Eckley.
8. See the first paragraph in letter 3983.
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