4202. EBB to Arabella Moulton-Barrett
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 25, 147–150.
Hotel de Londres
Rue Hyacinthe St Honoré. Paris.
Wednesday morning. July 7. [1858] [1]
My beloved Arabel, here we are in Paris, all alive & well! having had a horrible passage as to sickness from Genoa to Marseilles: from Leghorn to Genoa, having done better, through the calm of the sea. All that night I lay on deck under the stars, between Robert & Peni, who slept soundly—& our last summer’s night it seems to have been, for here the weather is all but cold, & we poor Italians have shivered the whole morning. We arrived here (in Paris) yesterday evening, & drove straight to this hotel which has the advantage of being in a central situation, though the look-out is not very good– We have taken for a week at the rate of 12 francs a day, two near bedrooms for Robert & me, (my room containing a crib for Peni),—& a little dressingroom for him: a bedroom for Annunziata at hand,—and a pretty salon,—all arranged as an apartment on the first floor– For an hotel close to the Tuileries, it is not very dear, is it?– We are much satisfied .. except that I want you Arabel, sorely—& I think that you had much better come off here at once & travel with us to the sea– Indeed, darling, I am hungering & thirsting [2] after you, and as to any difficulty about travelling alone, (you & Emma & your maid) [3] to Paris, it’s utterly absurd– You see, dear, if you come to us at the sea, you must either pass through Paris, or take the long sea passage, which would be trying for you– We are talking just now of Fecamps, [4] which is not far from Dieppe, & is less crowded,—& which, though not exactly on “the Atlantic,” (let me confess in pure geography) is much the same thing, the beach being open to all the ocean impulses from that side. But nothing is decided. Come & talk it over with us.
Oh, so ill we all were on the sea, from Genoa to Marseilles—I bad, Penini worse, Robert worst, and poor Annunziata beyond all superlatives of suffering– It was one of those heaving seas nearly necessary to the Gulph of Lyons– [5]
Afterwards we had a very agreeable journey, .. travelling by express train the whole way, & sleeping two nights on the road after Marseilles—that is, at Lyons and at Dijon, .. a piece of luxury we never indulged in before—but Robert was afraid of overtiring me. Therefore I was not overtired, & have received as much advantage as usual by change of air,—feeling & looking, Robert says, far better than when I set out– In fact I look so well, that he predicts I shall be set down as a “humbug” by various expectant friends– And now he tells me how at one time in Florence, people were giving me up for lost on all sides– Indeed I did look wretched, & of the very colour of the dust to which all men are hastening when Dr H. [6] took me in hand first—but he did excellently for me, & there was little to criticise in looks or feelings when we left him– Now I am perfectly convalescent as to symptoms, & as to looks, setting up for a “humbug” as Robert says– You will think me .... I hope & trust I may think you, darling, looking only as well as you will surely think me.
We left Ferdinando behind, on his usual wages, besides board-wages,—and as Wilson had had the signal good fortune to let her apartment for the summer-months .. they will both do excellently. I told Wilson to remove to Casa Guidi with her baby to sleep, as our house is comparatively cool– But poor little Pen– It was dreadful to leave Lily & Pilade & Ferdinando behind– Down the stairs of Casa Guidi he went, mopping his blue eyes & cheeks with an outspread pocket-handkerchief—& when at the station, Ferdinando had taken leave, the child’s very shoulders sobbed .. & he was in horrible spirits till our arrival at Marseilles—the first symptom of revival being in reference to a “dejeuner à la fourchette” [7] which he considered an epoch in his life. He wrote a letter to Wilson from Marseilles, ending “your affectionate & everlasting Penini.”
I confess I did not like separating Peni from Ferdinando—but the expense of taking the latter with us, together with the little use he could be of under our present circumstances, decided Robert, not without the consent of my understanding.
Also it is really better for Wilson that Ferdinando should be in Florence .. where he is left in care of our possessions, & to the watering of our terrace-flowers.
Paris—how splendid this Paris is! Wherever we go, no city is to be found so beautiful– Do come, & let us drive about & do a little terrestrial work, you darling, while we talk the theology of the world of spirits–
On which last point, I know more than you, dearest, and am not conceited in saying so– I know more than you, of Florence, for instance—& am not conceited in saying so.
Dear, if we go to Fécamps, dont you fancy that beloved Henrietta might come over to Dieppe with the children? Would’nt sea-bathing do them good? and could’nt you give up your claim to the July visit in behalf of me?– Wont you strain a point for me, Arabel? Henrietta might come from Southhampton, at as small expence almost, as she would go to London. Tell her from me to think of it. Altham & Mary would learn to speak French, observe. There would be time for Bryngwyn after–
Now I wont write any more– Peni is full of “Arabel” & when she is coming, & would willingly set off to Delamere Terrace to see after her himself–
If you come, darling, as you are not used to travelling, sleep on the road either at Boulogne or at Dover,—I mean on the English or French side, .. & then it will be a mere drive & amusement to you– We will take a bedroom for you & give you a corner of our sofa & dining-table, & a seat in the fiacre .. or something better if we get, in our joy, extravagant, as is natural–
Give my love & Pen’s to dearest Minny– Write to me. Let me feel you are near. In heart, at least. May God bless you—dear dearest!–
The Brownings are to come in half an hour– I have not seen them yet– I seem to see you first– May God love you .. He who loves!
Your ever attached Ba–
In justice to the French Government of which such lies are told, [8] nothing could exceed the courtesy & liberality with which we have been treated. Only one box was opened—& then the lid simply lifted– Robert’s word taken that we did not smuggle– “Je vous crois, Monsieur.” [9] (Very different in England!) Our passports not once asked for after Marseilles–!
What a joy to think of dear George’s coming too!
Publication: EBB-AB, II, 354–357.
Manuscript: Gordon E. Moulton-Barrett.
1. Year provided by reference to the return address; 1858 was the only year in which the Brownings stayed at the Hotel de Londres in Paris.
2. Cf. Matthew 5:6: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”
3. Elizabeth Crispin (née Saggers, 1816–85), Arabella’s lady’s maid (previously her dressmaker), had replaced Elizabeth Bonser (1828–72) in that position the year before. She had married in 1834 William Crispin (1812–78), a cabinetmaker.
4. Fécamp, a seaport in Normandy, 34 miles S.E. of Dieppe and 22 miles N.E. of Le Havre.
5. The Gulf of Lions (“Golfe du Lion”), so named for its dangerous winds and seas.
6. James Harding.
7. “Light lunch.”
8. In The Times; see letter 4205, note 6.
9. “I believe you, Sir.”
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