4224. EBB to Arabella Moulton-Barrett
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 25, 197–198.
Maison Versigny. 2 Rue de Perrey
Le Hâvre
August 4— [1858] [1]
Ever beloved Arabel, did you get my letter?– How about Storm?– I cant help being uneasy that I dont hear?– Had you any reason for really expecting him on that sunday or monday—namely last sunday or monday week–?– Of course it cant be possible to calculate the arrival of a vessel, even a steamer, precisely to a day, after so long a voyage– Robert says too that you did not know by what vessel he travelled & that you said so—& I have not your letter to refer to: but certainly you spoke of sunday or monday as the days on which you expected him– I entreat you to write & relieve my mind as soon as you can, for I get anxious reasonably or unreasonably–
Peni is bathing with triumph & joy, & learning to swim– His guide says he takes to the water with extraordinary sympathy & adroitness, & that he will swim well before long. Also we have engaged a young French lady [2] to come & read with him—only to hear him read .. just for the accent—& for half an hour a day. He reads a page or two to her & then gives an account of it in French—and as he is’nt shy, he does it really surprisingly well, plunging into the language head foremost. She pays him great compliments on his singular quickness & also on his accent & tone– The other half hour of the lesson Robert & I use for ourselves—reading with her to improve ourselves in the accent too .. as I, at least, am sensible of imperfection,—& the whole hour would be too much for Penini– We pay fifty francs (that is, two pounds English) a month for the daily lesson of an hour: not extravagantly, I think–
I am very anxious to hear from you, first, about Storm—& then about your coming here. We have been a month in France, & a fortnight at Havre–
King Jerome [3] has just passed our windows in an open carriage with a pair of post horses—nobody could travel more simply– We heard the cannons from Cherbourg yesterday– [4] Here is the sort of letter I write when nobody writes to me– But I’m not vexed, darling—only anxious–
Your most loving Ba
Love to dear Minny.
Publication: EBB-AB, II, 363–364.
Manuscript: Berg Collection.
1. Year provided by the return address; 1858 was the only year the Brownings stayed in Le Havre.
2. Mlle. Augustine.
3. Jerome Bonaparte (1784–1860), former King of Westphalia and Napoleon III’s paternal uncle, arrived in Le Havre on 2 August and stayed at the Hôtel Frascati, located on the beach, not far from the Brownings’ lodgings.
4. Practice salutes in anticipation of the state visit of Queen Victoria to meet Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie at Cherbourg. The visit, which lasted from 4 to 6 August 1858, was planned to coincide with the official opening of a new railway line connecting Paris to Cherbourg (see The Times, 9 August 1858, pp. 6–8).
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