4881. Sophia Landor to RB
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 29, 90–92.
Tachbrooke. Leamington
23rd April /61
My dear Sir
Inclosed you will receive a letter from my Uncle Henry, [1] which he has been most desirous of writing to you with his own hand, partly that he might express the more earnestly his sense of the obligation you have conferred upon all of us, & partly because he thinks it probable you may find it useful to shew that sheet to my Uncle Walter if he continues to harrass you on the subject of his means of subsistance; you may therefore consider yourself at liberty to make that use of my Uncle Henry’s note, shld you find it desirable to do so. It is neither probable nor desirable that my Uncle Walter shld be thus long ignorant of the source from whence he received these remittances; it is mere hypocracy [sic] to pretend to suppose that he can obtain anything from his estates; he is as well aware as you or I, that that source is closed to him for life, in all probability, & that his Brothers alone cld or wld provide for him the comforts with which you have so kindly surrounded him. But tho’ it is no longer wished to keep him in ignorance of the source from whence he receives his supplies, yet my Uncles still think it most desirable he shld not know the amount, for reasons which I think will be sufficiently obvious to you. If pressed, you can, if you please, say that his Brothers are not pledged to any precise sum; that their engagement is solely with you & dependent on circumstances. We are too much accustomed to these caprices on the part of my Uncle to feel any surprise that even you are not exempt from them: the only plausible excuse that can be offered is that which you most generously plead for him, viz that it is disease as such, I believe we may in all sincerity regard it: his bright genius is accompanied by a mind devoid of calm reasoning or justice. But however ready you may be to accept such palliatives, I am well aware that so ungrateful a return for such unparallelled [sic] friendship, cannot but inflict great pain, pain & vexation which will probably be felt more keenly by Mrs Browning for your sake, than by yourself; & I am truly grieved for it. If my Uncle does choose to remove himself from your protection, there will at least be the satisfaction that you are released from a most heavy & wearisome charge & for your sake we shall therein rejoice. But I do not think he is yet prepared to take a step fraught with such serious discomfort to himself, I think he has too much regard for his own stomach to quarrel irreparably with his bread & butter before there is a dish of toast ready for him: probably before you receive this, he will have considered this point & have arrived at the conclusion that he is better off where he is, than in a secondrate Inn, with his Son Charles for sole attendant. [2] Nothing cld be better than your letter to him [3] & if you have continued to hold the same tone, I have no doubt it will settle the matter. About 3 weeks ago a lady, [4] well acquainted with my Uncle, & who is at present in Florence, wrote to a friend in Bath that he had returned to live with his family; this appears to have been a mistake & I am glad it is, for I cld have no hope that such a scheme wld endure six months without fresh explosions & fresh disgrace on both sides; & yet if they were mutually willing to make the attempt, it wld be impossible for any third party to interfere. What will become of him if he is so much as to cast off your protection, I dread to think. It will be too late to repent if once Madame Romagnoli & her house are given up. But we all know the full value of his threats; for the last 15 years he has been quite sure he cld not have one year longer & therefore there cld be no objection to allowing him as much money as he chose to ask for, during these last few months. There is a probability of an arrangement being effected between his Trustees, [5] & Mrs Yescombe, whereby the debt to her will be paid, in the course of a few years if my Uncle shld live so long. Arnold Landor has relinquished his claim to the annuity of £300 & that sum is now available for making the best terms that can be made with Mrs Yescombe & my Uncle’s Lawyers. I do not think the Trustees communicate with him on the subject; he wld only increase their difficulties & he has no longer any right to a farthing of the money. Before closing this, I must add that my Uncle Robert has on all occasions desired me to express to you his deep sense of all your kindness: I am sure he feels it as sincerely as my Uncle Henry: but he is now suffering so much from a severe attack of rheumatic gout, we do not like to annoy him with this matter. Accept the assurance of my continued grateful esteem & offer to Mrs Browning my best regards. Believe me ever Yr greatly obliged
Sophia Landor
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Yale University.
3. This letter has not surfaced.
4. Unidentified.
5. Walter Landor (1782–1864), of Rugeley, Staffordshire, and his son Robert Landor (1829–1914).
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