4956. Sophia Landor to RB
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 29, 215–217.
Tachbrooke. Leamington
29th August 1861
My dear Sir
I cannot adequately address our sense of your great kindness in attending so carefully & thoughtfully to my Uncle’s affairs at a time when it must have been so painful & irksome to you & when your own affairs must have weighed so heavily upon you. It is indeed most kind & benevolent—you appear to have made every possible arrangement for his comfort & we must hope that for his own sake, he will be content to abide by these arrangements. I rejoice that Mr Kirkup still resides in Florence & that he is still kindly disposed to take an interest in my Uncle. I have often heard of him & believe that in him my Uncle has a judicious friend & Madame Romagnoli I trust will also find in him a useful supporter, it will be a great comfort to her to have some one to appeal to in case of need, especially in case of illness. I believe Mr Forster wrote to you last week, during the time my Sister & I were visiting at his house, & I think he told you some thing of the arrangement that has been made with Mrs Yescombe, under an order of the Master of the Rolls, [1] concerning which I have learnt more since my return from London. It is as follows, my Uncle’s Trustees induced my Cousin Arnold to relinquish, without further litigation the annuity his Father made over to him when he left England, & which has been accruing in the hands of the Trustees since the time of the trial. This relinquishment by Arnold, enabled the Trustees to offer to Mrs Yescombe 400£ of the money then in their hands & the annuity henceforth till her demands are fully satisfied, if my Uncle lives so long; the remainder of the accumulation money to be used towards defraying the legal expenses incurred on my Uncle’s side, at & since the trial. This proposition was considered so fair by the Master of the Rolls that he has given an Order in favour of it. Our first impression was that under this arrangement, my Uncle wld be free from danger of arrest if he returned to England, & rumours are current in Bath that he intends to return, but his legal friends tell us that he is not free from danger, if he shld return: Mrs Yescombe has still the power of arrest, if he comes within her reach before the whole of her demand is satisfied & that demand is so much increased by the continued litigation, that it will consume the annuity for 4 or 5 years to come, if he shld live so long. I do not know whether the Trustees will consider it incumbent on them to inform my Uncle of this arrangement: if they do so, I have begged they will at the same time tell him that the liability to arrest remains. I think it most probable they will not mention it to him, but his Sons may, & possibly it may inspire him with the determination to return to England; for [he] has often expressed a wish to do so, in his letters to different friends. If it wld not be troubling you too much, it occurs to me that it wld be well to acquaint Mr Kirkup with these circumstances as he is perhaps the first person likely to be informed of any project my Uncle may form. I hope he fully understands the impression his Brothers wished to convey, in their letter in June last, [2] viz that their supplies are promised only so long as he continues where he is, the lodger of Madame Romagnoli. This wld not of course interfere with a visit to Viareggio or any temporary change approved by you. He appears to have been very economical during the last half year & can well afford to join his friends at Viareggio for a few weeks, if that will content him. As to the demand from his Son Arnold, of 150£ a year for each of the younger children, it is altogether unfair to exact any such promise. [3] I know that many years ago, he tried to obtain a promise that 100£ a year shld be given to each of them & it appears from the letter found by Mr Forster [4] that that promise was given & with that he ought to be satisfied; I think my Cousin is fully justified in refusing the additional 50£ each; indeed he cld scarcely be blamed if he refused the whole: circumstances are greatly changed since that promise was given & it was not right to exact it at the time. The ascertion [sic] that he (my Uncle) cld have disposed of nearly 40,000£, is true, in one sense, but is not absolutely correct, it requires much explanation which you wld not care to hear. I need scarcely say that my Uncle Henry will not interfere with the question of the 150£ in any way whatever.
I sincerely hope that you are deriving benefit from change of air & scene & that you will be able to accomplish the visit to London at the time proposed; Mr & Mrs Forster are very desirous to receive you & if sincere & hearty friendship can convey comfort, I am sure you will receive it there. My Sister & I passed 4 days with them last week, most agreeably; it is a real pleasure to visit such friends, they are so warm & so thoroughly cordial as well as so agreeable. We thought them both very well, much stronger & in more satisfactory health than they were a year ago: indeed I think Mr Forster was then going on very much amiss, but happily he took good advice in time & his Doctor has now put him on a right system which with the beneficial change in his occupations, agrees admirably with him. [5] This continual travelling about seems to be an excellent thing for him, his mode of life before was too sedentary & too great a strain upon the head; he is greatly reduced in size, & so much the better for him; Mrs Forster also, I think seems stronger.
My Uncle Henry desires to join me in sincere & grateful regards & best wishes for your health & spirits. Believe me
Most truly Yrs
Sophia Landor
Address: Robert Browning Esqre / Chez M. Chauvin / St. Enogat près Dinard / Ile et Vilaine / France.
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Yale University.
1. John Romilly (1802–74), son of Samuel Romilly (1757–1818), served as Master of the Rolls from 1851 to 1873. At this time, the Master of the Rolls was the principal legal assistant to the Lord Chancellor and was often referred to as vice-chancellor. Additionally, he was a member of the privy council and the official keeper of public records.
2. See SD2449.
___________________
