5209. Sophia Landor to RB
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 30, 231–232.
Tachbrooke.
30th April /63
Dear Mr Browning
Accept my sincere thanks for your letter received yesterday & its contents. The melancholy tidings from Italy cld not at any time take me by surprise, nor am I surprised at the temporary amendment: my Uncle’s constitution is so strong the warning may yet be repeated again & again, before the end, but we cannot expect, or wish, the intervals to be long. I think this state of expectancy & uncertainty wld be so distressing & prejudicial to both my other Uncles that I have determined to say nothing about the recent attack to either of them. The end can never come unexpectedly to either & whenever it is alluded to, I endeavour to keep before them the probability that it will be sudden at last: but to know that he is ill & to expect the end day by day, I think wld be far worse, especially to my Uncle Henry, than to hear at once that all is over. Old people do not feel very acutely anything that does not actually interfere with their daily habits, but they suffer greatly by anticipating & waiting for evils. You will be rather surprised to hear that your letter did not bring me the first tidings of this illness; on Saturday last I received 2 lines from my Cousin Walter Savage, stating that his Father was seriously ill with congestion of the brain, Dr Wilson attending. [1] I waited 2 days expecting farther news from you, & receiving none, I remembered Mrs Forster had told me, about Easter, that you were in France & thinking it probable you were still there, I was glad to use it as an excuse for addressing myself to Madame Romagnoli, for the double purpose of inquiring after my Uncle & conveying my thanks to my Cousin for his consideration in informing me of the illness. I was unwilling to let it pass unacknowledged & equally unwilling to recommence a correspondence with any of the family; I was therefore glad to avail myself of this means of getting out of the difficulty. I trust you will not suppose that I had a moments doubt I shld hear from you as soon as possible. I rest satisfied that you will kindly communicate to me all I desire to know, without delay. I also feel perfectly satisfied that my poor Uncle will receive all the care & attention Made R. can render, but I know too well the effects of the malady from which he suffers & that it is impossible she can supply the constant attendance his children ought to give. It is most shocking to think that he has Wife & children, without occupation, close to him & he is left in extreme old age & childishness to the sole care of a servant. I am glad his two Sons were with him while he was very ill, it is satisfactory that they render some help, but how can they bear to leave him at all, in such a state. As regards the Doctor, I imagine his visits wld not terminate with the worst of the illness, doubtless he is still in attendance & the £5 I dare say is well deserved: but is it not passing strange that a Son who is living in affluence & more than abundance, can demand repayment of such a sum from more distant & less affluent relatives on whose bounty he knows his Father has so long subsisted? It is quite sickening; I had best keep back from my Uncles such cupidity. But your kindness ought to obliterate the thought of this sad reverse. It is most kind of you to be willing to go to him, but unless the mind greatly recovers, it wld probably be an unavailing sacrifice, & you wld find it very difficult to leave again. I return his letter, [2] you will like to keep it, it is probably the very last. How strange, but how characteristic, his delusions about the Pictures. The Wills of course are mere waste paper; I have not the least desire to see either. I hope you had the pleasure of seeing your Father & Sister well, when you were in France. My Uncle Henry is much as usual; my Uncle Robert again suffering from gout. Accept truest regards & gratitude from all & believe Sincerely Yrs
Sophia Landor
Do you happen to have at hand an old letter from my Uncle, from which you cld spare the signature? A friend wants his autograph & I have not one left that can be spared[.]
Address: Robert Browning Esqre / 19: Warwick Crescent / Upper Westbourne Terrace / London (W.).
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Yale University.
1. William Wilson (1815–96); see letter 4914, note 2. He was the physician who attended EBB in her final illness.
2. This letter has not surfaced.
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