SD1276. Anna Brownell Jameson to Lady Noel Byron
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 14, 362–363 (in part).
Paris
Septr 28. [1846]
We are preparing to leave Paris this Evening—& there is no letter from you this morning which is a vexation—should one arrive after my departure it will be forwarded–
Orleans Sep. 29. I was interrupted by the cares of packing, paying, & thinking for myself & others—& employ an hour or two of rest here to tell you that we are so far on our journey, safe & well—not to have heard from you, dearest friend in the world, before I left Paris has some what clouded my journey—but I try to hope & think the best– I know it would be difficult & only in some extreme case that you would be so préoccupée as not to be able to sympathise with me—so I shall go [on] with our history. I called on the Miss Davisons in Rue Miromenil the first moment I could command & did not find them. I left my card & compliments– Lord Normanby, our new ambassador, was very polite & furnished me with letters to Florence in case I should reach it—I have desired all letters mean time to be addressed to Pisa.
While travelling with these friends I am obliged to put all my own convenience & all selfish projects out of the question—they have thrown themselves upon me with such an entire & undoubting confidence—that to have refused help & comfort—or even hesitated would have been like a brute or a stone– I did hesitate in my own heart at first—partly on Gerardine’s account—but it has all turned out well & could hardly be better—letters from her family met her here at Orleans—all full of comfort—& approbation—one of [them] from Mr Kenyon her cousin in which he uses the strongest expressions of sympathy & kindness & says that “while he appreciates the delicacy which prevented them from confiding in him—or in any one—he must—if his advice had been asked have advised just what they have done” there is no letter from her father—but she hopes he will relent—in short she is much comforted, & certainly gaining strength, in spite of the exertion & fatigue—as yet there is not a trace of animal spirits tho evidently a sense [of] deep happiness, gratitude & love—as to him—his joy & delight and his poetical fancies & antics,—with every now & then the profoundest seriousness & tenderness interrupting the brilliant current of his imagination—make him altogether a most charming companion—the deportment of both is in the best taste & Gerardine can only gain by all she sees & hears– we are five in company including her maid—six including her pet dog—so you can conceive that we are rather a cumbersome party, & I am in constant dread about her—& not I must confess, in very good spirits. but I am “in for it” as the phrase is—and regret nothing—& so much for my biography so far– …
We hope to reach Bourges some time tomorrow—thence we go on to the Rhone by Nevers—& embark as I suppose at Lyons—it is of consequence to get EB on board the steam boat where she can lie down & be at rest—we shall, I hope, reach Marseilles by the 6th of October—& embark as soon as possible, by the first boat for Genoa & Leghorn & so reach Pisa about 11th or latest the 12th can you now follow us in thought?—on the 5th you may fancy us at Avignon—& we have some thoughts of visiting Vaucluse if EB can stand the fatigue– …
Address, on integral page: Lady Noel Byron / Esher / Surrey / England.
Publication: The New Colophon, 1950, pp. 114–116.
Manuscript: Pierpont Morgan Library.
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