"Ravenna, July 13. 1820.
"To remove or increase your Irish anxiety about my being 'in a
wisp[77],' I answer your letter forth-with; premising that, as I am
a '_Will_ of the wisp,' I may chance to flit out of it. But, first,
a word on the Memoir;--I have no objection, nay, I would rather
that _one_ correct copy was taken and deposited in honourable
hands, in case of accidents happening to the original; for you know
that I have none, and have never even _re_-read, nor, indeed,
_read_ at all what is there written; I only know that I wrote it
with the fullest intention to be 'faithful and true' in my
narrative, but _not_ impartial--no, by the Lord! I can't pretend to
be that, while I feel. But I wish to give every body concerned the
opportunity to contradict or correct me.
"I have no objection to any proper person seeing what is there
written,--seeing it was written, like every thing else, for the
purpose of being read, however much many writings may fail in
arriving at that object.
"With regard to 'the wisp,' the Pope has pronounced _their
separation_. The decree came yesterday from Babylon,--it was _she_
and _her friends_ who demanded it, on the grounds of her husband's
(the noble Count Cavalier's) extraordinary usage. _He_ opposed it
with all his might because of the alimony, which has been assigned,
with all her goods, chattels, carriage, &c. to be restored by him.
In Italy they can't divorce. He insisted on her giving me up, and
he would forgive every thing,--* * * * *
* * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * But, in this
country, the very courts hold such proofs in abhorrence, the
Italians being as much more delicate in public than the English, as
they are more passionate in private.
"The friends and relatives, who are numerous and powerful, reply to
him--'_You_, yourself, are either fool or knave,--fool, if you did
not see the consequences of the approximation of these two young
persons,--knave, if you connive at it. Take your choice,--but don't
break out (after twelve months of the closest intimacy, under your
own eyes and positive sanction) with a scandal, which can only make
you ridiculous and her unhappy.'
"He swore that he thought our intercourse was purely amicable, and
that _I_ was more partial to him than to her, till melancholy
testimony proved the contrary. To this they answer, that 'Will of
_this_ wisp' was not an unknown person, and that 'clamosa Fama' had
not proclaimed the purity of my morals;--that _her_ brother, a year
ago, wrote from Rome to warn him that his wife would infallibly be
led astray by this ignis fatuus, unless he took proper measures,
all of which he neglected to take, &c. &c.
"Now he says that he encouraged my return to Ravenna, to see '_in
quanti piedi di acqua siamo_,' and he has found enough to drown him
in. In short,
"'Ce ne fut pas le tout; sa femme se plaignit--
Procès--La parenté se joint en excuse et dit
Que du _Docteur_ venoit tout le mauvais ménage;
Que cet homme étoit fou, que sa femme étoit sage.
On fit casser le mariage.'
It is but to let the women alone, in the way of conflict, for they
are sure to win against the field. She returns to her father's
house, and I can only see her under great restrictions--such is the
custom of the country. The relations behave very well:--I offered
any settlement, but they refused to accept it, and swear she
_shan't_ live with G. (as he has tried to prove her faithless), but
that he shall maintain her; and, in fact, a judgment to this
effect came yesterday. I am, of course, in an awkward situation
enough.
"I have heard no more of the carabiniers who protested against my
liveries. They are not popular, those same soldiers, and, in a
small row, the other night, one was slain, another wounded, and
divers put to flight, by some of the Romagnuole youth, who are
dexterous, and somewhat liberal of the knife. The perpetrators are
not discovered, but I hope and believe that none of my ragamuffins
were in it, though they are somewhat savage, and secretly armed,
like most of the inhabitants. It is their way, and saves sometimes
a good deal of litigation.
"There is a revolution at Naples. If so, it will probably leave a
card at Ravenna in its way to Lombardy.
"Your publishers seem to have used you like mine. M. has shuffled,
and almost insinuated that my last productions are _dull_. Dull,
sir!--damme, dull! I believe he is right. He begs for the
completion of my tragedy on Marino Faliero, none of which is yet
gone to England. The fifth act is nearly completed, but it is
dreadfully long--40 sheets of long paper of 4 pages each--about 150
when printed; but 'so full of pastime and prodigality' that I think
it will do.
"Pray send and publish your _Pome_ upon me; and don't be afraid of
praising me too highly. I shall pocket my blushes.
"'Not actionable!'--_Chantre d'enfer!_[78]--by * * that's 'a
speech,' and I won't put up with it. A pretty title to give a man
for doubting if there be any such place!
"So my Gail is gone--and Miss Mah_ony_ won't take _Mo_ney. I am
very glad of it--I like to be generous free of expense. But beg her
not to translate me.
"Oh, pray tell Galignani that I shall send him a screed of doctrine
if he don't be more punctual. Somebody _regularly detains two_, and
sometimes _four_, of his Messengers by the way. Do, pray, entreat
him to be more precise. News are worth money in this remote kingdom
of the Ostrogoths.
"Pray, reply. I should like much to share some of your Champagne
and La Fitte, but I am too Italian for Paris in general. Make
Murray send my letter to you--it is full of _epigrams_.
"Yours," &c.
[Footnote 77: An Irish phrase for being in a scrape.]
[Footnote 78: The title given him by M. Lamartine, in one of his Poems.]
* * * * *
In the separation that had now taken place between Count Guiccioli and
his wife, it was one of the conditions that the lady should, in future,
reside under the paternal roof:--in consequence of which, Madame
Guiccioli, on the 16th of July, left Ravenna and retired to a villa
belonging to Count Gamba, about fifteen miles distant from that city.
Here Lord Byron occasionally visited her--about once or twice, perhaps,
in a month--passing the rest of his time in perfect solitude. To a mind
like his, whose world was within itself, such a mode of life could have
been neither new nor unwelcome; but to the woman, young and admired,
whose acquaintance with the world and its pleasures had but just begun,
this change was, it must be confessed, most sudden and trying. Count
Guiccioli was rich, and, as a young wife, she had gained absolute power
over him. She was proud, and his station placed her among the highest in
Ravenna. They had talked of travelling to Naples, Florence, Paris,--and
every luxury, in short, that wealth could command was at her disposal.
All this she now voluntarily and determinedly sacrificed for Byron. Her
splendid home abandoned--her relations all openly at war with her--her
kind father but tolerating, from fondness, what he could not
approve--she was now, upon a pittance of 200_l._ a year, living apart
from the world, her sole occupation the task of educating herself for
her illustrious friend, and her sole reward the few brief glimpses of
him which their now restricted intercourse allowed. Of the man who could
inspire and keep alive so devoted a feeling, it may be pronounced with
confidence that he could not have been such as, in the freaks of his own
wayward humour, he represented himself; while, on the lady's side, the
whole history of her attachment goes to prove how completely an Italian
woman, whether by nature or from her social position, is led to invert
the usual course of such frailties among ourselves, and, weak in
resisting the first impulses of passion, to reserve the whole strength
of her character for a display of constancy and devotedness afterwards.
* * * * *