What he suffered, endured, and enjoyed in Magna Graecia and his old
dead world, those know who have read with sympathy and understanding.
It was truly as if the man, born in exile, had gone home at last--so
much he loved it, so well he understood the old days. And now once
more he came back to England to a happier life, even though great
anxieties still weighed him down. Yet with some of these anxieties
there was joy, for he loved his children and thought very much of
them, hoping and fearing. One of the very first letters I received
from him on his return from Italy is dated May 7, 1898, and was
written from Henley in Arden: "You have it in your power to do me a
most important service. Will you on every opportunity industriously
circulate the news that I am going to live henceforth in
Warwickshire? It is not strictly true, but a very great deal depends
on my real abode being protected from invasion. If you could inspire
a newspaper paragraph.... I should think it impudent to suppose that
newspapers cared about the matter but that they have so often
chronicled my movements, and if by any chance the truth got abroad it
would mean endless inconvenience and misery to me. You shall hear
more in detail when I am less be-devilled." All this requires little
comment. Every one can understand how it was with him.
Later in the year he wrote to me: "My behaviour is bestial, but I am
so hard driven that it is perhaps excusable. All work impossible
owing to ceaseless reports of mad behaviour in London. That woman
was all but given in charge the other day for assaulting her landlady
with a stick. My solicitor is endeavouring to get the child out of
her hands. I fear its life is endangered, but of course the
difficulty of coming to any sort of arrangement with such a person is
very great.... Indeed I wish we could have met before your departure
for South Africa. My only consolation is the thought that something
or other decisive is bound to have happened before you come back, and
then we will meet as in the old days, please heaven. As for me, my
literary career is at an end, and the workhouse looms larger day by
day. I should not care, of course, but for the boys. A bad job, a
bad job." But better times were perhaps coming for him. The child
that he refers to as still in the hands of his mother was his
youngest boy. Much of his life at this time is lost to me because
much happened while I was absent in South Africa, where I spent some
months in travel. I remember it pleased him to get letters from me
from far-off places such as Buluwayo. He always had the notion that
I was an extraordinarily capable person, an idea which only had some
real truth if my practical capacities were compared with his strange
want of them. By now he was not living in Warwickshire; indeed, if I
remember rightly, on my return from Africa I found him at Godalming.
When I left Cape Town I was very seriously ill, and I remained ill
for some months after my return home. Therefore it was some time
till we met again. But when we did meet it was at Leatherhead, where
he was in lodgings, pleased to be not very far from George Meredith,
who indeed, I think, loved him. It was, of course, as I have said,
through Maitland that I first met Meredith. For some reason which I
do not know, Maitland gave him a volume of mine, "The Western Trail,"
which the old writer was much pleased with. Indeed it was in
consequence of his liking for that book that he asked me to dine with
him just before I went to Africa. Maitland was not present at this
dinner, he was then still in Warwickshire; but Meredith spoke very
affectionately of him, and said many things not unpleasing about his
work. But probably Meredith, like myself, thought more of the man
than he did of his books, which is indeed from my point of view a
considerable and proper tribute to any writer. Sometimes the work of
a man is greater than himself, and it seems a pity when one meets
him; but if a man is greater than what he does one may always expect
more, and some day may get it. It was apropos of Maitland, in some
way which I cannot exactly recall, that Meredith, who was in great
form that night, and wonderful in monologue--as he always was, more
especially after he became so deaf that it was hard to make him
hear--told us an admirably characteristic story about two poor
schoolboys. It appeared, said Meredith, that these two boys, who
came of a clever but poverty-stricken house, did very badly at their
school because they were underfed. As Meredith explained this want
of food led to a poor circulation. What blood these poor boys had
was required for the animal processes of living, and did not enable
them to carry on the work of the brain in the way that it should have
done. However, it one day happened that during play one of these
boys was induced to stand upon his head, with the result that the
blood naturally gravitated to that unaccustomed quarter. His ideas
instantly became brilliant--so brilliant, indeed, that a great idea
struck him. He resumed his feet, rushed home, and communicated his
discovery to his brother, and henceforward they conducted their
studies standing upon their heads, and became brilliant and visibly
successful men. Of course it was a curious thing, though not so
curious when one reflects on the nature of men who are really men of
letters, that Meredith and Henry Maitland had one thing tremendously
in common, their love of words. In my conversation with Meredith
that day I mentioned the fact that I had read a certain interview
with him. I asked him whether it conveyed his sentiments with any
accuracy. He replied mournfully: "Yes, yes,--no doubt the poor
fellow got down more or less what I meant, but he used none of my
beautiful words, none of my beautiful words!"
It does not seem unnatural to me to say something of George Meredith,
since he had in many ways an influence on Maitland. Certainly when
it came to the question of beautiful words they were on the same
ground, if not on the same level. I myself have met during my
literary life, and in some parts of the world where literature is
little considered, many men who were reputed great, and indeed were
great, it may be, in some special line, yet Meredith was the only man
I ever knew to whom I would have allowed freely the word "great" the
moment I met him, without any reservation. This I said to Maitland
and he smiled, feeling that it was true. I remember he wrote to Lake
about Meredith, saying: "You ought to read 'Richard Feverel,' 'Evan
Harrington,' 'The Egoist,' and 'Diana of the Crossways.' These, in
my opinion, are decidedly his best books, but you won't take up
anything of his without finding strong work." And "strong work" with
Maitland was very high praise indeed.
By now, when he was once more in Surrey, we did not meet so
infrequently as had been the case after his second marriage and
before the separation. It is true that his living out of London made
a difference. Still I now went down sometimes and stayed a day with
him. We talked once more in something of our old manner about books
and words, the life of men of letters, and literary origins or
pedigrees, always a strong point in him. It was ever a great joy to
Maitland when he discovered the influence of one writer upon another.
For instance, it was he who pointed out to me first that Balzac was
the literary parent of Murger, as none indeed can deny who have read
the chapter in "Illusions Perdues" where Lucien Rubempré writes and
sings the drinking song with tears in his eyes as he sits by the
bedside of Coralie, his dead mistress. This he did, as will be
remembered, to obtain by the sale of the song sufficient money to
bury her. From that chapter undoubtedly sprang the whole of the "Vie
de Bohème," though to it Murger added much, and not least his
livelier sense of humour. Again, I well remember how Maitland took
down Tennyson--ever a joy to him, because Tennyson was a master of
words though he had little enough to say--and showed me the influence
that the "Wisdom of Solomon," in the Apocrypha, had upon some of the
last verses of "The Palace of Art." No doubt some will not see in a
mere epithet or two that Solomon's words had any connection with the
work of the Poet-Laureate, whom I nicknamed, somewhat to Maitland's
irritation, "the bourgeois Chrysostom." Yet I myself have no doubt
that Maitland was right; but even if he were not he would still have
taken wonderful joy in finding out the words of the two verses which
run: "Whether it were a whistling wind, or a melodious noise of birds
among the spreading branches, or a pleasant fall of water running
violently, or a terrible sound of stones cast down, or a running that
could not be seen of skipping beasts, or a roaring voice of most
savage wild beasts, or a rebounding echo from the hollow mountains;
these things made them swoon for fear." Of course he loved all
rhythm, and found it sometimes in unexpected places, even in
unconsidered writers. There was one passage he used to quote from
Mrs. Ewing, who, indeed, was no small writer, which he declared to be
wonderful, and in its way quite perfect: "He sat, patient of each
succeeding sunset, until this aged world should crumble to its
close." Then, again, he rejoiced when I discovered, though no doubt
it had been discovered many times before, that his musical Keats owed
so much to Fletcher's "Faithful Shepherdess."
It would be a very difficult question to ask, in some examination
concerning English literature, what book in English by its very
nature and style appealed most of all to Henry Maitland. I think I
am not wrong when I say that it was undoubtedly Walter Savage
Landor's "Imaginary Conversations." That book possesses to the full
the two great qualities which most delighted him. It is redolent of
the past, and those classic conversations were his chief joy; but
above and beyond this true and great feeling of Landor's for the past
classic times there was the most eminent quality of Landor's rhythm.
I have many times heard Maitland read aloud from "Æsop and Rhodope,"
and I have even more often heard him quote without the book the
passage which runs: "There are no fields of amaranth on this side of
the grave; there are no voices, O Rhodope, that are not soon mute,
however tuneful; there is no name, with whatever emphasis of
passionate love repeated of which the echo is not faint at last."
Maitland knew, and none knew better, that in a triumphant passage
there is triumphant rhythm, and in a passage full of mourning or
melancholy the accompanying and native rhythm is both melancholy and
mournful. How many times, too, I have heard him quote, again from
Landor, "Many flowers must perish ere a grain of corn be ripened."
All this time the wife was I know not where, nor did I trouble much
to inquire. Miss Kingdon and Miss Greathead looked after her very
patiently, and did good work for their friend Maitland, as he well
knew. But although he was rejoiced to be alone for a time, or at any
rate relieved from the violent misery of her presence, I came once
more to discern, both from things he said and from things he wrote to
me, that a celibate life began again to oppress him gravely. Yet it
was many months before he at last confided in me fully, and then I
think he only did it because he was certain that I was the one friend
he possessed with whom he could discuss any question without danger
of moral theories or prepossessions interfering with the rightful
solution. Over and beyond this qualification for his confidence
there was the fact that I knew him, whereas no one else did. To
advise any man it is necessary to know the man who is to be advised,
for wisdom _in vacuo_ or _in vitro_ may be nothing but foolishness.
Others would have said to him, "Look back on your experience and
reflect. Have no more to do with women in any way." No doubt it
would have been good advice, but it would have been impossible for
him to act on it. Therefore when he at last opened his mind to me
and told me of certain new prospects which were disclosing themselves
to him, I was not only sympathetic but encouraging. It seems that in
the year 1898 he first met a young French lady of Spanish origin with
whom he had previously corresponded for some little time. Her name
was Thérèse Espinel. She belonged to a very good family, perhaps
somewhat above the _haute bourgeoisie_, and was a woman of high
education and extreme Gallic intelligence. As I came to know her
afterwards I may also say that she was a very beautiful woman, and
possessed, what I know to have been a very great charm to Maitland,
as it always was to me, a very sweet and harmonious voice--it was
perhaps the most beautiful human voice for speaking that I have ever
heard. Years afterwards I took her to see George Meredith. He
kissed her hand and told her she had beautiful eyes. As she was
partly Spanish she knew Spanish well. Her German was excellent, her
English that of an educated Englishwoman. It appears that she came
across Maitland's "Paternoster Row," and it occurred to her that it
should be translated into French. She got into correspondence with
him about this book, and in 1898 came over to England and made his
acquaintance. It is curious to remember that on one other occasion
Maitland got into correspondence with another French lady, who
insisted emphatically that he was the one person whom she could trust
to direct her aright in life--a notion at the time not a little
comical to me, and also to the man who was to be this soul's director.
When these two people met and proved mutually sympathetic it was not
unnatural that he should tell her something of his own life,
especially when one knows that so much of their earlier talks dealt
with "Paternoster Row" and with its chief character, so essentially
Henry Maitland. He gave her, indeed, very much of his story, yet not
all of it, not, indeed, the chief part of it, since the greatest
event in his life was the early disaster which had maimed and
distorted his natural career and development. Yet even so much as he
told her of his first and second marriage--for he by no means
concealed from the beginning that he was yet married--very naturally
engaged her womanly compassion. Adding this to her real and fervent
admiration of his literary powers, his personality and story seem to
have inclined her to take an even tenderer interest in him. She was
certainly a bright and wonderful creature, although not without a
certain native melancholy, and possessed none of those conventional
ideas which wreck some lives and save others from disaster.
Therefore I was not much surprised, although I had not been told
everything that had happened, when Maitland wrote to me that he
contemplated taking a very serious step. It was indeed a very
serious one, but so natural in the circumstances, as I came to hear
of them, that I myself made no strictures on his scheme. It was no
other than the proposal that he and this new acquaintance of his
should cast in their lot together and make the world and her
relatives believe that they were married. No doubt when I was
consulted I found it in some ways difficult to give a decision. What
might be advisable for the man might not be so advisable for his
proposed partner. He was making no sacrifice, and she was making
many. Nevertheless, I hold the view that these matters are matters
for the people concerned and are nobody else's business. The thing
to be considered from my point of view was whether Maitland would be
able to support her, and whether she was the kind of woman who would
retain her hold upon him and give him some peace and happiness
towards the end of his life. In thinking over these things I
remembered that the other two women had not been ladies. They had
not been educated. They understood nothing of the world which was
Maitland's world, and, as I knew, a disaster was bound to come in
both cases. But now it appeared to me that there was a possible hope
for the man, and a hope that such a step might almost certainly end
in happiness, or at any rate in peace. That something of the kind
would occur I knew, and even if this present affair went no farther,
yet some other woman would have to be dealt with even if she did not
come into his life for a long while. Thérèse Espinel was at any
rate, as I have said, beautiful and accomplished, essentially of the
upper classes, and, what was no small thing from Maitland's point of
view, a capable and feeling musician. Of such a woman Maitland had
had only a few weeks' experience many years before. I thought the
situation promised much, and raised no moral objection to the step he
proposed to take as soon as I saw he was strongly bent in one
direction. For one thing I was sure of, and it was that anything
whatever which put a definite obstacle in the way of his returning to
his wife was a thing to be encouraged. It was, in fact, absolutely a
duty; and I care not what comments may be made upon my attitude or my
morals.
That Maitland would have gone back to his wife eventually I have very
little doubt, and of course nothing but disaster and new rage and
misery would have come of his doing so. For these reasons I did
everything in my power to help and encourage him in a matter which
gave him extreme nervousness and anxiety. I know he said to me that
the step he proposed to take early in 1899 grew more and more serious
the more he thought of it. Again, I think there was no overwhelming
passion at the back of his mind. Yet it was a true and sincere
affection, of that I am sure. But there were many difficulties. It
appears that the girl's father had died a few months before, and as
there was some money in the family this fact involved certain serious
difficulties about the future signing of names when all the legal
questions concerned with the little property that there was came to
be settled. Then he asked me what sort of hope was there that this
pretended marriage would not become known in England. He said: "I
fear it certainly would." When I reflect now upon the innumerable
lies and subterfuges that I myself indulged in with the view of
preventing anybody knowing of this affair in London, I can see he was
perfectly justified in his fears, for when the step was at last taken
I was continually being asked about Maitland's wife. Naturally
enough, it was said by one set of people that she was with him in
France; while it was said by others, much better informed, that she
was still in England. I was sometimes requested to settle this
difficult matter, and I did find it so difficult that at times I was
compelled to state the actual truth on condition that what I said was
regarded as absolutely confidential.
He and Thérèse did, indeed, discuss the possibility of braving the
world with the simple truth, but that he knew would have been a very
tremendous step for her. The mother was yet living, and she played a
strange part in this little drama--a part not so uncommonly played as
many might think. She became at last her daughter's _confidante_ and
learned the whole of Maitland's story, and although she opposed their
solution of the trouble to the very best of her power, when it became
serious she at last gave way and consented to any step that her
daughter wished to take, provided that there was no public scandal.
Of course, many people will regard with horror the part that her
mother played in this drama, imputing much moral blame. There are,
however, times when current morality has not the value which it is
commonly given, and I think Madame Espinel acted with great wisdom,
seeing that nothing she could have pleaded would have altered
matters. Her daughter was no longer a child; she was a grown-up
woman, not without determination, and entirely without religious
prejudice, a thing not so uncommon with the intellectual Frenchwoman.
Certainly there are some who will say that a public scandal was
better than secrecy, and in this I am at one with them. Nevertheless
there was much to consider, for there would certainly have been what
Henry himself called "a horrific scandal," seeing that the family had
many aristocratic relatives. Maitland, in fact, stated that it would
be taking an even greater responsibility than he was prepared to
shoulder if this were done. He wrote to me asking for my opinion and
counsel, especially at the time when there was a vague and probably
unfounded suggestion that he might be able to get a divorce from his
wife. It appears more than one person wrote to him anonymously about
her. I am sure he never believed what they told him, nor do I. No
doubt from some points of view I have been very unjust to his wife,
though I have tried to hold the balance true, but I never saw, or
heard from Maitland, anything to suggest that his wife was not all
that she should have been in one way, just as she was everything she
should not have been in another. Seeing that Maitland would have
given ten years of his life and every penny he possessed to secure a
divorce, it is certain that he absolutely disbelieved what he was
told. In fact, if he could have got a divorce by consent or
collusion he would have gladly engaged to pay her fifty pounds a year
during his life, whatever happened and whatever she did. But of
course this could not be said openly, either by myself or by him, and
nothing came out of the suggestion, whoever made it first.
I proposed to him one afternoon when I was with him that he should
make some inquiries as to what an American divorce would do for him.
Whether it were valid or not, it might perhaps make things
technically easier and enable him to marry in France with some show
of legality. At the moment he paid no attention to what I said, or
seemed to pay no attention, but it must have sunk into his mind, for
a few days afterwards he wrote to me and said: "Is it a possible
thing to get a divorce in some other country as things are?--a
divorce which would allow of a legal marriage, say, in that same
country. I have vaguely heard such stories, especially of
Heligoland. The German novelist, Sacher Masoch, is said to have done
it--said so by his first wife, who now lives in Paris." Upon
receiving this letter of his I wrote and reminded him of what I had
said about American divorces, and gave him all the information that I
had in my mind and could collect at the moment, especially mentioning
Dakota or Nevada as two States of the United States which had the
most reasonable and wide-minded views of marriage and divorce. For
this letter he wrote and thanked me heartily, but quoted from a
letter of Thérèse which seemed to indicate, not unclearly, that she
preferred him to take no steps which might lead to long legal
processes. They should join their fortunes together, taking their
chance as to the actual state of affairs being discovered afterwards.
His great trouble, of course, was the absolute necessity of seeming
in Paris to be legally married, out of regard for her relatives.
Besides these connections of her family, she knew a very great number
of important people in Paris and Madrid, and many of them should
receive by custom the _lettres de faire part_. With some little
trouble the financial difficulties with regard to the signing of
documents were got over for the moment by a transfer of investments
from Thérèse to her mother. On this being done their final
determination was soon taken, and they determined, after this
"marriage" was completed, to leave Paris and live somewhere in the
mountains, perhaps in Savoy; and he then wrote to me: "You will be
the only man in London who knows this story. Absolute silence--it
goes without saying. If ever by a slip of the tongue you let a
remark fall that my wife was dead, _tant mieux_; only no needless
approach of the topic. A grave, grave responsibility mine. She is a
woman to go through fire for, as you saw. An incredible woman to one
who has spent his life with such creatures.... I have lately paid a
bill of one pound for damage done by my wife, damage in a London
house where she lived till turned out by the help of the police.
Incredible stories about her. She attacked the landlord with a
stick, and he had seriously to defend himself. Then she tore up
shrubs and creepers in the garden. No, I have had my time of misery.
It must come to an end."
In the first part of this letter which I have just quoted he says,
"She is a woman to go through fire for, as you saw." This expression
does not mean that I had ever met her, but that I had seen sufficient
of her letters to recognise the essential fineness of her character.
I urged him once more to a rapid decision, and he promised that he
would let nothing delay it. Nevertheless it is perfectly
characteristic of him that, having now finally decided there should
be no attempt at any divorce, he proceeded instantly to play with the
idea again. No doubt he was being subjected to many influences of
different kinds, for I find that he sent me a letter in which he told
me that it seemed to be ascertained that an American divorce and
remarriage would satisfy French law. If that was so, he would move
heaven and earth to get all the necessary details of the procedure.
He had written to a friend in Baltimore who knew all about such
matters, but he implored me to find out if there were not some book
which gave all possible information about the marriage and divorce
laws of all the separate States of North America. He asked: "Do you
really think that I can go and present myself for a divorce without
the knowledge of the other person? The proceedings must be very
astounding." His knowledge of America was not equal to my own, much
as I had spoken to him about that country. The proceedings in
divorce courts in some of the United States have long ceased to
astonish anybody. He told me, however, that he had actually heard of
American lawyers advertising for would-be divorcers, and he prayed
devoutly that he could get hold of such a man. I did my best to rake
up for him every possible piece of information on the subject, and no
doubt his friend in Baltimore, of whom I know nothing, on his part
sent him information. It seemed, however, that any proceeding would
involve some difficulties, and on discovering this he instantly
dropped the whole scheme. I find that he wrote to me afterwards,
saying: "It is probable that I leave England at the end of April.
Not one syllable about me to any one, of course. The step is so bold
as to be really impudent, and I often have serious fears, not, of
course, on my own account. You shall hear from abroad.... If some
day one could know tranquillity and all meet together decently."
After many qualms, hot and cold fits, despondency, and inspirations
of courage, he at last took the decisive step. In May he was in
Paris, and I think it was in that month that the "marriage" took
place. I am singularly ignorant of the details, for he seemed to be
somewhat reluctant to speak of them, and I do not even know whether
any actual ceremony took place or not, nor am I much concerned to
know. They were at any rate together, and no doubt tolerably happy.
He wrote me nothing either about this subject or anything else for
some time, and I was content to hear nothing. I do know, however,
that they spent the summer together in Switzerland, moving from
Trient, near the Col de Balme, to Locarno, on Lago Maggiore. He
wrote to me once from the Rhône Valley saying that as a result of his
new domestic peace and comfort, even though it were but the comfort
of Swiss hotels, and owing also to the air of the mountains, which
always suited him very well, he was in much better health than he had
been for years past. His lung, the perpetual subject of his
preoccupation, appears to have given him little trouble, although,
knowing that its state was attributable in some measure to emphysema,
he wrote to me for detailed explanations of that particular
complaint. During the whole of this time, the only honeymoon he had
ever had, he was, however, obliged to work very hard, for he was in
ceaseless trouble about money. In his own words, he had to "publish
furiously" in order to keep pace with his expenses. There was his
wife in England, and there were also his children to be partially
provided for. But for the time all went well with him. There were
fears of all sorts, he told me, but they were to be forgotten as much
as possible. He and Thérèse returned to Paris for the winter.
During this time, or just about this time, which was when the South
African War was raging, I wrote for a weekly journal, which I used to
send regularly to Paris with my own contributions marked in it. This
temporary aberration into journalism so late in my literary life
interested him much. He wrote to me: "In the old garret days who
would have imagined the strange present? I suppose you have now a
very solid footing in journalism as well as in fiction. Of course it
was wise to get it, as it seems more than probable that the novelists
will be starved out very soon. With Europe in a state of war, which
may last for a decennium, there will be little chance for
story-tellers." Then, in spite of his new happiness, his inherited
or acquired pessimism got the worst of him. He adds: "I wish I had
died ten years ago. I should have gone away with some hope for
civilisation, of which I now have none. One's choice seems to be
between death in the workhouse, or by some ruffian's bullet. As for
those who come after one, it is too black to think about."
No doubt this was only his fun, or partly such. There is one phrase
in Boswell's "Johnson" that he always loved amazingly; it is where
Johnson declares that some poor creature had "no skill in
inebriation." Maitland perhaps had no skill in inebriation when he
drank at the fountain of literary pessimism, for indeed when he did
drink there his views were fantastic and preposterous. As a matter
of fact he was doing very well, in spite of the workhouse in
Marylebone Road, from which he was now far enough. There might be
little chance for story-tellers, yet his financial position, for the
first time in his life, was tolerably sound. One publisher even gave
him three hundred pounds on account for a book which I think was "The
Best of all Things." For this book he also received five hundred
dollars from America; so, for him, or indeed for almost any writer,
he was very well paid. Little as the public may believe it, a sum of
three hundred pounds on account of royalties is as much as any
well-known man gets--unless by some chance he happens to be one of
the half-dozen amazingly successful writers in the country, and they
are by no means the best. It has been at my earnest solicitation
that he had at last employed an agent, though, with his peculiar
readiness to receive certain impressions, he had not gone to one I
recommended, but to another, suddenly mentioned to him when he was
just in the mood to act as I suggested. This agent worked for him
very well, and Maitland was now getting five guineas a thousand words
for stories, which is also a very good price for a man who does
really good work. It is true that very bad work is not often well
paid, but the very best work of all is often not to be sold at any
price. About this time I obtained for him a very good offer for a
book, and he wrote to me: "It is good to know that people care to
make offers for my work. What I aim at is to get a couple of
thousand pounds safely invested for my two boys. Probably I shall
not succeed--and if I get the money, what security have I that it
will be safe in a year or two? As likely as not the Bank of England
will lie in ruins." After all, I must confess that he was skilful in
the inebriation of his pessimism, for to me these phrases are
delightful, in spite of the half-belief with which they were uttered.
During the last winter of 1900 he wrote to me from Paris that he
proposed to be in London for a few days in the spring of 1901, but
much depended on the relation, which seemed to him highly
speculative, between the money he received and the money he was
obliged to spend. Apparently he found Paris anything but cheap.
According to his own account, he was therefore in perpetual straits,
in spite of the good prices he now obtained for his work. He added
in this letter: "I hope to speak with you once more, before we are
both shot or starved." This proposal to come across the Channel in
the spring ended in smoke. He was not able to afford it, or was
reluctant to move, or more likely reluctant to expose himself to any
of the troubles still waiting for him in England. So long as his
good friends who were looking after his wife, and more or less
looking after his children, could do their work and save him from
anxiety, he was not likely to wish his peace disturbed by any
discussions on the subject. When he had decided not to come he sent
me a letter in which one of the paragraphs reads: "I am still trying
to believe that there is a King of England, and cannot take to the
idea, any more than to the moral and material ruin which seems to be
coming upon the old country. Isn't it astounding that we have the
courage to write books? We shall do so, I suppose, until the day
when publishers find their business at an end. I fear it may not be
far off." At this moment, being more or less at peace, and working
with no peculiar difficulty, he declared himself in tolerable health,
although he affirmed he coughed a great deal. It seemed to me that
he did not think so much about his health as he had done before and
was to do later, and he displayed something like his old real nature
with regard to literary enterprise. It was just about this time that
he reminded me of his cherished project for a story of the sixth
century A.D. This, of course, was the book published after his
death, "Basil." He had then begun to work upon it, and said he hoped
to finish it that summer. This cheered him up wonderfully, and he
ended one letter to me with: "Well, well, let us be glad that again
we exchange letters with address other than that of workhouse or
hospital. It is a great demand, this, to keep sane and solvent--I
dare hope for nothing more." Occasionally in his letters there
seemed to me to be slight indications that he was perhaps not quite
so happy as he wished to be.
During that summer my wife and I were in Switzerland, and he wrote to
me, while we were on the Lake of Geneva, from Vernet-les-Bains in the
Eastern Pyrenees. By this time Thérèse and I, although we had never
met, were accustomed to send messages to each other. It was a
comfort to me to feel that he was with some one of whom I could think
pleasantly, and whom I much wished to know. We had, indeed, proposed
to meet somewhere on the Continent, but that fell through, partly
because we were obliged to return to England earlier than we had
proposed. Nevertheless, although we did not meet, and though I had
some fears for him, I was tolerably happy about him and his affairs,
and certainly did not anticipate the new crisis which was
approaching, nor the form it would take.