CONSIDERACIONES PRÁCTICAS ANTES DE IMPLEMENTAR

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Florence. D e c - 2 2 -2 3 [1847]' Is it shameful o f me not to have stamped out my last no-letter with a letter many days before this day? Forgive m e my own dearest Arabel .. for I write to you this time as is fair .. forgive & shut your eyes close on my sins:— remembering besides that you yourselves might have written before if the w hole world did as it should- Still, there is a dear letter to thank you for .. the one after M! B oyd’s— or did I write m y self subsequent to it? Really I think I did. The weather has grown cold within these two days, & the touch o f frost in the air seals me up into a state o f do-nothingness— one d o es’nt feel up to anything but the fire. I find Robert in the drawingroom each morning when

I com e to breakfast— an extraordinary finding! Generally he finds me .. seeing that m y dressing

is quicker done than his shaving. But now in his unwearied kindness, he makes a point o f getting up earlier by h alf an hour, that he may be first, & try to heap the pinewood & set in order the thermometer to prevent my suffering from the cold. He never has m e out o f his head, one way or

herself. The consequence is that I have com e seriously to consider all other marriages as not to be named in the same sentence as any way comparable or analogous to m ine—they seem something different, & it’s an unfairness to talk o f parallel lines. For instance, A rlette’s .. I speak as far

from m y se lf as possible, in speaking o f her’s. She appears to me quite h ap py— indeed she told

me that she was .. which she need’nt have done, for o f course I put no question. She said that her husband was very amiable & kind, & that they “suited one another exactly”— and I observed with pleasure that she “would not be afraid o f keeping the dinner waiting a little w h ile” .. which is a definitive trait in a man o f what I conceive to be Capt. R eynolds’s nature. It proved that the rein w as not held too tight after all. The first tim e she cam e to see me, she cam e alone; the second

morning, she brought him— after which I never saw him, although she had the kindness (& I

thought it really kind) to com e to me almost every day o f the short remainder o f their stay in Florence. N o w you bid me say my thoughts o f Capt. Reynolds. Remember that I had only some ten minutes or fifteen, o f his societ>', & that he has not much “abandon” in his conversation, to

assist one out o f this disadvantage. I was a good deal struck by his very veteran appearance— the

twenty years difference between h im self & his bride, which you seem ed to see, being still more obvious to us. He looks to me nearer fifty than forty, much. Yet; life in India is a wearing thing, & as he said “he had had his fling in life altogether” .. which I did not at all d o u b t,.. he may look older than he is - In any case, if it is no objection to Arlette, it is o f no consequence to anybody.

For the rest, he is what would everywhere be called a fin e -lo o k in g m an— but as to being

“handsome”, .!!! I take the A pollo over the river^ to w itness that I open m y eyes with wonder at the idea o f any on e’s calling him so even by an eccentricity. It is a coarse face with a common ex p ressio n - A good presence, though, with a certain air o f m ilitary gen tlem an lin ess- N o remarkable polish, with all th is- Robert who is a physiognom ist, says that he believes him to be an amiable man & goodnatured; & when he (Capt Reynolds) asked me how I thought Arlette was looking, he did so with a glance o f interest, which made me feel that he loved her. Reserved & shy he is .. and this is rare in a military man, & I dont like him the less for it upon the whole, .. but o f course it shackles him terribly in conversation, & adds to the inconvenience o f not really having much to say. What could have induced dear Arlette & him to set out for Italy, is a sort o f riddle to m e— it is quite curious how little interest they seem ed to have in seeing anything. Think o f their being here a month, & never going to Fiesole!^ We tried to persuade them to go in vain- I even hinted to Arlette that it w^ be a sort o f disgrace not to have been to Fiesole. Only an hour’s drive, to o - “But what is there to see?” asked Cap! R eynold s- M ilton’s Fiesole, the Fiesole o f the Romans, the Fiesole o f the Etruscans, and “what to see”?"* Robert answered that there was a splendid “view ”, in any c a se - We thought they had resolved on going at last, but the weather

“looked uncertain”, and so, that cam e to an end. M oreover they did not see h a lf nor a quarter nor

a tenth o f what was to be seen in Florence, & went to Rome the sh ortest w ay .. m issing Perugia

& all the interest & beauty. So strange it seemed to us, & would seem to you, I think: for why com e to Italy at all if one does not care for the sights o f Italy? Their travelling is done in the most expensive way possible, the courier who was with them persuading them to prefer the hotels to the private apartments, notwithstanding Arlette’s inclination to the latter— & by what she told me, w e are calculating that they must have spent from sixty to seventy pounds in the course o f a

month for just living. N ot that she thought it at all dear— but in reality & according to Florentine prices it was m ost extravagant: and then they were not particularly com fortable .. com plained o f sm ells .. & were on a second floor, to b o ot- They did not appear to use their carriage here- Arlette always walked to see me & came by herself; & once Robert walked back with her, & once he & I did so together. I thought her looking very handsom e- I never saw her looking so well. Oh, I made her tell me about you, .. but she went away without telling h a lf I wanted to hear, & som e things I did not dare to ask questions of, feeling too deeply for the possible answers. Dear Arlette! I quite loved her, do you know? She seem ed the representative o f so much o f the past & the absent. When she came into the room first, I was glad that Robert w as out walking, for he hates to see the tears in my eyes; & the emotion o f receiving her took me by surprise .. I never thought to cry at seeing Arlette, and the tears came in spite o f reason. Everything past came back at the sight o f her & was joined to the present— everything .. everybody— the poor dark room in W impole Street, & your beloved faces & voices. Such a dream it seem ed, to m eet in Florence, & 5o! She is to write to you, she says, to certify what she thinks o f my lo o k s- She told me & Robert that the change was past b elief alm ost— meaning the change for the better. W ell, now! shall you be able to garble an extract from all these words, which may not displease Bummy? She wrote to me at the first arrangement o f the marriage, about the bridegroom’s beauty & talents, & the fairies only know what— so if she expects me to be “dazzled”, nothing herein said can o f course satisfy her— but you must use tact & discretion & not get me into a scrape. Robert told me I was inclined to be over-severe, & that his own im pression was in favour o f the goodnature & am iability— & he is famous as a physiognom ist I assure you. They seem resolved on buying a house in London & living there & Arlette thinks that the B evans’ plans are o f a like colour. You know, Arabel, M! Bevan is ten tim es more a man than this Capt R eynolds!— that is, to my mind: infinitely his superior in intellect, & o f a higher nature altogether. Still, in his class & after his pattern, Capt Reynolds may be an excellent person, .. & w e must not deny that it is a class & pattern which many women prefer. Only, Arabella will be elevated by her m arriage,.. and Arlette

N E V E R C A N . N ot by that means, at least. Which brings me back to my preference after a ll- How

sorry I am that dear Bummy sh^ have returned to the same house in the same place: nothing