Part 19 (1/2)

The announcee was received in Norfolk by the Godwin faht that if her son could thus alter hisconverted fro letters, so curious because of their medley of pious sentiment and prosaic realism, and wished Godwin and his wife happiness in her own name and that of all his friends in her part of the country Her good will to Mary was practically expressed by an invitation to her house and a present of eggs, together with an offer of a feather-bed Herand advice to them was:--

”My dears, whatever you do, do not make invitations and entertainments That hat hurt Jo Live comfortable with one another The Hart of her husband safely trusts in her I cannot give you no better advice than out of Proverbs, the Prophets, and New Testament My best affections attend you both”

Mary's family were not so cordial Everina and Mrs Bishop apparently never quite forgave her for the letter she wrote after her return to England with Ie They coe course of conduct made it doubly difficult for them, as her sisters, to find situations When, shortly after the e, Godent to stay a day or two at Etruria, Everina, as then governess in the Wedgwood household, would not at first coed frohout his visit

Godwin and Mary now on, Sos in the Evesha to work, and where he soht

They saw little, if any, more of each other than they had before, and were as independent in their goings-out and co spread, Mary wrote to Godwin, as if to assure hie the least change in their habits She says:--

”I have just thought that it would be very pretty in you to call on Johnson to-day It would spare me some aardness, and please him; and I want you to visit him often on a Tuesday This is quite disinterested, as I shall never be of the party Do, you would oblige , it is alith a true wifish subment and inclination Remember to leave the key of No 25 with us, on account of the wine”

While Mary seconded Godwin in his domestic theories, there were times when less independence would have pleased her better She had been obliged to fight the battle of life alone, and, when the occasion required it, she was equal to ht arise But instinctively she preferred to lean upon others for protection and help Godould never wittingly have been selfish or cruel in withholding his assistance But, as each had agreed to go his and her oay, it no ht her duties, than it would have pleased him had she interfered with his She had consented to his proposition, and in accepting her consent, he had not been wise enough to read between the lines Much as he loved Mary, he never seems to have really understood her She had now to take entire charge of er to attend to for her They could not well coht to do what to thee Mary felt their loss and his indifference, and frankly told him so:--

”I am not well to-day,” she wrote in one of their little conversational notes, dated the 11th of April; ”my spirits have been harassed Mary will tell you about the state of the sink, etc

Do you know you plaguemore determinately to the landlord, of whom I have aeverything I like a man ill say yes or no at once”

The trouble seems to have been not easily disposed of, for the saree of temper:--

”I wish you would desire Mr Marshal to call on reeable business of settling with tradespeople off my hands I am perhaps as unfit as yourself to do it, and my time appears to me as valuable as that of other persons accustos of this kind are easily settled with money, I know; but I am tormented by the want of money, and feel, to say the truth, as if I was not treated with respect, owing to your desire not to be disturbed”

These were ht horizon of their lives, such as it is alether in the same relationshi+p to escape Both were sensitive, and each had certain qualities peculiarly calculated to irritate the other Mary was quick-tempered and nervous Godas cool and methodical With Mary, love was the first consideration; Godho had lived alone for many years, was ruled by habit Their natures were so dissimilar, that occasional interruptions to their peace were unavoidable But these never developed into serious warfare They loved each other too honestly to cherish ill-feeling Godrote to Mary one ,--

”I aht [of the conversation there is unfortunately no record] The sole principle of conduct of which I a to study your happiness I found a wounded heart, and as that heart cast itself on me, it was my ambition to heal it Do not let me be wholly disappointed

”LetIf I do not call before you go out, call on me”

He was not disappointed A reconciliatory interview must have taken place, for on the very same day Mary wrote hihted with the thought of dining with you But I wish you to eat yourI shall probably knock at your door in my way to Opie's; but should I not find you, let ive fanny butter with her pudding”

”Ours was not an idle happiness, a paradise of selfish and transitory pleasures,” Godwin asserts in referring to the months of their married life Mary never let her work co unknown to her, nor had e, as has been seen, lessened the necessity of industry Indeed, it was now especially i to the utmost, which is probably the reason that little re and translating were still ; and her notes to Godwin prove by their allusions that Johnson continued to keep her supplied with eer sche but tis, to write a series of letters on the ement of infants This was a subject to which in earlier years she had given much attention, and her experience with her own child had been a practical confirmation of conclusions then formed

This was to have been followed by another series of books for the instruction of children The latter project was really the older of the two Her rehts of Woret that she did not live to carry it out But her chief literary enterprise during the last year of her life was her story of ”Maria; or, The Wrongs of Woman” Her interest in it as an alood novel, were so great that she wrote and rewrote parts of it many times She devotedfrom the rapidity hich her other books were produced

But, however busy she ood

Business was never an excuse for her to decline the offices of hu this year, and at a time, too, when it was particularly inconvenient for her to have visitors Her kindness also revealed itself in many minor ways When she had to choose between her own pleasure and that of others, she was sure to decide in their favor A proof of her readiness to sacrifice herself in s note, written to Godwin:--

_Saturday ue called on , that is, breakfasted with woods into the country to-morrow and return the next day As I love the country, and think, with a poorvery consolatory in the air, I should without hesitation have accepted the invitation, but for ement with your sister To her even I should have y, could I have seen her, or rather have stated that the circuain As it is, I aement often becomes ian to write to ask your opinion respecting the propriety of sending to her, and feel as I write that I had better conquer ive her a moment's pain

CHAPTER XIV

LAST MONTHS: DEATH

1797