And perhaps the most moving of the notes I
took. In that same letter from her father, Godwin replied to a question from
Mary about having, perhaps, some physical memento of her mother, Mary
Wollstonecraft. He said he had reserved
for you a ring of hers, with Fanny Blood’s hair set round with pearls.[1]
A couple of things to recall: Fanny Blood was
the youthful friend—the best
friend—of Mary Wollstonecraft; it was common practice to give to friends a ring
made of your own hair. And after death a “mourning ring” was a common token, as
well—a ring fashioned from the hair of the departed one. Look online: There are
still places that will create them for you; there are scholarly and
general-interest articles on the subject.[2] We don’t
know what Mary did with this ring … did she wear it? Place it in an honored
position?
Mary’s son, Sir Percy Florence Shelley, married
Jane St. John on June 22, 1848. And the family wealth increased: Jane had £15,000 to contribute.
They honeymooned in the Lake District, long associated, of course, with the
Romantic Poets. Off and on the Shelleys stayed at Field Place, where Bysshe was
born, the family manor which I saw on April 15, 1999 (a visit I recorded earlier
in this endless account!).
And then … a most awkward event. Clara Clairmont
(the family called her “Clari”), the daughter of Charles Clairmont (who,
recall, was Mary’s foster brother—the son of Godwin’s second wife, Mary Jane),
came to stay with the Shelleys at Field Place in May 1849. There, Clari met Alexander
Knox, one of Sir Percy’s friends from university days. A romance promptly
blossomed, and in mid-June the couple married.
Clari’s aunt, of course, was Claire
Clairmont, who had joined Bysshe and Mary on their 1814 elopement and had been
in and out of Mary’s life ever since (a presence Mary was often not pleased
about). Clari and the others had not informed Claire about the wedding, and
Clarie was living in Kent, only about sixty-five miles from Field Place. And soon
Claire was writing angry, bitter letters. And downright nasty at times,
suggesting, even, that Mary and Knox had been lovers![3]
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