Records Of A Girlhood Volume 1 (1 Of 2) - Frances Ann Kemble (sad books to read TXT) 📗

Say That Both My Father

     And Herself Object To My Going Anywhere Without Some Member Of My

     Family As Chaperon; And As This Is A General Rule, The Infringement

     Of It In A Particular Instance, However Much I Might Wish It, Would

     Be Better Avoided, For Fear Of Giving Offense Where I Should Be

     Glad To Plead The Prohibition. She Bids Me Add That She Fears She

     Cannot Go Out To-Morrow, But That Some Day Soon, At An Early Hour,

     She Hopes To Be Able To Accompany Us Both To The British Gallery.

     Will You Come To Us On Sunday Evening? You See What Is Hanging Over

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     Me For Thursday Next; Shall You Go To See Me?

 

                        Yours Affectionately,

                                                              F. A. K.

 

I Did Not, And Do Not, At All Question The Good Judgment Of My Parents

In Not Allowing Me To Go Into Society Unaccompanied By One Or The Other

Of Themselves. The Only Occasion On Which I Remember Feeling Very

Rebellious With Regard To This Rule Was That Of The Coronation Of King

William And Queen Adelaide, For Which Imposing Ceremony A Couple Of

Peers' Tickets Had Been Very Kindly Sent Us, But Of Which I Was Unable

To Avail Myself, My Father Being Prevented By Business From Escorting

Me, My Mother Being Out Of Town, And My Brother's Countenance And

Protection Not Being, In Their Opinion, Adequate For The Occasion. So

John Went Alone To The Abbey, And Say The Fine Show, And My Peer's

Ticket Remained Unused On My Mantelpiece, A Constant Suggestion Of The

Great Disappointment I Had Experienced When, After Some Discussion, It

Was Finally Determined That He Was Too Young To Be Considered A Proper

Chaperon For Me. Dear Me! How Vexed I Was! And How Little Charmed With

My Notoriety, Which Was Urged As The Special Reason For My Being Hedged

Round With The Utmost Conventional Decorum!

 

                                    GREAT RUSSELL STREET, March, 1831.

     DEAR MRS. JAMESON,

 

     I Have But Two Minutes To Say Two Words To You, In Answer To Your

     Very Kind Note. Both My Mother And Myself Went Out Of Town, Not To

     Recover From Absolute Indisposition, But To Recruit Strength. I Am

     Sorry To Say She Is Far From Well Now, However; But As I Think Her

     Present Suffering Springs From Cold, I Hope A Few Warm Days Will

     Remove It. I Am Myself Very Well, Except A Bad Cough Which I Have

     Had For Some Time, And A Very Bad Side-Ache, Which Has Just Come

     On, And Which, If I Had Time In Addition To The Inclination Which I

     Have, Would Prevent Me From Writing Much More At Present. I Envy

     You Your Time Spent In The Country; The First Days Of Spring And

     Last Of Autumn Should Never Be Spent Between Brick Houses And Stone

     Pavements. I Am Truly Sorry For The Anxieties You Have Undergone;

     Your Father Is, I Trust, Quite Recovered; And As To Your Dear Baby

     (Mrs. Jameson's Niece), Remember It Is But Beginning To Make You

     Anxious, And Will Continue To Do So As Long As It Lives, Which Is A

     Perfect Job's Comforter, Is It Not? The Story Of Your Old Man

     Interested Me Very Much; I Suppose A Parent Can Love All Through A

     Whole Lifetime Of Absence: But Do You Think There Can Be A Very

     Strong And Enduring Affection In A Child's Bosom For A Parent

     Hardly Known Except By Hearsay? I Should Doubt It. I Must Leave Off

     Now, And Remain,

 

                       Always Yours Most Truly,

                                                          F.A. KEMBLE.

 

 

                                 GREAT RUSSELL STREET, March 29, 1831.

     DEAR MRS. JAMESON,

 

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     Will You Be Kind Enough To Forward My Very Best Acknowledgments To

     Sir Gerard Nöel, Both For His Good Wishes And The More Tangible

     Proof Of Interest He Sent Me (A Considerable Payment For A Box On

     My Benefit Night)? I Am Sorry You Were Alarmed On Monday. You

     Alarmed Us All; You Looked So Exceedingly Ill That I Feared

     Something Very Serious Had Occurred To Distress And Vex You. Thank

     You For Your Critique Upon My Constance; Both My Mother And Myself

     Were Much Delighted With It; It Was Every Way Acceptable To Me, For

     The Censure I Knew To Be Deserved, And The Praise I Hoped Was So,

     And They Were Blended In The Very Nicest Proportions. We Dine At

     Six To-Morrow. Lady Cork Insisted Upon Five, But That Was Really

     Too Primitive, Because, As The Dandy Said, "We Cannot Eat Meat In

     The Morning."

 

                        Ever Yours Most Truly,

                                                              F. A. K.

 

 

                                 GREAT RUSSELL STREET, March 30, 1831.

     DEAR MRS. JAMESON,

 

     Thank You For Your Money; It Is Necessary To Be Arithmetical If One

     Means To Be Economical, And I Receive Your Tribute With More

     Pleasure Than That Of A Duchess. I Sometimes Hear People Lament

     That They Have Anything To Do With Money. I Do Not At All Share

     That Feeling; Money, After All, Only Represents Other Things. If

     One Has Much, It Is Always Well To Look To One's Expenditure, Or

     The Much Will Become Much Less; And If One Has Little, And Works

     Hard For It, I Cannot Understand Being Above Receiving The Price Of

     One's Labor. In All Kinds "The Laborer Is Worthy Of His Hire," And

     I Think It Very Foolish To Talk As If We Set No Value Upon That

     Which We Value Enough To Toil For. With Regard To The Tickets You

     Wish Me To Send You, I Must Refer You To The Theater; For, Finding

     That My Wits And Temper Were Both Likely To Be Lost In The

     Box-Book, I Sent The Whole Away To Mr. Notter, The Box-Book Keeper,

     To Whom You Had Better Apply.

 

                          Yours Ever Truly,

                                                              F. A. K.

 

This And The Preceding Note Refer To My Benefit, Of Which, According To

A Not Infrequent Custom With The More Popular Members Of The Profession,

I Had Undertaken To Manage The Business Details, But Found Myself, As I

Have Here Stated, Quite Incompetent To Encounter The Worry Of

Applications For Boxes, And Seats, And Special Places, Etc., Etc., And

Have Never Since, In The Course Of My Whole Public Career, Had Anything

To Do With The Management Of My Own Affairs.

 

                                    GREAT RUSSELL STREET, March, 1831.

     DEAR MRS. JAMESON,

 

     I Was Not At Home Yesterday Afternoon When You Sent To Our House,

     And All The Evening Was So Busy Studying That I Had Not Time To

     Answer Your Dispatch. Thank You For Your Last Year's Letter; It Is

Volume 1 Chapter 20 Pg 156

     Curious To Look Back, Even To So Short A Time, And See How The Past

     Affected One When It Was The Present. I Remember I Was Very Happy

     And Comfortable At Bath, The Critics Notwithstanding. Thank You,

     Too, For Your More Recent Epistle. I Am Grateful For, And Gratified

     By, Your Minute Observation Of My Acting. I Am Always Thankful For

     Your Criticisms, Even When I Do Not Quite Agree With Them; For I

     Know That You Are Always Kindly Anxious That I Should Not Destroy

     My Own Effects, Which I Believe I Not Unfrequently Do. With Regard

     To My Action, Unless In Passages Which Necessarily Require A

     Specific Gesture, Such As, "You'll Find Them At The Marchesa

     Aldabella's," I Never Determine Any One Particular Movement; And,

     Of Course, This Must Render My Action Different Almost Every Time;

     And So It Depends Upon My Own State Of Excitement And Inspiration,

     So To Speak, Whether The Gesture Be Forcible Or Not. My Father

     Desires Me To Send You Retsch's "Hamlet;" It Is His, And I Request

     You Not To Judge It Too Hastily: I Have Generally Heard It Abused,

     But I Think In Many Parts It Has Very Great Merit. I Am Told That

     Retsch Says He Has No Fancy For Illustrating "Romeo And Juliet,"

     Which Seems Strange. One Would Have Thought He Would Have Delighted

     In Portraying Those Lovely Human Beings, Whom One Always Imagines

     Endowed With An Outward And Visible Form As Youthful, Beautiful,

     And Full Of Grace, As Their Passion Itself Was. Surely The Balcony,

     The Garden, And Grave-Yard Scenes, Would Have Furnished Admirable

     Subjects For His Delicate And Powerful Hand. Is It Possible That He

     Thinks The Thing Beyond Him? I Must Go To Work. Good-By.

 

                          Ever Yours Truly,

                                                              F. A. K.

 

     You Marked So Many Things In My Manuscript Book That I Really Felt

     Ashamed To Copy Them All, For I Should Have Filled More Than Half

     Yours With My Rhymes. I Have Just Added To Those I Did Transcribe A

     Sonnet I Wrote On Monday Night After The Play.

 

It May Have Been That The Execution Of "Faust," His Masterpiece,

Disinclined Retsch For The Treatment Of Another Love Story. He Did

Subsequently Illustrate "Romeo And Juliet" With Much Grace And Beauty;

But It Is, As A Whole, Undoubtedly Inferior To His Illustrations Of

Goethe's Tragical Love Story. Retsch's Genius Was Too Absolutely German

To Allow Of His Treating Anything From Any But A German Point Of View.

Shakespeare, Englishman As He Is, Has Written An Italian "Romeo And

Juliet;" But Retsch's Lovers Are Teutonic In Spite Of Their Costume, And

Nowhere, As In The Wonderful Play, Is The Southern Passion Made Manifest

Through The Northern Thought.

 

The Private Theatricals At Bridgewater House Were Fruitful Of Serious

Consequences To Me, And Bestowed On Me A Lasting Friendship And An

Ephemeral Love: The One A Source Of Much Pleasure, The Other Of Some

Pain. They Entailed Much Intimate Intercourse With Lord And Lady Francis

Leveson Gower, Afterward Egerton, And Finally Earl And Countess Of

Ellesmere, Who Became Kind And Constant Friends Of Mine. Victor Hugo's

Play Of "Hernani," Full Of Fine And Striking Things, As Well As Of

Exaggerations Verging On The Ludicrous, Had Been Most Admirably Rendered

Into Rhymed Verse By Lord Ellesmere. His Translations From The German