A Secret Sisterhood by Emily Midorikawa

Author:Emily Midorikawa
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MBI
Published: 2017-08-26T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

AN ACT OF BETRAYAL

More than two years would pass before Marian Lewes at last received an explanation, of sorts, for the silence of her faraway friend. During the many months since she had poured out her grief on paper, sharing her deep feelings of loss over the death of her stepson, she had not forgotten Harriet Beecher Stowe. Now at last, in early 1872, a letter arrived at the Priory. But when Marian sat down to read, its contents would fall far short of her hopes.

In the chill of her north London home, Marian surveyed the day’s post laid out before her. As was his usual habit, the man she called her husband, George Henry Lewes, had already vetted her correspondence. Having effectively taken on the role of Marian’s literary manager, for some years now he had been weeding out anything that he deemed unworthy of her attention and dealing with it himself – an intrusive, though well-intentioned, act meant to save Marian the pain of seeing upsetting reviews of her work. A non-critical letter from a literary friend such as Harriet would have made the cut, but if Lewes lingered over the American woman’s words, he too may have wondered at what she said to Marian.

‘Dear Friend’ the first line read, the familiar greeting offering cold comfort, for it was followed by Harriet’s paltry excuses for her failure to write. Her letter claimed that she would have been in touch sooner if only ‘two years of constant and severe work’ had not ‘made it impossible to give a drop to any thing beyond the needs of the hour’. As Marian read on she found no belated condolences; not even a mention of her bereavement; no acknowledgement of that plea in her own last missive when she’d reached out across the waves in her anguish. In December 1869, Marian had written that she would not ‘be so unreasonable as to expect a long letter’, but that ‘some brief news of you and yours will be especially welcome just now.’ And yet even this simple request had remained unanswered by Harriet.

Now, at last there was news from her, but it could hardly have brought Marian much cheer. The pages she grasped in her 52-year-old hands were largely taken up by a long commentary on the work of several spiritualists known personally to her friend. Harriet talked of George Taylor, the doctor who held séances by night, and at whose New York clinic she’d been residing while working on her book about Lady Byron. She also mentioned the social reformer and author Robert Dale Owen and lavished his books, Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World and The Debatable Land Between this World and the Next, with the strongest praise. Harriet said he was a great admirer of Marian’s and planned to send her some of his writing in order to seek her opinion.

As Marian continued to leaf through the paper sheets, embossed with Harriet’s personal seal – a creeping branch

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.