House of Exile by Evelyn Juers

Author:Evelyn Juers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Published: 2008-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

In the heart of Europe…thunder burst with a terrific crash over my head. It was echoed from Salève, the Jura, and the Alps of Savoy; vivid flashes of lightning dazzled my eyes, illuminating the lake, making it appear like a vast sheet of fire; then for an instant every thing seemed of a pitchy darkness, until the eye recovered itself from the preceding flash. The storm, as is often the case in Switzerland, appeared at once in various parts of the heavens. (Mary Shelley, Frankenstein)

Heinrich and Goschi stayed on at the pension in Le Lavandou for a few more weeks. By early October Nelly had been alone since August. Sunday 4 October Heinrich wrote to her from Le Lavandou. She had telegraphed to assure him she’d get everything organised in Nice. A few hours later she telegraphed again, with the message that unless he and Goschi came to Nice immediately, she would kill herself. He had thought that this chapter of her adventures was well and truly finished. He asked her if it was a relapse. Told her that his and his daughter’s presence could not help her if she herself was bent on disaster. That it could not go on like that. He told her to pull herself together. She should go back to their old address at 11, rue du Congrès, and stay in bed if she was still sick. He wanted to look after her and help her to recover. To do that he needed calm. She must realise that it was not only her own nerves that were on edge. He now had to go to Toulon, an arrangement it was impossible to change. He would arrive in Nice on Tuesday evening, by the first train leaving after four o’clock, which would get to Nice around ten. He didn’t know the timetable, suggested that she could find it out. Did she want to meet him at the station on Tuesday evening? He’d be grateful if she did. If not, he’d find a hotel, perhaps the Cecil, and would then take it upon himself to search for an apartment. Told her he could no longer stand the continuous crises. It did not have to be like that. He really hoped her latest anxiety attack had passed and her telegram, which he’d only just received, was already obsolete. He was sure that by now she was feeling better and braver. He would be overjoyed. Expected to hear from her by telegram on Monday, whether he would see her on Tuesday at the station in Nice, or at their old place. Auf Wiedersehen.

We can assume Nelly met Heinrich’s train that night. By the end of October they had settled into number 18, rue Rossini. A note about Nelly’s suicidal plea, as an aspect of her life which Heinrich thought she’d overcome: his comment suggests that she had either threatened or attempted suicide before, and her stay in hospital that year was related to this problem. Many years later Heinrich mentioned to a friend that Nelly attempted suicide twice while they lived in France.

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