Delphi Complete Works of the Brontes Charlotte, Emily, Anne Brontë (Illustrated) (396 page)
Read Delphi Complete Works of the Brontes Charlotte, Emily, Anne Brontë (Illustrated) Online
Authors: CHARLOTTE BRONTE,EMILY BRONTE,ANNE BRONTE,PATRICK BRONTE,ELIZABETH GASKELL
‘I have, however, one request to offer,’ continued she. ‘It seems I am still to look on Staningley as my home: I wish you to make it yours likewise, for Helen is attached to the place and to me — as I am to her. There are painful associations connected with Grassdale, which she cannot easily overcome; and I shall not molest you with my company or interference here: I am a very quiet person, and shall keep my own apartments, and attend to my own concerns, and only see you now and then.’
Of course I most readily consented to this; and we lived in the greatest harmony with our dear aunt until the day of her death, which melancholy event took place a few years after — melancholy, not to herself (for it came quietly upon her, and she was glad to reach her journey’s end), but only to the few loving friends and grateful dependents she left behind.
To return, however, to my own affairs: I was married in summer, on a glorious August morning. It took the whole eight months, and all Helen’s kindness and goodness to boot, to overcome my mother’s prejudices against my bride-elect, and to reconcile her to the idea of my leaving Linden Grange and living so far away. Yet she was gratified at her son’s good fortune after all, and proudly attributed it all to his own superior merits and endowments. I bequeathed the farm to Fergus, with better hopes of its prosperity than I should have had a year ago under similar circumstances; for he had lately fallen in love with the Vicar of L — ’s eldest daughter — a lady whose superiority had roused his latent virtues, and stimulated him to the most surprising exertions, not only to gain her affection and esteem, and to obtain a fortune sufficient to aspire to her hand, but to render himself worthy of her, in his own eyes, as well as in those of her parents; and in the end he was successful, as you already know. As for myself, I need not tell you how happily my Helen and I have lived together, and how blessed we still are in each other’s society, and in the promising young scions that are growing up about us. We are just now looking forward to the advent of you and Rose, for the time of your annual visit draws nigh, when you must leave your dusty, smoky, noisy, toiling, striving city for a season of invigorating relaxation and social retirement with us.
Till then, farewell,
Gilbert Markham.
Staningley:
June
10
th
, 1847.
THE END
This volume of poetry was published jointly by the three Brontë sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne in 1846, being their first work to go in print. To evade contemporary prejudice against female writers, the Brontë sisters adopted androgynous first names. All three retained the first letter of their first names: Charlotte became Currer Bell, Anne became Acton Bell, and Emily became Ellis Bell. The book was printed by Aylott and Jones, from London. The first edition failed to attract interest, with only two copies being sold. However, the sisters decided to continue writing for publication and began work on their first novels, which became commercial successes. Following the success of Charlotte’s
Jane Eyre
in 1848, and after the deaths of Emily and Anne, the second edition of this book fared much better, with Charlotte’s additions of previously unpublished poetry by her two late sisters. It is believed that there are fewer than ten copies in existence with the Aylott and Jones title-page.
The title page of the first edition
CONTENTS
POEMS BY CURRER BELL (CHARLOTTE BRONTË)
POEMS BY ELLIS BELL (EMILY BRONTË)
VANITAS VANITATUM, OMNIA VANITAS.
LINES COMPOSED IN A WOOD ON A WINDY DAY.
SELECTIONS FROM THE LITERARY REMAINS OF ELLIS AND ACTON BELL. (EMILY AND ANNE BRONTË)
SELECTIONS FROM POEMS BY ELLIS BELL.
SELECTIONS FROM POEMS BY ACTON BELL. (ANNE BRONTË)
