Christina Rossetti a Biographical And Critical Study

SETTI often spoke to me about her mother, less frequently about her sister Maria and her brother Gabriel, though respecting them, and even the latter, she was by no means reticent, mentioning without reserve ' that fatal chloral' which had done so much to mar and to shorten her brother's life. She herself did not suffer from insomnia. She told me she never knew what it was to be sleepless, and she told another friend that her brother Gabriel's sleeplessness had a mysterious fascination for her. In a letter which she describes as ' dismal,' written soon after her mother's death, she says: ' Life is full of anxieties ... I fluctuate, but neither far above nor far below my level.' On the sudden death of Dr. Hueffer, the brother-in- law of Mrs. W. M. Rossetti, she wrote to her. Mrs. W. M. Rossetti was then at Biarritz: 30 Torrington Square?London?W.C. January 21. 1889. ' My dear Lucy,? I cannot hear of such bereavement among almost your nearest circle without writing to remind you of my love and sympathy. Aunt Eliza unites with me in good will and sympathy and in love to our nieces and nephew. I had not the slightest idea such a blow was imminent. Poor Cathy ! [Mrs. Hueffer] I ventured to send her a few flowers to-day. William came this morning looking as you may suppose, much concerned, and anxious on your account. Dear Lucy, reassure us by bearing the shock bravely and resignedly. Something led me to mention the death to Mr. Stewart (my Aunts' medi... --This text refers to the Paperback edition.