Account of Marie-Louise Christophe in Pisa by Sir Robert Inglis (October 20, 1840)
The following account, taken from volume 5 of Sir Robert Inglis’s diaries on his travels to Parma, Athens, Florence and Genoa, describes a chance encounter with Marie-Louise Christophe on a day trip from Lucca to Pisa on 20 October 1840. The account attests that Marie-Louise settled in Pisa after the death of her daughter Athénaïre in Turin in 1839.
p. 572
[Marginal footnote] *Zephyrine, the maid who was in England
We were now near the scene of one of the most interesting visits which we had ever paid. - In all the great towns of the north of Italy we had inquired for the Christophes. From Cooper’s mention of the mother as “the ex-Empress of Haiti at Florence,” I felt sure that there, at an rate, we should find some trace of her, but Shneidorff, our laquai de place, our banker, &c were alike ignorant of the fact that she had ever been at Florence: - but here we at last found her, on our repeating the enquiry, our laquai said that “there was a Princesse Russe, who was black: there were two; but one was dead.” - This led us to the door; - we knocked; and a black head* out of the window, asked who we were: - the door was opened, and a white woman received us. We explained ourselves as well as we could, saying that we were
p. 573
Inglis by name as well as Inglese by nation; for she gave us to understand that it was of no use to write any thing; and with this message she went up to the black head which had appeared at the window. The black head came down; and appeared to be the maid who had been with the family at Hastings. She told us of the death of Made Athenaire last Oct at Turin (1839) and of the illness of Made Christophe herself: - she was then in the Bath: but she would carry up our names; & let her know, if we would wait. She went, accordingly; and in a few minutes appeared. She appeared glad to see us; yet not so glad as perhaps we expected. She talked something of her illness, rheumatism &c; and more of the death of her last child; and much also about England. At last we thought it time to go;
p. 574
I took her head to kiss it: she said, turning, I think, to Mary, - can you tell me any thing of Sir Robert Inglis? Mary was sitting with her back to the light, and with her bonnet on; so that Made Christophe has scarcely seen her: she replied “why, there he is.” - Poor Made Christophe paused, looked at each of us in turn more than once; and then got up, & took M. most tenderly in her arms; and kissed her most cordially. She then embraced me; - and, again, Mary and then rested her head, in tears, on the table: “Mais il est beaucoup plus gros qu’autrefois” said she, looking at me: she then made M. take off her bonnet, in order that she might have fuller view; and it was affecting to see how she kept the bonnet in her hands, as if even that were part of Mary. From this time her conversation was greatly animated and excited:
p. 575
she talked of her daughters, particularly of her whom she had lost last year; - of her law-suit about a house at Turin, the loss of which under circumstances which she thought very unjust, had hastened, she said, the fatal illness: - of my two dear sisters, whom she described by size; - of the three Miss Thorntons, whom she likewise described, particularly Marianne, - “tell her that this house is her own, if she will come to it” - of the two Mr. Thorntons; - of Miss Smith (Patti); of Mr. Wilberforce; - and of somebody else, - a tall person, - whom we could not make out: - then of my journey from Hastings to London with her daughter: - in all these subjects, flying from one to another, without order: - then of her own money-matters; - Mr. Senn, her agent at Leghorn, and Reid, Irving, & Co, of London: and of
p. 576
£2000 in the 3 1/2 pcent consols, which, as I could collect, she desired them to transfer for the use of her sister in Hayti. I promised to make inquiries for her. She wanted us much to stay & dine with her; - or at least take eau sucrée with her; - we should gladly have remained, but that we had left every thing at Lucca. I made such memora (however) of her wishes, as will, I trust, enable us to be useful to her. We pressed her to think of coming back: she said that she had never liked any country so well as England; that she wd never have left but for the health-sake of her daughters; but that now she had only to lie down & die, that she was daily endeavouring to prepare for it. - In the midst of her bonds of feeling & affection, she turned two or three
p. 577
times to her black maid, scolding her for not having found us out & told her our names[.] When we at last near, I again took her hand & kissed it: but she embraced me; & said that I was like her son, that her son would just have been of my age &c - altogether, the interview was to us most valuable. - The maid had left the room half a minute before us, it was to gather us some lemons from the garden, that we might carry them away.
You can use the annotation tool on the top right-hand corner of this page to add and view comments on this document and help improve the transcription for other users. You will need to create a free Hypothes.is account to do so.
To view existing comments: select the toggle button in the top right-hand corner of the browser.
To leave a comment on or annotate the document, select the word, sentence, or paragraph you wish to amend or improve. An icon will then appear presenting you with the option to Annotate or to Highlight the text.