Brontës (162 page)

Though Patrick continued to preach at least once and often twice every Sunday, he had effectively handed over all the responsibility for taking duties to Arthur, performing only one or two burials and baptisms a year. It therefore fell to Arthur's lot to perform the burial service for John Brown, Martha's father, Branwell's friend and sexton of Haworth, on 13 August 1855.
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Throughout the autumn Mrs Gaskell was busy in her search for materials. She visited Brookroyd twice, once on her way to stay with the Kay Shuttleworths at Gawthorpe Hall in August and again in early October, when Ellen had arranged for Miss Wooler to be staying there. Mrs Gaskell did not gain much
‘ direct
information' from Miss Wooler, but Ellen supplied that deficiency with a will. She wrote her own account of Anne's last days at Scarborough, copying out and embellishing notes she had made at the time in her pocketbook. She also sent extracts from Charlotte's letters, which she suggested should be included in the memoir. One of these was Charlotte's commentary on the death of Anne's schoolfriend, Ann Cook, Ellen's reason for including it being ‘I think the young lady's friends would most probably be gratified if dear C.'s comments on her decease were inserted – they are monied and influential people in this neighbourhood, some of them not very friendly to Currer Bell's emanations. Would they not be won by her kindly thought of one of their own?'
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Ellen was even employed as an intermediary in securing Mrs Brontës letters to Patrick, since Mrs Gaskell ‘dare not' ask him herself. Patrick had sent her four letters containing a mixture of facts and anecdote to assist her, but otherwise there was no communication between them.
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Partly this was due to Mrs Gaskell's reluctance to revive painful memories and partly to Arthur Nicholls' unwillingness to give the biographer anything more than he was absolutely required to do. Nevertheless, both he and Patrick had been concerned by the silence: ‘We have neither heard nor seen anything of Mrs Gaskell –', he wrote to Ellen Nussey in December. ‘I have every confidence that she will do ample justice to Charlotte – but I am quite sensible that she has undertaken a very difficult task with only slender material.'
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His sentiments were echoed by Patrick in a letter to Mrs Gaskell herself on 23 January 1856. ‘You will find herewith, a letter, and verses, which I have received from a Lady with whom I have no acquaintance –', he told her,

You will exercise your own judgement, in reference to them, and all other concerns, connected with the arduous, and responsible task you have kindly undertaken. Mr Nicholls, and I often think of what you have so obligingly enter'd on, of what the public, will expect from you, on whatever subject you may write; and of the few facts, and incidents, you have of a biographical nature, – we so frequently talk over, and meditate on these things, that we are forced at last, to solve the difficulty, by saying that you must draw largely on the resources of your own mind – My Daughter had that to do, in no small
degree, in the works which she gave to the world – … I often think that if you would write a running critique on her works, as well as her life – it would be highly popular, and render your task easier, by an accession of subject matter – But I must have done – an oppressive sadness comes over my heart, when I reflect that my Dear Daughter is forever gone –
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What neither Patrick nor Arthur realized was the vast number of Charlotte's letters to which Mrs Gaskell now had access nor, more importantly, the extent to which she was planning to quote from them.

She had begun to write in February 1856, but was continually frustrated and forced to rewrite as new material came to light. Enquiries to Mary Taylor in New Zealand had revealed that Mary had destroyed all her letters from Charlotte, a fact she now bitterly regretted. ‘They would have been much better evidence than my imperfect recollection & infinitely more interesting.' Mary did respond with a lively account of their schooldays at Roe Head, however, from which Mrs Gaskell was to quote extensively in her biography.
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Mrs Gaskell had also unearthed the Wheelwrights and, more importantly, the Hegers. Charlotte had been reluctant to sanction the translation of
Villette
into French and had tried to prevent its publication in Belgium, fearing that the portrait of the Pensionnat Heger and its principals was all too easily recognizable. Inevitably, the book had made its way to Brussels and the Hegers had been made aware of their unconscious contribution to English literature. There were even rumours that the Pensionnat Heger had suffered a loss of pupils as a result.
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Certainly, Madame Heger had taken justifiable umbrage at her portrait in the novel and when Mrs Gaskell travelled over to Brussels in the early summer of 1856 she flatly refused to see her. Constantin Heger, however, more aware of his former pupil's genius and more sympathetic to her sufferings, was quite prepared to assist her biographer. He sent her examples of both Emily's and Charlotte's
devoirs
, described his teaching methods and transcribed carefully selected extracts from Charlotte's letters to him for Mrs Gaskell's edification. When she came to Brussels, he not only agreed to see her, but swiftly won both her liking and her respect, not least because he had refused to defend himself by publishing Charlotte's letters to him. Displaying a tact that was not evident elsewhere in her biography, Mrs Gaskell protected Monsieur Heger (and Charlotte's reputation) as best she could by deliberately glossing over the reasons for Charlotte's estrangement from his wife and her eventual departure from Brussels.
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By the middle of July, Mrs Gaskell had completed a considerable portion of her biography. George Smith had urged her to take her time: ‘There is no hurry; there would be a great cry of indelicacy if it were published too soon. Do it well, and never fear that the public interest in her will die away.' However, he had already expressed reservations about her portrayal of Patrick Brontë. Mrs Gaskell was affronted. ‘Now I thought that I carefully preserved the reader's respect for Mr Brontë, while truth and the desire of doing justice to her compelled me to state the domestic peculiarities of her childhood, which (as in all cases) contributed so much to make her what she was'. She appealed to Ellen, to whom she had read the same section of the manuscript, and received a stout defence: ‘I do not wish anything you have said suppressed only I think your readers will have to be taught to think kindly of Mr B—'.
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Mrs Gaskell also sought Ellen's advice on her next visit to Haworth. ‘I still want one or two things to complete my materials', she informed her, ‘and I am very doubtful if I can get them – at any rate, I think they will necessitate my going to Haworth again, and I am literally
afraid of that.'
She wanted Monsieur Heger's letters to Charlotte, the manuscripts of
The Professor
and Charlotte's last, unfinished story and Charlotte's ‘long, constant, and minute' letters to her father from London. How should she best proceed in trying to prise these things from Mr Nicholls, she asked Ellen, and would it be better to let them know she was coming or ‘take them unawares'?
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Ellen's reply was not particularly helpful.

I think Mr N. ought to have no reserve with you, his very affection should make him see it is wisest, best, and kindest to tell the whole truth to you in everything that regards her literary life or her domestic virtues – I wish I could talk to him half an hour and convince him that the more she is known the more highly will she shine and be the means of good to the readers of her Memoir.

She did, however, offer one practical piece of advice: ‘I think you may win him by your own heartiness in the work – at any rate you will Mr B., and for a quiet life Mr N. will have to yield where Mr B. is urgent and impatient.'
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In the end, Mrs Gaskell compromised. She reminded Charlotte's father and widower of her existence by persuading her husband to send Patrick a printed copy of the sermon he had preached on 4 May which had been a Day of National Thanksgiving for the peace with Russia. The sermon had
defended both the war and the peace as honourable and drew a sharp distinction between ‘the peace of mere compulsion', which was simple slavery, and ‘the peace of the gospel', which was ‘the fellowship of free agents'. Writing to thank him, Patrick could say quite sincerely, ‘The principles, and practices, which, it so ably advocates, are perfectly in accordance with my, own on the great subjects of peace, and war', adding, with unspoken reproach, ‘We often wonder here, how Mrs Gaskell, is getting on, with Her mournful, but interesting Task.'
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He was soon to find out. The day after he wrote the letter, when he himself was confined to bed with rheumatism and Martha was away, so that there was only the ‘little girl' Eliza to run the house, Mrs Gaskell arrived on his doorstep in the company of Sir James Kay Shuttleworth.
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This was a master stroke on Mrs Gaskell's part. The unexpected arrival of such important guests threw the whole household into chaos, particularly as Patrick insisted on getting up; there was therefore no time for dreaming up arguments or excuses. Both clergymen looked up to Sir James and he was shameless in using his influence and authority over them'. Mrs Gaskell reported to George Smith that Sir James was ‘not prevented by the fear of giving pain from asking in a peremptory manner for whatever he thinks desirable. He was extremely kind in forwarding all my objects; and coolly took actual possession of many things while Mr Nicholls was saying he could not possibly part with them. Mrs Gaskell was anxious to have a photograph taken of the Richmond portrait, but greatly to her annoyance, her previous applications had met with a decided refusal, even when made through George Smith. Here Sir James proved his worth again.

Sir J. P K S coolly introduced the subject of the portrait, as if he had known nothing of Mr Nicholls' reluctance, asked Mr Brontës leave to have it photographed, wh[ic]h was readily granted with a reference to Mr Nicholls for an ultimate decision, so then Sir James said ‘Oh! I know Mr Nicholls will grant it – and we will trust to Mrs Gaskell to send over a photographer from Manchester, for I dare say he would not like to part with the portrait,—' & he so completely took it for granted that Mr Nicholls had no time to object. But I can not feel quite comfortable in absolutely wresting things from him by mere force of words.
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In material terms the visit was a great success. Mrs Gaskell and Sir James carried off the manuscripts of
The Professor
and the last unfinished story;
completely unexpectedly, and ‘by far the most extraordinary of all', there was a packet ‘about the size of a lady's travelling writing case', full of the little books written in childhood. Mrs Gaskell described this find in great excitement to George Smith: ‘they are the wildest & most incoherent things, as far as we have examined them,
all
purporting to be written, or addressed to some member of the Wellesley family. They give one the idea of creative power carried to the verge of insanity.'
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Having involved Sir James Kay Shuttleworth, it now proved impossible to shake him off. Though the manuscripts (like the letters) had only been lent on the understanding that they would give Mrs Gaskell a better idea of Charlotte's literary development, Sir James took it into his head that
The Professor must
be published. Mrs Gaskell was alarmed, fearing that the novel (which she had not yet read) might relate even more closely to the Hegers than
Villette
and might provoke Monsieur Heger into publishing Charlotte's letters to him. ‘I can not tell you how I should deprecate anything leading to the publication of those letters', she told George Smith anxiously, adding gloomily, ‘I foresee, if Sir James has set his will upon it,
it is
to be published whatever may be the consequences. He over-rides all wishes, feelings, and delicacy. I saw that in his way of carrying everything before him at Haworth, deaf to remonstrance and entreaty.'
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Sir James had determined that he himself would edit the manuscript, but this time he was to be thwarted by the more subtle machinations of Mrs Gaskell. Having read so many of Charlotte's letters she knew that her friend ‘would have especially disliked
him
to meddle with her writings', and that his sole reason for wishing to do so was ‘to appear to the world in intimate connexion with her': she hinted these things while forwarding Sir James's proposal to George Smith and Arthur Nicholls. Having read the novel she was not anxious to see it published, feeling that it would not add to Charlotte's reputation as Sir James claimed and that it would simply give further fuel to the critics: ‘there are one or two remarkable portraits – the most charming
woman
she ever drew, and a glimpse of that woman as a mother – very lovely; otherwise little or no story; & disfigured by more coarseness, – & profanity in quoting texts of Scripture disagreeably than in any of her other works.' Not wishing to associate herself with the book she declined to edit it personally on the grounds that she was too busy: instead, she recommended Williams, whom she believed Charlotte herself would have chosen.
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In the event, Arthur himself proved unexpectedly firm and refused to
bow to Sir James's wishes, privately telling Mrs Gaskell that he feared Sir James would be hurt but ‘knowing his wife's opinion on the subject, he could not allow any such revisal'. To George Smith, who was now eager to publish the manuscript which he had rejected three times in its author's lifetime, Arthur wrote with equal decision.

It appears from Sir James Kay Shuttleworth's note to Mrs Gaskell that there are some passages in it that he would wish to extirpate. I could not consent to any revisal of the work; at the same time I should not wish to gave [sic] occasion for malignant criticism – If therefore it should appear to Mr Brontë & myself, that any such result would be likely to accrue, we should hesitate before giving the work to the public –
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