The Purcell papers Volume II

PASSAGE IN THE SECRET HISTORY OF AN IRISH COUNTESS. Being a Fifth Extract from the Legacy of the late Francis Purcell, P. P. of Drumcoolagh. The following paper is written in a female hand, and was no doubt communicated to my much-regretted friend by the lady whose early history it serves to illustrate, the Countess D--. She is no more-she long since died, a childless and a widowed wife, and, as her letter sadly predicts, none survive to whom the publication of this narrative can prove 'injurious, or even painful.' Strange! two powerful and wealthy families, that in which she was born, and that into which she had married, have ceased to be-they are utterly extinct. To those who know anything of the history of Irish families, as they were less than a century ago, the facts which immediately follow will at once suggest THE NAMES of the principal actors; and to others their publication would be useless-to us, possibly, if not probably, injurious. I have, therefore, altered such of the names as might, if stated, get us into difficulty; others, belonging to minor characters in the strange story, I have left untouched. My dear friend, -You have asked me to furnish you with a detail of the strange events which marked my early history, and I have, without hesitation, applied myself to the task, knowing that, while I live, a kind consideration for my feelings will prevent your giving publicity to the statement; and conscious that, when I am no more, there will not survive one to whom the narrative can prove injurious, or even painful. My mother died when I was quite an infant, and of her I have no recollection, even the faintest. By her death, my education and habits were left solely to the guidance of my surviving parent; and, as far as a stern attention to my religious instruction, and an active anxiety evinced by his procuring for me the best masters to perfect me in those accomplishments which my station and wealth might seem to require, could avail, he amply discharged the task. My father was what is called an oddity, and his treatment of me, though uniformly kind, flowed less from affection and tenderness than from a sense of obligation and duty. Indeed, I seldom even spoke to him except at meal-times, and then his manner was silent and abrupt; his leisure hours, which were many, were passed either in his study or in solitary walks; in short, he seemed to take no further interest in my happiness or improvement than a conscientious regard to the discharge of his own duty would seem to claim.... Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, né le 28 août 1814 à Dublin, où il est mort le 10 février 1873, est un écrivain irlandais. C'est l'un des auteurs majeurs du récit fantastique. Les premiers succès L'année 1851 marque une étape charnière dans la carrière du prolifique écrivain avec la publication de son premier recueil de nouvelles fantastiques: Ghost Stories and Tales of Mysteries. À la suite du décès du père de Susanna, Joseph et son épouse s'installent dans la maison paternelle dont Susanna a hérité au 18 Merrion Square. Le Fanu y passera le reste de sa vie. C'est dans ce chic quartier résidentiel de Dublin que Le Fanu fait la connaissance du chevalier Sir William Robert Wills Wilde, chirurgien irlandais, et de Jane Francesca Elgee dite Speranza, poétesse et nationaliste irlandaise. Ce fait, bien qu'anecdotique, nous semble néanmoins intéressant à noter, puisque ce couple d'amis aura comme enfant un autre écrivain, appelé à devenir l'enfant terrible des lettres irlandaises tant par son oeuvre que par sa vie privée, Oscar Wilde. L'épouse de Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Susanna, présente les premiers signes de la maladie qui l'emportera sept ans plus tard. Le 1er août 1854 naît George Brinslay, qui illustrera plus tard les romans de son père et réalisera les quelques rares portraits de lui qui nous soient parvenus.