’You will think me very foolish; but I have tried two or three times, and cannot talk to you of your departure with a decent visage:  so let me say one word in this way to spare my philosophy.  With the expectations which I have, I never will nor can ask you to stay one moment longer than you are inclined to do.  It would [be] the worst return for all I ever received from you.  But in this at least I am “truth itself,” when I say, that whatever the situation may be, there is no one whose society is dearer to me, or can contribute more to my happiness.  These feelings will not change under any circumstances, and I should be grieved if you did not understand them.  Should you hereafter condemn me, I shall not love you less.  I will say no more.  Judge for yourself about going or staying.  I wish you to consider yourself, if you could be wise enough to do that, for the first time in your life.

’Thine,

‘A.  I. B.’

Addressed on the cover, ‘To The Hon. Mrs. Leigh.’

This letter not being dated, we have no clue but what we obtain from its own internal evidence.  It certainly is not written in Lady Byron’s usual clear and elegant style; and is, in this respect, in striking contrast to all her letters that I have ever seen.

But the notes written by a young woman under such peculiar and distressing circumstances must not be judged by the standard of calmer hours.

Subsequently to this letter, and during that stormy, irrational period when Lord Byron’s conduct became daily more and more unaccountable, may have come that startling scene in which Lord Byron took every pains to convince his wife of improper relations subsisting between himself and his sister.

What an utter desolation this must have been to the wife, tearing from her the last hold of friendship, and the last refuge to which she had clung in her sorrows, may easily be conceived.

In this crisis, it appears that the sister convinced Lady Byron that the whole was to be attributed to insanity.  It would be a conviction gladly accepted, and bringing infinite relief, although still surrounding her path with fearful difficulties.

That such was the case is plainly asserted by Lady Byron in her statement published in 1830.  Speaking of her separation, Lady Byron says:—­

’The facts are, I left London for Kirkby Mallory, the residence of my father and mother, on the 15th of January, 1816.  Lord Byron had signified to me in writing, Jan. 6, his absolute desire that I should leave London on the earliest day that I could conveniently fix.  It was not safe for me to encounter the fatigues of a journey sooner than the 15th.  Previously to my departure, it had been strongly impressed on my mind that Lord Byron was under the influence of insanity.

   ’This opinion was in a great measure derived from the communications
   made to me by his nearest relatives and personal attendant’