[82] Among Lord Abinger’s papers, in Mary’s hand, are some comparable (but very bad) fragmentary verses addressed to Mother Earth.
[83] At this point four sheets are cut out of the notebook. They are evidently those with pages numbered 217 to 223 which are among the S-R fr. They contain the conclusion of the story, ending, as does F of F—B with Mathilda’s words spoken to Diotima in the Elysian Fields: “I am here, not with my father, but listening to lessons of wisdom, which will one day bring me to him when we shall never part. THE END.” Some passages are scored out, but not this final sentence. Tenses are changed from past to future. The name Herbert is changed to Woodville. The explanation must be that Mary was hurrying to finish the revision (quite drastic on these final pages) and the transcription of her story before her confinement, and that in her haste she copied the pages from F of F—B as they stood. Then, realizing that they did not fit Mathilda, she began to revise them; but to keep her MS neat, she cut out these pages and wrote the fair copy. There is no break in Mathilda in story or in pagination. This fair copy also shows signs of haste: slips of the pen, repetition of words, a number of unimportant revisions.
[84] Here in F of F—B there is an index number which evidently points to a note at the bottom of the next page. The note is omitted in Mathilda. It reads:
[85] See note 20. Mary Shelley had suffered this torture when Clara and William died.
[86] See the end of Chapter V.
[87] This sentence is not in F of F—B or in S-R fr.
NOTES TO THE FIELDS OF FANCY
[88] Here is printed the opening of F of F—A, which contains the fanciful framework abandoned in Mathilda. It has some intrinsic interest, as it shows that Mary as well as Shelley had been reading Plato, and especially as it reveals the close connection of the writing of Mathilda with Mary’s own grief and depression. The first chapter is a fairly good rough draft. Punctuation, to be sure, consists largely of dashes or is non-existent, and there are some corrections. But there are not as many changes as there are in the remainder of this MS or in F of F—B.
[89] It was in Rome that Mary’s oldest child, William, died on June 7, 1819.