User:Sherurcij/Maurice

For Laurette from her friend Mrs Shelley

One Sunday afternoon in the month of September a traveller entered the town of Torquay, a seaport on the southern coast of Devonshire. The afternoon was pleasant and warm, and the waves of the sea, slightly agitated by a breeze, sparkled under the sun. The streets of the town were empty, for the inhabitants after having been to church were dining during the interval between the services: so the traveller walkd on through the meaner strets of the town, to the semicircle of houses that surrounds the harbour; and then he paused at the door of a neat-looking inn. The traveller was a man about forty-five years of age; he was remarkably erect in his person; alert and even graceful in his walk; his hair was black and curly, although a little fallen from his temples; he was handsome, but somewhat sub-burnt, and when he smiled he looked so good-tempered and kind that you could not see him without loving him. In dress and manner he had the appearance of one who had seen better days, but who was now poor; and he seemed serious, though not depressed by poverty. His clothes were coarse and covered with dust; he was on foot, and had a wallet buckled on his back.

We know from Mary Shelley's own Italian journal that she did write a story "for Laurette" on August 10, 1820, and that in October 1821 she sent a copy of a story called Maurice to her father, William Godwin, who ran a children's publishing company.