Unpublished Correspondence by Edgar Allen Poe [pp. 421-430]

UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE BY EDGAR A. POE. 427
Mrs. were not sufficient to make me break
with them. It was only when I heard them declare
... that your husband was everything despicable
~..it was only when such insults were offered toyou,
whom I sincerely and most purely loved, and to Mr.
R-, whom I had every reason to like and respect,
that I arose and left their house, and insured the
unrelenting vengeance of that worst of all fiends,'a
woman scorned.' Now, feeling all this, I cannot
help thinking it unkind in Mr. R, when I am
absent and unable to defend myself, that he will
persist in listening to what these people say to my
discredit. I cannot help thinking it, moreover, the
most unaccountable instance of weakness-of ob tuseness-that ever I knew a man to be guilty of:
women are more easily misled in such matters. In
the name of God, what else had I to anticipate in
return for the offence which I offered Mrs.'s
insane vanity and self-esteem, than that she would
spend the rest of her days in ransacking the world
for scandal against me (and the falser the better for
her purpose), and in fabricating accusations where
she could not find them ready-made? I certainly
anticipated no other line of conduct on her part;
but, on the other hand, I certainly did not anticipate
that any man in his senses would ever listen to accu sations from so suspicious a source.... Not only
must I not visit you at, but I must discon tinue my letters, and you yours. I cannot and will
not have it on my conscience that I have interfered
with the domestic happiness of the only being in the
whole world whom I have loved at the same time
with truth and with purity-I do not merely love
you, Annie-I admire and respect you even more and Heaven knows there is no particle of selfishness
in my devotion-I ask nothing for myself, but your
own happiness-with a charitable interpretation of
those calumnies which for your sake I am now en during from this vile woman-and which, for your
dear, dear sake, I would most willingly endure if
multiplied a hundredfold-the calumnies, indeed,
Annie, do not materially wound me, except in depriving me of your society-for of your affection and
respect I feel that they never can. As for any in juries the falsehoods of these people can do me,
make your mind easy about that-it is true that
' Hell has no fury like a woman scorned,' but I
have encountered such vengeance before, on far
higher grounds; that is to say, for a far less holy
purpose, than I feel the defence of your good name
to be. I scorned Mrs. E, simply because she
revolted me, and to this day she has never ceased
her anonymous persecutions. But in what have they
resulted? She has not deprived me of one friend
who ever knew me and once trusted me-nor has she
lowered me one inch in the public opinion. When
she ventured too far, I sued her at once (through her
miserable tools), and recovered exemplary damages
-as I will unquestionably do, forthwith, in the case
of Mr. -, if ever he shall muster courage to utter a single actionable word.... You will now have
seen, dear Annie, how and why it is that my Mother
and myself cannot visit you as we proposed.... It
had been my design to ask you and Mr. R (or,
perhaps, your parents) to board my Mother while I
was absent at the South, and I intended to start af ter remaining with you a week-but my whole plans
are now disarranged- I have taken the cottage at
Fordham for another year- Time, dear Annie,
will show all things. Be of good heart, I shall never
cease to think of you-and bear in mind the two
solemn promises I have made you- The one I am
now religiously keeping, and the other (so help me
Heaven!) shall sooner or later be kept.
"Always your dear friend and brother,
" EDGAR."
From the next communication is learned that the
traducers are still at work; it is too lengthy to quote
in full. This letter is unsigned, but dated
"March 23, 1849.
".. Will not Annie confide... the secret
about W? Was it anything I did which caused
you to'give up hope?' Dearest Annie, I am so
happy in being able to afford M. R proof of
something in which he seems to doubt me. You re member that Mr. and Mrs. strenuously denied
having spoken ill of you to me, and I said'then it
must remain a simple question of veracity between
us, as I had no witness'-but I observed afterward
-' Unfortunately I have returned Mrs.- her
letters (which were filled with abuse of you both),
but, if I am not mistaken, my mother has some in
her possession that will prove the truth of what I
say.' Now, Annie, when we came to look over these
last, I found, to my extreme sorrow, that they would
not corroborate me. I say' to my extreme sorrow,'
for oh, it is so painful to be doubted when we know
our own integrity. Not that I fancied, even for one
moment, that you doubted me-but then I saw that
Mr. R- and Mr. C did, and perhaps even
your brother. Well! what do you think? Mrs.
- has again written my mother, and I inclose
her letter. Read it! You will find it thoroughly
corroborative of all I said. The verses to me which
she alludes to I have not seen. You will see that
she... in fact admits all that I accused her of.
Now, you distinctly remember that they both loudly
denied having spoken against you!-this, in fact,
was the sole point at issue. I have marked the passages alluded to. I wish that you would write to
your relation in Providence and ascertain for me
who slandered me as you say. I wish to prove the
falsity of what has been said (for I find that it will
not do to permit such reports to go unpunished),
and, especially, obtain for me some details upon
which I can act..... Will you do this? I inclose
also some other lines,' For Annie'-and will you
let me know in what manner they impress you? I
have sent them to the... By the way, did you
get'Hop-Frog?' I sent it to you by mail, not
knowing whether you ever see the paper in -. I
am sorry to say that the Metropolitan has stopped,
and' Landor's Cottage' is returned upon my hands
unprinted. I think the lines X For Annie' (those I