Under a Wild Sky (63 page)

235
   
Amazingly, the Havells sweetened the deal
Ibid.

235
   
In early August he wrote to Lucy
Ibid.

235
   
Audubon now told Lucy he imagined
Ibid.

235
   
Meanwhile, he repeatedly insisted
Ibid. Audubon reminded Lucy of this in other letters as well.

235
   
Early that fall, Audubon wrote to Victor
Audubon to Victor Audubon, August 25, 1827 (Beinecke).

236
   
In late September, Audubon again wrote to Lucy
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, September 20, 1827 (Beinecke). Apparently, Lucy had recently written to accept Audubon's proposal that she join him around New Year's. In this response, Audubon repeats, as always, his eagerness to be with Lucy again—but now he tells her to make no move until she hears from him with instructions.

236
   
By the middle of November
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, November 12, 1827, and November 25, 1827 (Beinecke).

236
   
He said the Scottish people's reputation
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, November 25, 1827 (Beinecke).

237
   
Perhaps less certain of himself
Ibid.

237
   
Audubon reported that his health was fine
Ibid.

237
   
He admitted that he was a hopeless
Ibid.

237
   
Audubon signed off saying he was due
Ibid.

238
   
Back in London
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, February 24, 1828 (Beinecke).

238
   
He did mention that he was thinking of going
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, March 17, 1828 (Beinecke).

238
   
Evidently Lucy worried that
Ibid.

238
   
In another letter a few days later
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, March 22, 1828 (Beinecke).

238
   
In August he wrote to say
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, August 8, 1828 (Beinecke).

238
   
Once again, he told his “dearest friend”
Ibid.

238
   
But instead of contemplating a return
Ibid.

239
   
In June she'd written to Victor
Lucy Audubon to Victor Audubon, June 15, 1828 (Beinecke).

239
   
“What he really means I cannot tell”
Ibid.

239
   
He heard that he was being made fun of
Ford,
John James Audubon
, pages 216, 219–20.

239
   
Feeling especially low one day
Ibid., page 222.

239
   
They'd met after Audubon was approached
Ibid., page 224.

240
   
Swainson bluntly told Audubon
William Swainson to Audubon, April 9, 1828 (Linnaean Society Archives).

240
   
“I assure you my dear sir”
Audubon to William Swainson, Ibid.

240
   
Audubon, who still suffered
Audubon to William Swainson, April 18, 1828 (Linnaean Society Archives).

240
   
He hoped someday that he and Lucy
Audubon to William Swainson, June 16, 1828 (Linnaean Society Archives).

240
   
At the beginning of July
Audubon to William Swainson, July 1, 1828 (Linnaean Society Archives).

241
   
She informed him that she had borrowed some money
Ford,
John James Audubon
, page 229.

241
   
He told Swainson that thoughts of suicide
Audubon to William Swainson, August 9, 1828 (Linnaean Society Archives).

241
   
Then, out of the blue, he asked Swainson
Ibid.

241
   
Audubon spent the next few weeks
Audubon wrote a series of notes to Swainson during the balance of August, outlining itineraries, ports of departure, etc. (Linnaean Society Archives).

241
   
Audubon, accompanied by William Swainson
Ford,
John James Audubon
, page 231.

241
   
He wrote back to say that he was happy
Audubon to Victor Audubon, November 10, 1828, and December 22, 1828 (Beinecke).

241
   
Audubon had learned that Lucy was disappointed
Ford,
John James Audubon
, page 241.

241
   
In fact, the rooms above the Havells' shop
Audubon to Victor Audubon, December 22, 1828 (Beinecke).

242
   
He continually pored over
Ibid.

242
   
Just before Christmas
Audubon to William Swainson, December 20, 1828 (Linnaean Society Archives).

242
   
Audubon had to decline the Swainsons' suggestion
Audubon to William Swainson, December 25, 1828 (Linnaean Society Archives).

242
   
And he was angry enough when
Ibid.

242
   
Sometime after the first of the year
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, January 20, 1829 (Beinecke).

242
   
Lucy, devastated by Audubon's recent letters
Lucy Audubon to Victor Audubon, January 19, 1829 (Princeton University Library). It's ironic, to say the least, that within one day of each other—essentially at the same instant after more than two years apart—Audubon and Lucy each decided to cross an ocean to join the other.

242
   
In mid-January of 1829, Lucy wrote to Victor
Ibid.

243
   
At virtually the same moment
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, January 20, 1829 (Beinecke).

244
   
Audubon was also seriously worried about
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, February 1, 1829 (Beinecke).

244
   
The mail was so slow
Lucy Audubon to Audubon, February 8, 1829 (Princeton University Library).

244
   
Unsure if he was getting her letters
Ibid.

245
   
But he told her it was really the only way
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, February 1, 1829 (Beinecke).

15. MY GREAT WORK

246
   
Audubon, now in his mid-forties
Ford,
John James Audubon
, page 245.

246
   
On April 25, 1830
Herrick,
Audubon the Naturalist
, vol. I, page 437. Herrick has the Audubons departing New York on April 1, and this is one of the two possible embarkation dates Audubon had mentioned in a letter to Havell several months earlier. Alice Ford states that the Audubons arrived in Liverpool on April 2, 1830, but this can't be. They were still in Louisville as late as March 2, when Audubon wrote out his will and sent it to Victor. They could not have gotten to England—with stops in Washington, D.C., and New York—by the beginning of April. Everyone agrees that it must have been a rough crossing that lasted twenty-five days, which is what Audubon said in a note to Swainson shortly after their arrival. (Audubon to William Swainson, May 5, 1830 [Linnaean Society Archives].)

246
   
Rather than rush to Bayou Sara
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, May 10, 1829, and Audubon to Victor Audubon, July 18, 1829 (Beinecke).

246
   
Apparently still convinced
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, May 10, 1829 (Beinecke).

246
   
In an odd, quasi-legal plea
Ibid.

247
   
Audubon again turned to Victor
Audubon to Victor Audubon, July 18, 1829 (Beinecke).

247
   
Apparently there had been something like
Ibid.

247
   
When Havell wrote a troubled letter
Audubon to Robert Havell Jr., July 7, 1829 (Houghton).

247
   
Bonaparte was certainly good for the money
Ibid.

247
   
Audubon's friend Dr. Richard Harlan
Ford,
John James Audubon
, page 257.

248
   
He passed most of the month of August
Audubon to Victor Audubon, August 25, 1829 (Beinecke).

248
   
By October, though he'd found not a single
Audubon to Robert Havell Jr., October 24, 1829 (Houghton).

248
   
He'd also found a new partner
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, October 11, 1829 (Beinecke).

248
   
Audubon said he would be at Louisville
Ibid.

248
   
Although she had begun packing
Lucy Audubon to Audubon, August 29, 1829 (Beinecke).

248
   
Lucy said that if she remained
Lucy Audubon to Audubon September 27, 1829 (Beinecke).

248
   
“You
must choose
what I shall do”
Ibid.

248
   
Lucy added that her savings
Ibid.

249
   
“I thought that I would feel sufficiently settled”
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, February 6, 1828 (Beinecke).

249
   
“
I do not look to anything like labour”
Lucy Audubon to Audubon, August 29, 1829 (Beinecke).

249
   
Lucy still hoped Audubon might come
Lucy Audubon to Audubon, October 11, 1829 (Beinecke).

249
   
When Audubon told her he'd cut his hair
Lucy Audubon to Audubon, June 12, 1829 (Beinecke).

249
   
In fact, she'd grown older
Lucy Audubon to Audubon, March 27, 1829 (Beinecke).

249
   
“I live, and regulate all concerns”
Ibid.

250
   
“I am gray quite,” she said
Lucy Audubon to Audubon, June 12, 1829 (Beinecke).

250
   
“You say you must not speak”
Lucy Audubon to Audubon, February 2, 1829 (Beinecke).

250
   
Instead he collected his gun and dog
Audubon to Robert Havell Jr., October 27, 1829 (Houghton).

250
   
Victor was so much taller and more mature-looking
Buchanan (ed.),
The Life and Adventures of John James Audubon
, page 169.

250
   
At dawn he walked in on her
Ibid. Again, contrary to this account, Alice Ford states that it was on this occasion, and not on his earlier return from Philadelphia, that Audubon found Bayou Sara deserted due to a yellow fever outbreak, borrowed a horse, and lost his way in the night before finally getting home. Audubon and Lucy both mention the presence of yellow fever at Bayou Sara in their letters at this time, though for the reasons stated earlier I prefer the version I've given here. Either way it is a small matter, and seems to depend on which of two mangled versions of Audubon's journals you choose to believe. The more compelling question—which unfortunately is answered nowhere in the record—is how Audubon and Lucy patched things up when he finally came home after an absence of more than three years.

250
   
One of the subscriptions he'd managed to sell
Ibid., page 170.

250
   
Before leaving Victor and Johnny in Louisville
Audubon to Victor Audubon, March 2, 1830 (Beinecke).

251
   
Children had written to say
John George Children to Audubon, November 23, 1829 (Beinecke).

251
   
Audubon wrote to Havell
Audubon to Robert Havell Jr., January 29, 1830 (Houghton).

251
   
After they got to England
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, April 30, 1830 (Beinecke), and Audubon to Robert Havell Jr., June 7, 1830 (Houghton).

251
   
When the Audubons finally got to London
“Chronological Register of Fellows,” Royal Society Archives. Audubon was elected to membership on March 18, 1830.