XXXVII DEATH OF PAULI 283 Lord! However he got an Authoress out of me; and on 1897 23 December 1897-I have been out with Alfred and Angelo to Harrow Weald. I had to kiss old Mrs. Foskett under the mistletoe and so had Alfred and Angelo. Angelo was Angelo Coppo, from the Rosa Rossa at Casale, who had come to England to learn English as his brother Cesare had done; and Mrs. Foskett was one of the old ladies who, with Queen Elizabeth (since deceased), used to keep the public-house at Harrow Weald. Butler had not been well this autumn, and the publishers were worrying him and giving him a great deal more trouble than he liked, hence the slight petulance that may be perceived in the extract about the Times correspondent. On the other hand Pauli had been giving no trouble. Pauli was always sympathetic about the books and had been particularly so about The Authoress. He was more hurt by the tone of the reviews than Butler, having expected a more cordial reception. On 15th December he came to lunch in Clifford's Inn as usual, and, the following day, wrote that he had caught cold and should not come to lunch on the 17th. Butler was not uneasy because every winter was a struggle for Pauli and he was often prevented from coming to lunch. He wrote again saying how he was, and Butler replied to his chambers in Lincoln's Inn that he intended to go to Boulogne for Christmas, according to custom, and giving his address there so that, in case he might be wanted, he could be sent for. He also asked if Pauli would like him to send £25, the balance of the £50 due at Christmas, half of the quarterly payment of the allowance having been anticipated. Pauli replied promising to keep Butler posted and saying that the £25 could stand over, but his letter was written by a nurse. At Boulogne, Butler received one communication from the nurse and then, for three days, nothing. He returned to town and next day read in The Times that Pauli had died on the 29th December, exactly eleven years to the day after the death of Canon Butler. 284 PAULI'S FUNERAL XXXVII Butler to H. F. Jones. 1897 30th Dec. 1897-I have not been written to and have no idea in Aet. 62 what surroundings his last illness was passed, and I rather think I had better not enquire nor put myself into communication with his friends. If he had wished the communication to be established he would have ensured its being so. All I should have wished to do would be to attend the funeral to do away with the supposition that there was any estrangement between us and as the only fitting termination of so close an intimacy; but I feel convinced I shall be communicated with (in which case I shall certainly attend) unless it was Pauli's distinct wish that I should not be present, in which case of course I am better away. It is all very sad and to me utterly unintelligible, so much so that I shrink from making any move till a move is made towards me. Butler was communicated with by the undertaker and attended Pauli's funeral. He and the others who had been invited assembled in the Westminster Bridge Road and went by train to Brookwood. He recognised some of them, though he had not seen them for thirty years. In the course of conversation in the train he asked where Pauli had lived, for there could be no reason now why he should not know. He was told that he lived in Belgrave Mansions, Grosvenor Gardens, S.W. It seemed that the rooms were very cheap, only £120 a year, which was less than he had paid before, when living in Bruton Street. Butler was paying £28 rent for his own rooms in Clifford's Inn, or about £36 in all, including rates and taxes. Then he asked: "Have you any idea how much Pauli made by his profession? One of his fellow-travellers replied: "I do not know how he has been doing of late years, but many years ago -perhaps twenty, but I cannot be certain-he told me he was earning about £700." Butler remembered his father's letter in 1879 saying he had been told that Pauli was making 1000 a year, and how Pauli had indignantly denied that he was making more than his bare expenses. Then Butler heard that during his last illness Pauli had been properly looked after, that he had well-to-do XXXVII DISCLOSURES 285 friends who saw that he had every comfort, that he was 1898 conscious till about six hours before the end, and that he Aet. 62 died without any pain or struggle. Presently we reached Brookwood and went to the mortuary chapel, where the service was read with an unctuous affectation that I have seldom heard exceeded, and thence to the grave. After the coffin had been duly lowered and the service ended, we were asked to a luncheon which had been brought down with us from London. Everything was done regardless of expense and I was wondering who in the world was paying for it-or rather I should have wondered if I had not heard about [the well-todo friends]—when I reflected, with a certain satisfaction, that for once in my life I was making a hearty meal at what was very nearly Pauli's expense. It was the nearest thing to a dinner from him that I had ever had. [Then it appeared that Pauli had left his brother £1000] as though there were more than 1000 disposed of under Pauli's will. And here the reserve which I had maintained very sufficiently broke down. I had been shocked at learning the style in which Pauli evidently lived, and the amount he had been making at the Bar while doing his utmost to convince me that he was not clearing anything at all. I understood now why Pauli had preserved such an iron silence when I had implored him to deal with me somewhat after the fashion in which I had dealt with him. The iniquity of the whole thing, as it first struck me in full force, upset me. He took one of the other mourners aside, told him shortly about the relations that had subsisted between Pauli and himself, and asked his advice as to whether he ought to say anything about them. Speaking about these things to another had the effect of calming him and of showing him that he had perhaps said too much; whereupon he regained control of himself and behaved quite genially on the way up to town-at least he writes that he "answered all their questions genially." I was not there and cannot say how the geniality struck them. Soon afterwards, the solicitor who was winding up Pauli's estate sent to Butler an old will of his dated 1864 or 1865, almost wholly in favour of Pauli, who had preserved it although he was aware that it had been revoked and knew the contents of Butler's then existing will. The solicitor next wrote about the value of shares |