meet her had some foundation in reality. That she was gifted
is manifest in her writings-- chiefly, no doubt, in
'Frankenstein', composed when she had Shelley to fire her
imagination; but her other novels are competent, and her
letters are the work of a vigorous intellect. She had her
limitations. She was not quite so free from conventionality as
either he or she believed; but on the whole they were neither
deceiving themselves nor one another when they plighted faith
by Mary Wollstonecraft's grave. With their principles, it was
nothing that marriage was impossible. Without the knowledge of
the elder Godwins, they made arrangements to elope, and on July
28, 1814, crossed from Dover to Calais in an open boat, taking
Jane Clairmont with them on the spur of the moment. Jane also
had been unhappy in Skinner Street. She was about Mary's age, a
pert, olive-complexioned girl, with a strong taste for life.
She changed her name to Claire because it sounded more
romantic.

Mrs. Godwin pursued the fugitives to Calais, but in vain.
Shelley was now launched on a new life with a new bride, and--a
freakish touch--accompanied as before by his bride's sister.
The more his life changed, the more it was the same thing--the
same plunging without forethought, the same disregard for all
that is conventionally deemed necessary. His courage is often
praised, and rightly, though we ought not to forget that
ignorance, and even obtuseness, were large ingredients in it.
As far as they had any plan, it was to reach Switzerland and
settle on the banks of some lake, amid sublime mountain
scenery, "for ever." In fact, the tour lasted but six weeks.
Their difficulties began in Paris, where only an accident