"Mr and Miss Rossetti" : Elizabeth and Rossetti's Mysterious Holiday Jaunt During Their "Estrangement"
By the end of summer 1858 Elizabeth and Rossetti's fraught seven year romance and quasi engagement had run its course. Leaving picturesque Lime Tree View, in Matlock*, where they had lodged together on and off for the previous eight or so months, as Lizzie convalesced , they parted to go their own ways, with their relationship seemingly over. Rossetti's clear reluctance to marry, his infidelities, and attraction for other women had finally taken its toll on the relationship alongside Elizabeth's consequent unhappiness, bitterness and struggles with poor health. Rossetti returned permanently to London, and Elizabeth vanished from his life. Resuming his life and work in London, Rossetti embarked on a carefree relationship with Fanny Cornforth while no records exist of Elizabeth’s whereabouts or activities, nor is she mentioned in any of Rossetti’s letters until nearly two years later when she was ill in Hastings. Possibly she ha...
