In November 1857 Rossetti , while working in Oxford , left abruptly to visit Elizabeth. She had been staying in Sheffield attending the Sheffield School Art but was now ill in Matlock . Taking lodgings in Lime Tree View in Matlock, they spent the next nine months there . Then in early September 1858 Rossetti returned to London, and Elizabeth seemingly disappeared from his life. From then on their seven year fraught relationship looked inexplicitly, but unsurprisingly to have come to a sudden end. Rossetti's reluctance to marry, his attractions for other women , and his likely waning infatuation for Elizabeth had continually plagued their turbulent relationship. Lizzie's bitterness, struggles with poor health, and an ever growing laudanum addiction had added to ever growing tensions. Resuming his life and work in London, Rossetti appeared happy , embarking on a relationship with Fanny Cornforth, while no records exist of Elizabeth’s whereabouts or activities. Possibly she had returned to her parents' home in Southwark. Seemingly estranged from each other for the next 18 months, they next rekindled their relationship in April 1860 when Rossetti rushed to see her in Hastings on learning , reportedly from John Ruskin alerted by her parents, that she was gravely ill , possibly at the point of death. Stricken with remorse , Rossetti decided to make good his earlier promises to marry her. They married on 23 May 1860 in St Clement's Church, Hastings when she was fit enough to walk down the aisle.
However remarkable new documentary evidence has emerged that changes this picture and the timeline of their estrangement. According to Jan Marsh , Elizabeth and Rossetti had reunited together, at least briefly, four months earlier to enjoy a travelling holiday together in Warwickshire around Christmas 1859 staying at an hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon where they signed the register as “Mr and Miss Rossetti”, presumably posing as relatives to ensure respectability in accordance with contemporary social conventions. Their signatures in visitors' books reveal that they visited the Lord Leycester Hospital in Warwick on 23 December 1859 , and then nearly three weeks later Shakespeare’s birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon on 9 January 1860. The excerpt below is from Norma Hampson on the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust notes their signatures in the visitors' records: .https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/blogs/dante-gabriel-rossetti-1828-1882-poet-illustrator-painter
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| Lord Leycester Hospital Wikimedia Commons Visited by Elizabeth Siddal and D G Rossetti 23rd Dec, 1859 |
"On 9 January 1860 Rossetti accompanied by his muse and lover Eleanor Elizabeth (Lizzie) Siddal visited the Birthplace and signed the Visitors’ Book. Having, some years ago, entered the names of visitors at the Lord Leycester Hospital, Warwick on to a data base (now at Warwick County Record Office) I was aware that they had visited there on 23 December 1859 and signed the book in similar fashion. It is thought that they were enjoying a walking holiday in the county."
Yet another twist in the saga of their unsteady tortuous relationship, the surprising discovery of this unknown holiday reunion or rekindling of their relationship between Elizabeth and Rossetti is intriguing. At the very least it changes the narrative of the estrangement , but tantalisingly leaves us wondering about its significance and the rest of their so called " estrangement period" up to time of their reunion in Hastings in April 1860.
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