10. Both Shelley and Mary had premonitions of his death- however, Shelley saved Mary’s life shortly before he lost his own.
By 1821, Mary’s low spirits seemed to have driven her and Shelley apart. Rumors of Shelley’s infidelity had begun in 1819 after Shelley registered the birth of a little girl named Elena Adelaide Shelley in Naples. Shelley had named him and Mary as the parents. Mary, however, was not the mother- leading some to speculate that the child, who was fostered out and died in 1820 was his child by Claire Clairmont.
By the time the couple had settled in Northern Italy, Shelley was indulging in poetic flirtations with Teresa Emilia Viviani, the daughter of the governor of Pisa and Jane Williams, the wife of one of his friends, complaining to each of Mary’s coldness towards him. However, there must have been a thaw in Mary and Shelley’s relationship because in summer 1821, when the couple was living with the Williams’ in Lerici, Mary found herself pregnant again.
However, the pregnancy was not to be. In May 1821, Mary became convinced that something dreadful would happen if she and Shelley remained in Lerici. When Shelley took delivery of a 24-meter boat, the Don Juan, Mary’s contained exterior cracked, and she became hysterical. Shelley too began to be plagued with disturbing dreams of doppelgangers and death. So it is no surprise that in such a stressful and charged atmosphere, Mary lost the baby. On June 16, she began to bleed- severely. A doctor was summoned. In the meantime, the Williams and Claire Clairmont looked on helplessly as Mary bled out.
However, Shelley saved his wife’s life. The poet filled a tub of ice water and made Mary sit in it until the doctor arrived. By this time, the bleeding had subsided. Mary was weak, but her life was saved. The couple may have been forgiven for thinking that this was the bad luck Mary had dreaded. Indeed, they seemed to grow close again, going out sailing together, with Mary leaning against Shelley for support and from closeness. However, on July 8, 1821, their mutual premonitions were fulfilled when Shelley drowned at sea.