12. However, Lord Byron remained her supporter- and Mary immortalized him in one of her books.
One person did not turn his back on Mary. To her surprise, that person was Lord Byron. Mary and Byron had never been friends, but she found that in the wake of Shelley’s death, he could be relied upon to support her. It was Byron who forced Leigh Hunt to return Shelley’s heart to her and Byron who helped her take her mind off her grief by employing her to copy out some of his poems. Byron also negotiated with her antagonistic father in law, Sir Timothy Shelley to gain her financial support. In the meantime, Mary had Byron’s promise of financial help. “I will be your banker until this state of things is cleared up,” he assured her in October 1822.
Mary never forgot Byron’s generosity. After his death, she immortalized him in her novel “The Last Man.” Written in 1826, the novel was set in the twenty-first century in a world where humanity was being wiped out by a mysterious disease. In the book, Byron became Lord Raymond, the elected ruler of England. Lord Raymond was “Supremely handsome.” “Everyone admired him, of women he was the idol. He was courteous, honey-tongued- an adept in fascinating arts”. To complete this idealized picture of Byron, Mary had Lord Raymond resign his position before his death to go and fight for Greek independence- just like Byron.