the house, and
quite if I build another. So what is to be done? Pray have some
plan for me before I get back; not that I think you can possibly hit
on anything that will suit me.... I shall return by way of Venice
and Geneva, spend two or three weeks or more in Paris, and sail for
home, as I said, in July. It would be an exceeding delight to me to
meet you or Ticknor in England, or anywhere else. At any rate, it
will cheer my heart to see you all and the old Corner itself, when I
touch my dear native soil again."

I went abroad again in 1859, and found Hawthorne back in England,
working away diligently at "The Marble Faun." While travelling on the
Continent, during the autumn I had constant letters from him, giving
accounts of his progress on the new romance. He says: "I get along more
slowly than I expected.... If I mistake not, it will have some good
chapters." Writing on the 10th of October he tells me:--

"The romance is almost finished, a great heap of manuscript being
already accumulated, and only a few concluding chapters remaining
behind. If hard pushed, I could have it ready for the press in a
fortnight; but unless the publishers [Smith and Elder were to bring
out the work in England] are in a hurry, I shall be somewhat longer
about it. I have found far more work to do upon it than I
anticipated. To confess the truth, I admire it exceedingly at
intervals, but am liable to cold fits, during which I think it the
most infernal nonsense. You ask for the title. I have not yet fixed
upon one, but here are some that have occurred to me; neither of
them exactly meets my idea: 'Monte Beni; or, The Faun. A Romance.'
'The Romance of a Faun.' 'The Faun of Monte Beni.' 'Monte Beni: a
Romance.' 'Miriam: a Romance.' 'Hilda: a Romance.' 'Donatello: a
Romance.' 'The Faun: a Romance.' 'Marble and Man: a Romance.' When
you have read the work (which I especially wish you to do before it
goes to press), you will be able to select one of them, or imagine
something better. There is an objection in my mind to an Italian
name, though perhaps Monte Beni might do. Neither do I wish, if I
can help it, to make the fantastic aspect of the book too prominent
by putting the Faun into the title-page."

Hawthorne wrote so intensely on his new story, that he was quite worn
down before he finished it. To recruit his strength he went t