He thought highly of certain parts of it, less highly of others; and he regarded the subject as "disgusting and detestable," saying that the story would need a preface to prevent readers "from being tormented by the apprehension ...

of the fall of the heroine,"-- that is, if it was ever published.[ix] There is, however, no record of his having made any attempt to get it into print.

From January 18 through June 2, 1822, Mary repeatedly asked Mrs.Gisborne to retrieve the manuscript and have it copied for her, and Mrs.Gisborne invariably reported her failure to do so.

The last references to the story are after Shelley's death in an unpublished journal entry and two of Mary's letters.

In her journal for October 27, 1822, she told of the solace for her misery she had once found in writing _Mathilda_.