On 1 December 1820 Brown received a letter from Keats, which he read to the Brawnes, "skipping & adding, without the slightest suspicion on their part," telling Fanny that if Keats's spirit improved, Severn expected an early recovery”;Richardson, 1952, p. 79. this illusion was sustained, and all of the worst news was kept from Fanny.Walsh, 1999, p. 121–122. On 17 February John Taylor, one of Keats's social circle, received a letter from Severn detailing Keats's suffering; “The doctor said that he should never have left England, for even then he had been incurable; the journey had shortened his life and increased his pain. ... Severn had tried to comfort him with thoughts of spring. It was the season Keats loved best, and he would not know it again. Bitterly he wept. “He kept continually in his hand a polished, oval, white cornelian, the gift of his widowing love, and at times it seemed his only consolation, the only thing left him in this world clearly tangible.””Richardson, 1952, p. 83–84. Fanny wrote to Frances Keats on 26 February, “All I do is to persuade myself, I shall never see him again.”Walsh, 1999, p. 121. “Late on Saturday, March 17, the news reached Wentworth Place. On Friday, February 23, a little before midnight, Keats had died in Severn's arms”Richardson, 1952, p. 86. in Rome.
