on the night of 9 october, imlay checked into the mackworth arms inn in swansea and instructed the chambermaid not to disturb her. the same night mary godwin, staying in bath with shelley, received a letter imlay had mailed earlier from bristol. her father in london also received a letter. the alarming nature of the letters prompted both godwin and shelley to set out for bristol at once (although they travelled separately). by the time they tracked her to swansea on 11 october, they were too late. imlay was found dead in her room on 10 october, having taken a fatal dose of laudanum, and it was only shelley who stayed to deal with the situation. imlay left behind an unaddressed note, describing herself as "unfortunate", perhaps referring to mary wollstonecraft's description of her as "my unfortunate girl" in the note she wrote on "lessons" before she herself attempted suicide: