some acquaintances
This would appear to be an "in-joke." This region, of course, in Mary
Shelley's day had become associated with the Lake Poets, Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Southey, and was likewise the home of
the soon-to-be-famous Thomas De Quincey, who had rented Dove Cottage from
Wordsworth in 1809. Percy
Shelley and his first wife Harriet had visited the region for several
weeks in 1811, where they made
the acquaintance of Southey and held long literary and political talks
with him of the sort indicated here. This context might be indicated by
the fact that it is Clerval in particular who is attracted to the region
and his new acquaintance there.
