From Emma Darwin to G. H. Darwin 30 July [1894]

My dear George

Such a dismal day— Sara leaves us, & also Miss Child & Nita Ward, who came on Sat & had a beaut day— yesterday it rained all the P. M—

Nita is very happy in her tiring life & adores her Deaconess just as she used to feel to Ellen Tollet—

Effie allows her £100 a y^r—& she is in a sort of Church sisterhood—with no vows, & no free meals I am glad to hear—

Miss Child is a pleasant easy guest; but she talks so incessantly that Bessy came away sometimes to enjoy a little silence—

She is never sea-sick & enjoyed the passage, as she could talk all day, when not writing letters—the next best thing to talking.

W^m. is at Shrewsbury w. a Geolog. party & will be there most of the week—

I rather hope Gov^t will closure the Tenants bill & then it can go up & be killed by the Lords & done with.

Chamberlain seems to be a man of iron. He told Leo. he never walked & was all the better without exercise & that he sh^d stick to the H. of C. to the v. last day of the Session whatever happened.

M^rs Lyell told me that Lady Bunbury's last week had been a very happy one with her sisters & that she died almost suddenly—

Theodora comes on Wed— I am afraid she will be a little dull—but she is tired & may be glad of some quiet

Horace took the little girls to the "Shieling" where the Litches are & they had a pic nic & wild strawberries &c— ending in furious rain—but luckily after the fun was over—

yours my dear G. & M— E. Darwin

I hope Gwennys specs are a success