From Emma Darwin to W. E. Darwin [4 May 1877]

My dear William

I am afraid you had horrid weather for your guests— I think Mrs Strick. wd take it easy & talk away—

We were very pleasant & I wish you c^d have been here— Huxleys & Hawkshaws & Ida & Litches not gone yet so we were 14— Ida & R. came late in the evening after the last Wagner w. was very delightful & ended in a regular ovation to Wagner. The Prima Donna crowning him with laurel & the Primo kissing him which caused a roar of laughter all thro' Albert Hall— Wagner seems to grow on people the more they hear of him— Huxley was v. pleasant & we talked of the ""new Republic,"" a sort of imitation of Friends in Council introducing all the celebrities (but F). Ruskin & Matt. Arnold capitally done & Huxley as bad— The best of all is D^r Jowett who preaches a most excellent sermon— The Author is a young Oxonian named Mallock. Next Sat. the Flowers have proposed to come & bring Sir Victor Brooke an Irish swell & naturalist. This is rather awful, & I wish you c^d come & protect us. We have also invited the Monteagles but do not expect them at this Whitsuntide when every body is out of town  What a horrible affair this Cudham murder is— I never felt so blood thirsty before— I think poisoning wd be a perfect act of virtue compared to this starvation. I am afraid they will never be convicted. No doubt they murdered the poor child too—

We had a most idiotic evening w. Ida & the boys—yesterday— She is always merry here— The wicked R.S. has declined printing Fr teazle paper, w. has vexed F. 10 times more than Fr—but it is mortifying for him— We will not buy any more horses, thank you. For 1 thing 2 good horses wd do all the work we want & so hiring wd not be so v m. more expensive—

yours dear W.

Litches sail tomorrow | H. pretty well—