From Elizabeth Darwin to H. E. Darwin 28 January [1870]

Dear Henrietta.

Yesterday the Reeds came to dinner, Mr Reed Daril and Mrs Daril happily not Mrs Reed. At the last moment we thought what a blessing it would be to have Alice Carter and as she and Elinor were calling Mamma asked Alice to come. I think the dinner was successful. Daril rather nice and liked talking about New Zealand. Mrs Daril was talkable too and charmed Papa, I don't the least believe she a bar maid though one can see she is not quite a lady. Everybody is in great state of excitment to know whether Lenny is made responsible or not. There is come a notice saying that he is made an under officer, and as Lenny has never seen that name in print he does not know whether it means a responsible or a sub-divisioner. We shall not know till the 6^th when Lenny holidays are done. Frank has got through his examination, but he does not know yet how high he is. Tomorrow he will have to go back to Cambridge to take his degree, and on Saturday he will come back again but for not more than a week I believe as he will have to attend medical lectures, it is very tiresome for him having such short holidays.

On Saturday George and I are going to dine at Ravensbourne which I am glad of. It is a hard frost which is a bother for the boys now they have got their two hunters. It does sound so odd to hear of you driving and sitting and dawdling about when we feel the quicker we walk the pleasanter.

It is very lucky for you having Godfrey and Amy to go about with as the Langtongs are such lazys.

If it was you I should certainly go to Genoa if I had a chance.

I suppose Mamma told you how well Saturday and Sunday went off. Swinhoe is a very pleasant man and so very handsome, he talked a great deal about Japan which seems to be a very unpleasant place to live in, there are a certain set of men who walk about with two swords, and they make bets how many () they will cut off, and if they meet a European they sometimes count him as a (stog) too and off goes his head, so that it is rather ticklish work passing them. D^r. Hooker was very pleasant of course and Günther was a nice man. It was very tiresome poor Mamma being so headachy, she could not come down to dinner on Sunday. On Sunday Sir John Lubbock came to luncheon and we all walked back with him and he asked us to go in and see the (synks) head trick, which he shows off, you see a head in a box that answers all sorts of questions, it looks very odd to see a head without a body, it is done by looking glasses though how I cant understand. Young Hamilton made the synks, he had been evidently been coached by Sir John befor as he made an illusions (of) Dr Hooker and everybody.

Mamma and I went to call on Miss Hall not long ago and saw some sweet photographs of cats, which made me rather wish to hae a kitten but whether I should not fiind it rather a bother I don't know. The Reading Room is a great success I believe, sometimes 28 so that it is a very good thing it was set up. I have been proposing to Mamma to ask Effy for the next penny reading there is no harm asking her at any rate though I daresay she won't come. The servants are going to have their long talked of ball nex Wednesday, they are to have their supper in the dining room and dans in the kithcen, they seem to be going to ask all the world, they were practising countrydanses last night. The Intitials is being read aloud I expect soon to be able to say it by heart but it always amuses me strange to say. Next Tuesday will be our last will be our last French lesson, I feel that I shall have had enough I hate preparing worse and worse.

Goodbye dear Henrietta. | Your affectionate | Bessy.