From Elizabeth Darwin to H. E. Litchfield 27 August 1882

Dear Henrietta

Snow arrived yesterday early in the afternoon & has begun on her sketching at once. I was somewhat dismayed to find that she means to stay very nearly a week here but however she will be very busy all day & I rather expect the Frankes will rout Snow for she looked so flabergasted when she heard they were coming. I am so sorry to hear that Rose feels no gratitude to the Godfreys or any of them. Snow was so funny about Cecil he is to be alone at Caverswall Castle which she considers a very bad plan & we began all to pity him very much too & then it came out that she was afraid he would be too comfortable, & she said she did hope he would not have any visitors. Of course there is a danger that when he has been quite master he won't like being under Hope's thumb again. Horace came back very jolly last night from the British Association, he likes the Seymours very much. What Frank & he really enjoyed was an expedition to Netley with the two Miss Bramwells  they had tea & jam in the middle of the abbey, they were very conscious that William who was walking about dressed all very lovelly with a party of british association people should see them but he didn't. Morgan sounds a very charming child. Ubadubba volenterred his love to you when I said was writing which was a wonderful thing. Ida tried to impress him with a moral sense but quite without any effect. They were looking at Mr Parson's pictures & Ida said what a dreadful thing it would be if they spoilt one so he asked what they should do then. So Ida said if he spoiled one he would have to tell, & he said he certainly should not tell anybody, that when he was at Southampton he spilt some ink on quite a clean table cloth & told nobody, so Ida said he ought to have told as somebody else might have got scolded & he said well he shouldnt mind if they did get scolded, so then Ida felt hopeless & gave up. Ida has offered to go to Abinger on Tuesday & she has sent for Grace to come & take Mary's place who is to go back to Cambridge whilst Erasmus & Grace stay here. I am very glad we shalln't have Mary, she has been very tiresome & took it much amiss her going back to Cambridge.

My love to Laura—I hope we shall have her next Friday. | Your's ever. | E Darwin.

How very odd it is Effy breaking what seemed such a solemn promise to take Laura abroad. Ida is very much astonished & thinks there must be some explanation. Snow has gone to church at Keston & lunch at Mrs Wright's