From Emma Darwin to H. E. Darwin [Februray 1870]

Dearest Body

This is chiefly business. F. hopes you have not bustled yourself with the M.S. It will quite do for you to bring when you come home (which it is pleasant to think is not out the bounds of possibility now). He wants you if ever Steevie has a good roar to observe the shape of the outline of his mouth —whether it is square—I have read your note to Em. & I am glad you are turning out a fine singer. I quite think your playing too hard work for you & taking too much time, but I always thought your voice pretty & that you had taste & a little practise in singing goes further. Your life at Cannes does sound uncommonly pleasant & the sociability & amusingness of it is a very pleasant interlude to the beauties of nature. I expect you will have made a great step in French. Polly is a g^t size but v. comf. (I have just seen Bobby walk slowly by w. his tail up for the 1^st time) They think she may be confine any time. I think she will be in the loose box as long as her puppy is v. small—Bessy rather laments at getting up to 7.30 at L.A.P. breakfast & the chief evil is that it makes one's day so enormous out visiting, where it is apt naturally to be too long.

She seems to be talking w. g^t success by her own acct. & likes Aunt C. I sent you a letter fr. F. He tells me today of the melancholy death of a young man & I am glad to find he can be serious in a letter sometimes there is nothing in his letter. Our flower case is v. pretty pink azalea v. full of flower trimmed in front with white Deutria & one white Az. in the middle. G. has left me plenty to do in making flea bags & other bags & altering drawers with a view to fleas also. v. cold still Therm about 32 but not much wind.

yours my dear | E.D.

G. goes in a little more than 3 weeks— Lenny has begun riding & says the attitude he has to aim at is so impossible that he can only just keep to it while the sergeant prods him. He does better than some. This is very fatiguing and makes him ache all over.