From H. E. Darwin to Emma Darwin [6 October 1867?]

Dear Ti—

I suppose you'll be too low in your feelings to care for even a little sympathy from a friend— Poor Tuppence these last lovely days must be giving you a pang— If y^r. Elms are like ours, y^r. country must be a little heaven below—It grieves me that L. H. P. will be shorn of its beauty before you get there. I'm afraid you'll thk me a meddlesome Mally, but I do thk y^r. P^a. will catch a cold there. It is so draughty & damp—& that as they know how particular he has to be they assuredly w^dn't be frumped at his giving up. I haven't written since y^r. [Croyian] letter—I hope Eff will drive you to write to me again under pressure of flower drawing— By the way you can't think how pretty El's flower drawings are—& her other drawings seem to me v. good too—I'm rather X at her going off again—tho' it is on a semi-pious quest— I can't make up my mind on Miss Cloughs scheme, if you've heard about it—I can't quite realise its good—& yet I thk it is chiefly from its smallness wh. is an unphilosophical reason—El. is warmly for it. They are reading aloud Angelina Gushington & when they laugh v. m. I cant help listening wh. disturbs me— I dined at R.bourne & was m. struck with the unsuitableness of the two males. Hugh frumped me by his insolent pity of William, his house, bank, & situation, & I am afraid I was too civil. It is that that leaves the sting—I am such a weak fool in the matter of rebuking people & I thk you ought to when they mean to be impertinent. I hope you'll come here for just 3 nights or as m. longer as pos en route to Camb. place—the plays will wait so long  First place my kit is a very nice one–-so [fopty] playful & engaging— Her fault is g^t. greediness— Her long soft crimped grey fur makes her look v. fat & funny & her dear little face looks so pitty coming out of her fluffy boddice. Then you shall have an able bodied man to follow you with a hatchet & cut down what laurels you like—now is the time of year— Lastly you shall have as many pears as will make you ill—& to conclude I want y^r. advice—It is too long a subject to broach on paper so I shall put it off till we meet— Thanks for notekin came this morning. I felt sure you were in some misunderstanding—I told them several times that I was sure y^r. message & [Pilmans] letter was meant for an answer—She said it cdn't be & of course I didn't know the ins & outs—I hope y^r. visit will be as prosperous but y'll have parents wh. adds a difficulty in that house— Frank says It is extraordinary that Hen sh^d. like the L. H. P. people—praps she'll find out that some other inhabitants of the globe aren't loathsome reptiles.

With [Muffin's] kind love | yours H. E. D.