From Emma Darwin to Leonard Darwin 15 May [1875]

My dear Leo.

We received yr San Frisco letter of Ap 17 about a week ago, & today your letter from Sandwich of Ap. 5. The poor thing has evidently had a ducking in the unfortunate Schiller, as the edges of the envelope were worn away & it was kept together w. string & sealing wax— Horace said before that he thought a letter of yours must have gone down in the ship. How provoking the measles was! (or were) It is very nice to think how near home you are; & that it is worth while to tell you our plans for the summer that you may join us.

The kind Farrers have lent us Abinger for the month of June; F. however cannot manage to get there before the 6 or 7^th. But I think we are pretty sure to have you for the last few days which will be charming. Then we go on to W^m. for a fortnight. He is going to furnish a spare room in his new upper story. We heard last week of the death of Aunt Fanny Allen. She had been unwell for a week, but wd not let her friend & next door neighbour Mrs Power write to tell any one; so that Eliz. (who wd be the one to feel it most) only heard she was ill by the 1^st post of her death by the 2^nd.. She had been many years wishing to die & wd have been dreadfully disappointed if she had recovered. She sent a message to all of us `"Her love & beg them not to grieve at her death ""for death at my great age (94) is rest."" She was only confined to bed for one day & I hope did not suffer much. Rowland's trial came on last week, but just before it was called on they came to a compromise & took £800. This was thought to be more than the most compassionate jury wd have awarded for the breach of a week's engagement, but it was well bestowed to avoid publicity.

The lady asked to shake hands w. R.; & said she shd give the money to hospitals. Uncle Harry w^d not give much for the chance of the hospitals. F. is hard at work finishing the insectivorous plants. He has had a bad bout of eczema, w. made him very uncomf. at the time; but I think it will do him good—

We have had a charming visit of Farrers on Sat. Effie quite as abandoned as she used to be in old days & singing beautifully.

We have had a delightful Ap. & May, & last night a calm brilliant moon, when we went with Hope to the Stony Field to listen to the nightingales. Poor old Horace has had the gout. He has been oddly feverish several times at Erith, & the last time after that had gone off his foot swelled & became painful & it was manifestly gout. I am not without hopes that it may do him good & make his health more certain between whiles. He has Bonham Carter for a companion at Erith now & finds it pleasant. Mrs Nash has established a Band of Hope in the village. I am afraid it must fall thro' when she goes. Amy has plenty of zeal but I do not fancy she could talk to the children & get any ascendency over them. It is necessary to have a weekly meeting to see how they go on—

They must also be taught to sing in parts, as they want something pleasant to do when they meet. I don't feel at all sure that we shall not have to succomb about spiritualism  Lena had an odd trance the other day, in which her ancestor Sir W. Massinberd spoke by her—told who he was, & said of Lena who was lying on the floor. ""She is quite comfortable–-she will soon get up""— Hope was m. struck by it. This is a trifle to the other wonders however.

yours my dear old man E.D—

I think we have written 3 times to Boston William once  Ed. is anxious that Lena's trance sh^d not get wind at Bournemouth