From Emma Darwin to Leonard Darwin [January 1877]

My dear Lenny

I sincerely hope you will have no more drives w. Col. Fisher. Poor man he is very much to be pitied. I think all the more of driving accidents from a bad one the Lubbocks have just had— Conny & Gertrude driving down from the station were overturned & pitched out of the way. Richard just came upon them luckily— He found the maid lying by the road screaming when touched & the coachman sitting down saying he was much hurt & the 2 poor girls covered w. mud but not hurt but at a great loss what to do in a crowd of people— R. got a man to drive off to S^t Mary Cray for a D^r & had the maid carried into the Inn on a blanket & then drove off to tell Sir John—

We hear since that neither of the servants are seriously hurt; but Bessy found Lady L. much shaken by the fright. The Litches went home on Sat to receive W^m.  She is pretty well again— She is so fond of the baby I wish there was a natural reason for her to adopt one, I think it too dangerous to do unless you have a good reason— Frank & Horace came together from Erith on Sat— They have been much absorbed by some machine for measuring the growth of plants—

Mr Nash called yesterday upon Frank to ask him to give a lecture, & to my surprize F. does not seem to dislike the idea of it. I was glad the ice was broken by his seeing one of the neighbours. Horace thinks he will try his hand too, perhaps by explaining the steam engine— Sir John began the series by one on insects & flowers but it was rather a dead affair—however I have no doubt every body like the compliment.

Here is Geo. letter at last— I don’t want it again

yours my dear old man, E. D