From H. E. Litchfield to G. H. Darwin [15 February 1881]

My dear Geo—

I was very glad to hear that you got off at last & tho' you had such a horrid voyage it didnt do you much harm. You looked so unwell at starting I felt it must be a great effort to throw it all up.

It makes us very [curious] to hear of yr being too hot. I don't think the place would suit me much. or at least I shd always want the oxen to pull me up before slithering down on a sledge  I hope you won't be in a hurry to come home remember we shall be in the midst of [Elonids] for ages to come— I often think you haven't staid away long eno' when you do go— I wonder if you saw the Standard containing all the Russian papers. It is a wonderful revelation of Russia's way of working—& will I sh^d. hope silence for some time any talk of trusting to her honour. Mother is actually so candid as to allow that it does make some excuse for the late gov^t. & Frank says he hopes it will be a warning to her. The Transvaal has rather driven the irish question out of our heads—& one goes straight to the telegrams to see whether there is any fresh misfortune. I am afraid Sir E Wood is under Sir Colley who has certainly proved himself a very unlucky general of nothing else. I see nothing in today's Times confirming the moment that the Orange State has joined the rebellion. We had some people dining here the other day & amongst others M^r Westlake who is an energetic Marylebone liberal & he was telling us that amongst middle class radical London there is a very strong & growing feeling against the Coercion bill. They wanted to have a meeting of the Liberal 400 of Marylebone to back up the gov^t. but found on enquiry it was too risky to venture on. He says they have no conception of the essence of justice apart from the forms & altogether he gave a very dispiriting account of the best of our masters, which is what these people are. Intense conceit was one of their strongest characteristics he [sang] in wh he quite agrees with Horace.

We had a quiet Sunday at Down the day before yesterday. R. had a headach on Sat & Mother Sunday & Monday & we had Arthur. Arthur is much better in a small party & I like him, only like Louisa, every topic falls heavily to the ground in about a minute & a half. Leo was there. He looks so immensely improved in beauty by his illness— I can't help hoping he'll manage to keep his fat down— Of course he was very full of this murder at Chatham— He'd been talking to the poor young fellow just $\frac{1}{4}$ of an hour before his death. Leo thinks it must have been a soldier thief. He thght the Commandant a great fool not at once to offer a large reward in the barracks for any information—but he seems to say he is a very pig headed man who won't take advice.

Leo said he & many others couldn't sleep & several confessed to having locked their doors for the first time.

[Ubbadnt] is still ravenous for soldiers & has about six drawn every day—so upstairs in the nursery he can cover the table with his boxes full. You never see him but he isn't fully engaged in discussing them. It is very funny & seems to me a sort of instinct. You'd never find it in a girl— Have you heard anything about a M^r Garnetts life of Maxwell? He has just written to R. asking for letters of which R has a good many. He had a wonderfully vivid original way of putting things & a good deal of fun— There is one on his marriage which he seemed to think w^d. be all he wanted poor man! There are a good many skits at Mac as he calls McLennan, & I shd like to know how much truth there is in all McLennan's stories about Maxwell— It is rather melancholy to have recalled such a warm friendship which was utterly swamped by that wretched woman's influence— If he wrote many such good letters as he did to R. it ought to make a good book—tho' there are absolutely no events.

We have got one of our quartets tonight at the radical M^r Pennington who has a gorgeous room— Frank meant to be virtuous & not go to it wh. I think is rather a pity. He was lecturing at Keston yesterday, he [swears] positively for the last time— I suppose you were told that Tromers didn't sell, the highest bid was £2400. The fields were sold—wh. seems to us the oddest blunder in the world. We hear that another of Aunt [Elyes] beggars claims an annuity & she also sends as confirmation a letter with the important bit torn off, just like Miss Walkinshaw did! I wonder they didn't lose the whole letter— I've taken Miss Walkinshaw off Mother's hands & am to wind her up with the modest sum of £10— I am just gng to write & thank a Ramsgate curate who has been making enquiries about her for me & says she appears not to be in any want. Mother hoped she was dead as she hadn't written for a fortnight.

Goodbye dear Geo— | Your affect | H.E.L