From G. H. Darwin to Emma Darwin [30 January 1862]

My dear Mama

We got here all right. Pritchard has given the two boys the inner room & I sleep in the outer room, which is the very arrangement I should have liked of all others; do you think it would be superfluous for you to write & thank P," we didnt get to bed quite directly

Yesterday was a nasty dull bustling day. No lessons till evening raining all the morning & not at all nice in the afternoon when I & L went out for a walk together. Lenny has been examined & is in the fifth class as I thought he would be; I think it was his bad spelling that put him there chiefly. He has been pretty jolly all day, but was a little down in the mug this evening but is all right again now. It must be a great blessing for him to have a [illeg] bed-room to go to after the day instead of that being the worst part of the whole concern as I used to find it. Every one of the servants have left so none of the new ones know what to do. M^r. Alfred Wrigly is a tall, bald, dark-skinned & QQQQ (not the slightest fat); I've not had much to do with him yet, but I expect he'll be nice yet "Stern & just".— M^rs Harden or Harding his sister is the Missis, we see scarcely anything of her. During the journey one of my moths from Holwood came out but he hadn't room to stretch his wings & so is rather a cripple; I had another come out to day, a rare one, I believe it ought to come out in June & as it was kept in the drawing room all the holidays I suppose it was the heat as done it.

Lessons is stiff. I suppose W.'s gone right off to Southampton again; how very small you must feel now. Wrigley lives in this house & has the old sick room turned into a library & a bed room is turned into sick room. Wrigley has just come down this moment & caught them in the next room making a most tremendous row vaulting, in sitting up time (we are supposed to sit up to work but we dont) & he only said he didn't like to disturb their enjoyment but he thought it a little too noisy.

I've got Adam Bede out of the library.—

I remain | Your affec Son | G. Darwin