From H. E. Litchfield to Emma Darwin 13 [September 1873]

Dearest Mother

Since my letter of yesterday I have had a whole flock of letters—i.e one from you dated Tuesday telling about F.s diet. I do so hope it will answer. I hope it will be also well watched so as not to play tricks with him. yr scrap to Steubbach dated Wednesday—& Bessy’s pleasant letter from L.H.P. of Tuesday. She seems to have had a pleasant time there—& please thank her for her nice letter.

We are kept here today by poor dear R. being made poorly by a bad boil on his nose of all horrid places. He has had a ceaseless string of boils, but there have been no bad ones & they have been in reasonable places—but this seems a most aggravating one & has taken away his appetite & made him quite poorly— I think we shall go down tomorrow. It will feel more comfortable being in a civilized place in case it shd get really bad, but I hope it won’t as it is breaking inside whilst it is forming a head outside. He is pretty strong minded about his appearance & of course one shall avoid table d’hôtes.

Today has been another lovely day & we have both sat about a great deal. We, however, have come to the conclusion that grand & overpowering as this is, the charm of it doesn’t wear like Villars does, & we could go back to Villars without feeling flat. A nice young woman who plays well has turned up today. She has come from the Maderaner Thal. Tell Jemmy, who was so deeply smitten with the pretty hostesses that they are all scattered but one. One is a ladies’ maid at Bristol. Another has married the D^r. & one remains at the Hotel, which is not very well kept now as the father is dead. & the vulgar stepmother of these pretty girls manages things. If William ever wants to be married let him come to Mürren. I sit by such a charming girl at dinner who wd be the very thing only rather young. She reads every thing—says she sings well—& is pretty. & besides this has something very taking & we talk away like old friends. There are heaps of girls & the stray men seem all to fix on to them, & as for the chance of knowing them here, there is nothing like it in England. I’ve got a beauty opposite me. She is a real out & out beauty, but yet somehow she doesn’t make much impression. She is like what one reads of in novels & so seldom sees regular grecian features & such a splendidly set on head & little ear & great masses of warm brown hair coiled round & round her head like a turban. She is so wonderfully like a statue with low broad forehead & heavily moulded chin & full lips. All the same she doesn’t strike me dumb

This is all the scandal & gossip there is to tell—

I am grievd to think I shall say Goodbye to my dear girl tomorrow never to meet again.

your H.E.L.