From H. E. Litchfield to Leonard Darwin 7 December 1874

Dear old Pouts—

What a shameful time it is since I've written to you. For a lng time I meant to write but lately I'm afraid I have felt as if there was nothing to do but wait for y^r. letter— I get rather bigged by George for keeping it so lng. It was solemnly to go round by age except Jenny who wd have it first, so tho fiery we came last & you can imagine his feelings! It was a capital letter & I enjoyed it much, once to myself & once to R. & again to Uncle Ras who had it all at a [silty]! a good 20 min read & I thought my voice wd n't hold out. Poor Uncle Ras has been having a very bad autumn— We were extremely uneasy about him, but I do hope he has taken a turn— I'm v. busy now with the house full of Darwin & all the Steeles come back from India— You remember the little Col. He has now come back such a fat little General with a retiring pension & his yng wife looks m. m. fit to be Laurence's intended— Laurence is just gazetted & finally off our hands. St George means to go into Woolwich wh. they now say is easier than the line—surely that isn't so? It was a fully stiff exam. U must have been by the way you & Dicky worked tho' you did get in 2^nd.. But I don't like him to say. I am sure it is too hard for yr son as my [Brolton] had to work hard to get in 2^nd—it mightn't look pretty.

We have never had such a succession of Sundays in town since I've been married & now I shant go to Down till Xmas—our first Xmas ungathered together! The reason has been this little niece of Richard's who has been staying with us. It makes me feel quite old to turn into a Mother of a 17 year old. Not that the shops accept me as such for they call me Miss just the same. So you did get thro' yr Mill. I've been prophesizing you wdn't manage any reading & I seem very wrng— Yr letter makes me feel that a lng voyage is a more tedious thing than I thought for—but you weren't very lucky in your travelling companions. I shd think it wd be intensely dangerous with at all a nice girl—so we were right to dread the Miss Fogs—tho' circes seem to have made it quite safe. [Fatten] is rushing about as usual tremendously— However he has rather overdone it now & will have to be a little quieter, Mother is now quite well having had her 2 days headachs. [N] seems queer not to have some boys hanging abt. Goodnight dear old Ponter

The spirit doesn't move me to with more—Richard's best love–- your H.S.L.