To W. E. Darwin   13 [June 1862]1

Down

13th

My dear William

Mamma returned with Horace very brisk yesterday.2 An hour before she came, Lenny arrived ill in carriage & this morning has decided Scarlet Fever.—3 So the House is in miserable state; but he is not bad.—

Please return my watch in some little Box, registered, & please return “Journal of Horticulture”.— I am so very sorry that you yourself are not very well.—

My dear old fellow | C. Darwin

1
The date is established by the reference to Leonard Darwin becoming ill with scarlet fever (see n. 3, below).
2
According to Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242), she and Horace Darwin visited Southampton, where William lived, from 3 to 12 June 1862. Horace had been ill earlier in the year.
3
Twelve-year-old Leonard Darwin attended Clapham Grammar School in south-west London (see letter from Charles Pritchard, 17 June [1862]). Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242) records, on 12 June 1862: ‘Lenny came home with sc. fever’.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

2.1 some little] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-3601,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-3601