To Roland Trimen   24 December [1867]1

Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.

Dec. 24th

My dear Sir

If you are not engaged, will you give me the great pleasure of your company here next Saturday, & stay the Sunday with us. We dine at 7 oclock.—2

You would have to come by Train to Bromley, but I am sorry to say this place is six miles from the Station.

I am bound to tell you that my health is very uncertain & I am continually liable to bad days, & even on my best days I cannot talk long with anyone; but if you will put up with the best will to see as much of you as I can, I hope that you will come.—

Pray believe me, | my dear Sir | Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

1
The year is established by the fact that Trimen visited CD at Down at the end of 1867 (see Poulton 1909, p. 28 n. 2). See also n. 2, below.
2
Trimen, who lived in South Africa, was in London in late 1867 to work on a paper about mimicry in African butterflies (Trimen 1868; see Poulton 1920, p. xxiv). For CD’s letters to Trimen between 1863 and 1871, and a commentary on their relationship, see Poulton 1909, pp. 213–46.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-5739,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-5739