GE to Francois D'Albert-Durade, Homburg, 9 August 1873
Title
GE to Francois D'Albert-Durade, Homburg, 9 August 1873
Title
GE to Francois D'Albert-Durade, Homburg, 9 August 1873
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Francois D'Albert-Durade
Date(s)
- 1873-08-09
Place
Homburg
Letter Content
GE to Francois D'Albert-Durade, Homburg, 9 August 1873
Text: Copy by D'Albert-Durade in Tinker Collection, Yale. Hitherto unpublished.
Homburg vor der H'f6he | August 9. 1873
Dear Friend
When your last very precious letter came to me in London, we were on the eve of setting out on a journey in which I hoped that we should be able to include a visit to Geneva, so that I might once more see you and dear Madame D'Albert, once more take your hand in mine and kiss her brow. But we determined not to announce our intention until we arrived very near to Geneva and could get word from you whether our wish to call could be fulfilled without too much disturbance of your mind -- whether Maman's state were such as to admit any thought of receiving us. It was well that this consideration hindered me from hastily answering your kind letter, for during our short stay at Paris and at Fontainebleau we became convinced that my health was not equal to the amount of railway travelling we had before contemplated in the hot months of July and August. I had for a long while been in a weak state, and it was clear that I needed repose rather than pleasurable excitement. So we turned aside and went by easy stages to the Vosges, where first at Plombi'e8res and then at Luxeuil we spent more than three weeks. Since then we have made our way to this healthy place which, however, is not high enough to lift us away from all oppression by the heat. I am the better for our various trials of baths and fresh air, but my dear husband has of late been the victim of chills which have attacked his throat and left ear -- the latter very severely so as to cause a temporary deafness. He is relieved at present from this particular trouble, but is sadly below the point of strength at which I should feel free from uneasiness about him. We intend to remain here until the 16th, and then we shall return home by very easy stages along the Rhine. 831 The reason of our having begun to travel at the end of June was that the country house in England, which we have taken on experiment for a year, will not be at liberty for us until the 1st of September. After a week in London on our return we shall go to this house in the country and remain there probably until November. But a letter sent to our London address will always find me.
I mention these details that you may understand my long silence and also understand that the thought of that position which your letter gave me a vivid idea of is accompanied in me with a tremulous sense of the probability that even now while I am writing the position may have undergone a great change. Need I say that every word you may feel inclined or able to write me about yourself in the fullest sense will be deeply, affectionately valued? The years with me have strengthened all those memories which are bound up with respect and gratitude, and you have a great place among those memories.
My ignorance of what may have happened since you wrote makes me fear to write more. This brief letter is meant simply as a sign of that faithful remembrance which makes me anxious to know always as much as you can tell me of your actual life, whether in comfort or in sorrow.
Mr. Lewes is with me in all kind regards to my friends. And you know that my love to "Maman" is always there for you to tell her of, as long as she will feel it. Farewell, dear friend,
Yours always
M. E. Lewes.
Text: Copy by D'Albert-Durade in Tinker Collection, Yale. Hitherto unpublished.
Homburg vor der H'f6he | August 9. 1873
Dear Friend
When your last very precious letter came to me in London, we were on the eve of setting out on a journey in which I hoped that we should be able to include a visit to Geneva, so that I might once more see you and dear Madame D'Albert, once more take your hand in mine and kiss her brow. But we determined not to announce our intention until we arrived very near to Geneva and could get word from you whether our wish to call could be fulfilled without too much disturbance of your mind -- whether Maman's state were such as to admit any thought of receiving us. It was well that this consideration hindered me from hastily answering your kind letter, for during our short stay at Paris and at Fontainebleau we became convinced that my health was not equal to the amount of railway travelling we had before contemplated in the hot months of July and August. I had for a long while been in a weak state, and it was clear that I needed repose rather than pleasurable excitement. So we turned aside and went by easy stages to the Vosges, where first at Plombi'e8res and then at Luxeuil we spent more than three weeks. Since then we have made our way to this healthy place which, however, is not high enough to lift us away from all oppression by the heat. I am the better for our various trials of baths and fresh air, but my dear husband has of late been the victim of chills which have attacked his throat and left ear -- the latter very severely so as to cause a temporary deafness. He is relieved at present from this particular trouble, but is sadly below the point of strength at which I should feel free from uneasiness about him. We intend to remain here until the 16th, and then we shall return home by very easy stages along the Rhine. 831 The reason of our having begun to travel at the end of June was that the country house in England, which we have taken on experiment for a year, will not be at liberty for us until the 1st of September. After a week in London on our return we shall go to this house in the country and remain there probably until November. But a letter sent to our London address will always find me.
I mention these details that you may understand my long silence and also understand that the thought of that position which your letter gave me a vivid idea of is accompanied in me with a tremulous sense of the probability that even now while I am writing the position may have undergone a great change. Need I say that every word you may feel inclined or able to write me about yourself in the fullest sense will be deeply, affectionately valued? The years with me have strengthened all those memories which are bound up with respect and gratitude, and you have a great place among those memories.
My ignorance of what may have happened since you wrote makes me fear to write more. This brief letter is meant simply as a sign of that faithful remembrance which makes me anxious to know always as much as you can tell me of your actual life, whether in comfort or in sorrow.
Mr. Lewes is with me in all kind regards to my friends. And you know that my love to "Maman" is always there for you to tell her of, as long as she will feel it. Farewell, dear friend,
Yours always
M. E. Lewes.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Francois D'Albert-Durade, Homburg, 9 August 1873, Complete George Eliot Letters(2026), George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://www.georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/92338