GE to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, London, 29 April 1879
Title
GE to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, London, 29 April 1879
Title
GE to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, London, 29 April 1879
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon
Date(s)
- 1879-04-29
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, London, 29 April 1879
MS: Mr. Philip Leigh-Smith. Envelope: Madame Bodichon | Scalands Gate | Robertsbridge | Hawkhurst. Postmarks: LONDON N.W | C 12 | AP 30 | 79; HAWKHURST | A | MY 1 | 79; ROBERTSBRIDGE | MY 1 | 79. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory | 21 North Bank | April 29. 79.
Dearest Barbara
The grandchildren and their mother are come, and all today I have been occupied with them. I am a little oppressed just now with the claims on my time and thoughts and can long for nothing except to get away to my country home.
This I hope to do now in the second week of May. Hence I cannot see you in London when you come up on the 2nd of June; but if by "Miss Jekyll's house" you mean the one she built for her mother, it is almost within sight of Witley -- is certainly within a drive from our house. Can you not therefore come and see me on your way from that house, making the little round as part of your journey homeward? You know I am close to a railway station.
Send me word when and how you would like to come. I cannot go to you, dear. The world, in the shape of kind friends and creatures who have claims on my care, is crowding on me before I am quite prepared for it, though I am now determined to live as bravely as I can. 231
It is a happy thought to me that you are so enjoying the spring. The sense of it to me comes chiefly through the flowers which my friends send me abundantly. There is much that we could say to each other if we were face to face -- so little that one [can] say by letter.
Always your loving
Marian.
MS: Mr. Philip Leigh-Smith. Envelope: Madame Bodichon | Scalands Gate | Robertsbridge | Hawkhurst. Postmarks: LONDON N.W | C 12 | AP 30 | 79; HAWKHURST | A | MY 1 | 79; ROBERTSBRIDGE | MY 1 | 79. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory | 21 North Bank | April 29. 79.
Dearest Barbara
The grandchildren and their mother are come, and all today I have been occupied with them. I am a little oppressed just now with the claims on my time and thoughts and can long for nothing except to get away to my country home.
This I hope to do now in the second week of May. Hence I cannot see you in London when you come up on the 2nd of June; but if by "Miss Jekyll's house" you mean the one she built for her mother, it is almost within sight of Witley -- is certainly within a drive from our house. Can you not therefore come and see me on your way from that house, making the little round as part of your journey homeward? You know I am close to a railway station.
Send me word when and how you would like to come. I cannot go to you, dear. The world, in the shape of kind friends and creatures who have claims on my care, is crowding on me before I am quite prepared for it, though I am now determined to live as bravely as I can. 231
It is a happy thought to me that you are so enjoying the spring. The sense of it to me comes chiefly through the flowers which my friends send me abundantly. There is much that we could say to each other if we were face to face -- so little that one [can] say by letter.
Always your loving
Marian.
Signature
Marian.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, London, 29 April 1879, 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/93056