GE to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, Witley, 3 September 1879
Title
GE to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, Witley, 3 September 1879
Title
GE to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, Witley, 3 September 1879
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon
Date(s)
- 1879-09-03
Place
Witley
Letter Content
GE to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, Witley, 3 September 1879
MS: Mr. Philip Leigh-Smith. Envelope: Madame Bodichon | Scalands Gate | Brightling Road | Hawkhurst | Sussex. Postmarks: GODALMING | C | SP 4 | 79; HAWKHURST | B | SP 5 | 79; BURWASH | A | SP 6 | 79. Extracts published: Cross, III, 377-378.
The Heights, Witley, | Nr. Godalming.
September 3. 79.
Dearest Barbara
Before I received your letter the other day I was intending to write to you to ask whether, now that I am stronger and the fine weather shows some signs of permanence, you feel any revival of the inclination to come and see me for a couple of days. I hardly like to propose your taking the journey now that you are not being brought near me by other visits, for the railway from you to me is, I think, rather tiresome. But if your inclination really lies towards coming you will be affectionately welcomed. Charles and Gertrude are to be here from next Saturday till Monday, but after that I am open to any arrangement you will fix upon.
About the sea-side I am hopeless. The latter part of October is likely to be too cold [4 words deleted] for me to move about without risk of chills, and I hope to be back in town before [1 word deleted] the end of the month. I am not very fond of the sea-side, and this year it is likely to be crowded with people who have been hindered by the bad weather from going earlier. I prefer the Surrey hills and the security from draughts in one's own home. The one attraction of a coast place to me is a great breadth of sand to pace on when it is in its fresh firmness after the fall of the tide. But the sea itself is melancholy to me -- only a little less so under warm sunlight with plenty of fishing smacks changing their shadows, and I hate lodgings. All this is to let you know why I do not yield to the attraction of being with you, when we could chat as much or as little as we liked. I feel very much your affectionateness in wishing to have me near you.
Write me word soon whether you feel able to come so far as this for my sake. Always, dear,
Your loving
Marian.
MS: Mr. Philip Leigh-Smith. Envelope: Madame Bodichon | Scalands Gate | Brightling Road | Hawkhurst | Sussex. Postmarks: GODALMING | C | SP 4 | 79; HAWKHURST | B | SP 5 | 79; BURWASH | A | SP 6 | 79. Extracts published: Cross, III, 377-378.
The Heights, Witley, | Nr. Godalming.
September 3. 79.
Dearest Barbara
Before I received your letter the other day I was intending to write to you to ask whether, now that I am stronger and the fine weather shows some signs of permanence, you feel any revival of the inclination to come and see me for a couple of days. I hardly like to propose your taking the journey now that you are not being brought near me by other visits, for the railway from you to me is, I think, rather tiresome. But if your inclination really lies towards coming you will be affectionately welcomed. Charles and Gertrude are to be here from next Saturday till Monday, but after that I am open to any arrangement you will fix upon.
About the sea-side I am hopeless. The latter part of October is likely to be too cold [4 words deleted] for me to move about without risk of chills, and I hope to be back in town before [1 word deleted] the end of the month. I am not very fond of the sea-side, and this year it is likely to be crowded with people who have been hindered by the bad weather from going earlier. I prefer the Surrey hills and the security from draughts in one's own home. The one attraction of a coast place to me is a great breadth of sand to pace on when it is in its fresh firmness after the fall of the tide. But the sea itself is melancholy to me -- only a little less so under warm sunlight with plenty of fishing smacks changing their shadows, and I hate lodgings. All this is to let you know why I do not yield to the attraction of being with you, when we could chat as much or as little as we liked. I feel very much your affectionateness in wishing to have me near you.
Write me word soon whether you feel able to come so far as this for my sake. Always, dear,
Your loving
Marian.
Signature
Marian.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, Witley, 3 September 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/93109