GE to Mr. Charles Bray and Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, St. Leonard's, 31 May [1848]
Title
GE to Mr. Charles Bray and Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, St. Leonard's, 31 May [1848]
Title
GE to Mr. Charles Bray and Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, St. Leonard's, 31 May [1848]
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Mr. Charles Bray and Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray
Date(s)
- 1848-05-31
Place
St. Leonard's
Letter Content
GE to Mr. Charles Bray and Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, St. Leonard's, 31 May [1848]
MS: Yale. Endorsed: 1848. Extracts published: Cross, I, 188.
Victoria Hotel | St. Leonard's | May 31st.
Dear Friends,
I am almost ashamed of having introduced Father as an invalid -- he looked so strong and well after our hot and fatiguing journey. Indeed he proved the stronger of the two, for I was violently sick and altogether ill after our arrival; but I was almost as well off as if I had been in Icaria, 736 for the servants behaved to me like real human beings that had been sick themselves. I believe the shake has done me good, for I am quite well today, and according to Father, "looking rarely." He has done wonders in the way of walking and eating -- for him -- but he makes not the slightest attempt to amuse himself, so that I scarcely feel easy in following my own bent even for an hour.
You are so good at moderating one's expectations that I found both Hastings and St. Leonard's far superior to mine -- a poor exchange, certainly, for Shanklin and Bonchurch, but good of their kind. The place is not full, the season for it being past I suppose. We do not find it too warm, however, for I have even felt the want of my Victorine 737 -- a colder place would have been decidedly too cold. It is raining heavily this afternoon. I hope poor Warwickshire is not gasping for the drops which are falling so needlessly into the sea. I had a luxurious cold bath this morning -- a private one -- for there is such a horrid savage of a man who tackles the horses to the machines and the women are such fawning hags that I cannot conquer my repugnance to a bath in the open air.
I have told you everything now, except that I look amiable in spite of a strong tendency to look black, and speak gently though with a strong propensity to be snappish. Pity me, ye happier spirits that look amiable and speak gently because ye are amiable and gentle. But the Bile is not quite gone, so whether a pill or a prayer be the best antidote I am not quite certain.
Farewell, dear ones. If you write, direct to the Post Office, St. Leonard's.
Your faithful
Mary Ann.
MS: Yale. Endorsed: 1848. Extracts published: Cross, I, 188.
Victoria Hotel | St. Leonard's | May 31st.
Dear Friends,
I am almost ashamed of having introduced Father as an invalid -- he looked so strong and well after our hot and fatiguing journey. Indeed he proved the stronger of the two, for I was violently sick and altogether ill after our arrival; but I was almost as well off as if I had been in Icaria, 736 for the servants behaved to me like real human beings that had been sick themselves. I believe the shake has done me good, for I am quite well today, and according to Father, "looking rarely." He has done wonders in the way of walking and eating -- for him -- but he makes not the slightest attempt to amuse himself, so that I scarcely feel easy in following my own bent even for an hour.
You are so good at moderating one's expectations that I found both Hastings and St. Leonard's far superior to mine -- a poor exchange, certainly, for Shanklin and Bonchurch, but good of their kind. The place is not full, the season for it being past I suppose. We do not find it too warm, however, for I have even felt the want of my Victorine 737 -- a colder place would have been decidedly too cold. It is raining heavily this afternoon. I hope poor Warwickshire is not gasping for the drops which are falling so needlessly into the sea. I had a luxurious cold bath this morning -- a private one -- for there is such a horrid savage of a man who tackles the horses to the machines and the women are such fawning hags that I cannot conquer my repugnance to a bath in the open air.
I have told you everything now, except that I look amiable in spite of a strong tendency to look black, and speak gently though with a strong propensity to be snappish. Pity me, ye happier spirits that look amiable and speak gently because ye are amiable and gentle. But the Bile is not quite gone, so whether a pill or a prayer be the best antidote I am not quite certain.
Farewell, dear ones. If you write, direct to the Post Office, St. Leonard's.
Your faithful
Mary Ann.
Signature
Mary Ann.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Mr. Charles Bray and Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, St. Leonard's, 31 May [1848], 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/93178