GE to Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, [Richmond], 27 March [1858]
Title
GE to Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, [Richmond], 27 March [1858]
Title
GE to Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, [Richmond], 27 March [1858]
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray
Date(s)
- 1858-03-27
Place
Richmond
Letter Content
GE to Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, [Richmond], 27 March [1858]
Text: Coventry Herald, 7-8 November 1919, p. 8. Mostly published: Haight, George Eliot, pp. 254-255.
March 27.
Dear Cara,
Your letter was very sweet to me, coming spontaneously, not a propos of a parcel. The feeling that you and Sara have been and always will be the women I have loved best in the world -- the women I have had most reason to love and admire -- strengthens instead of fading with time and absence. It is impossible ever to revive the past, and if we could recover the friend from whom we have parted we should perhaps find that we could not recover precisely the old relation. But that doesn't hinder the past from being sacred and belonging to our religion. I have some faith, too, that we should never lose our old fitness for each other, and that our talks together, and looks at each other must always be fuller of mutual understanding than we could find elsewhere.
In this faith I shall venture to recommend to you and Sara, a lady of my acquaintance in whom I have a peculiar interest. 382 She will present herself to you shortly, with a note from my hand, and I believe that for my sake you will receive her with indulgence. I can't say much that is good of her, but I am confident that she will not misconduct herself in your society. She will sit in modest silence, looking ready to enjoy any joke that is passing.
Marian.
Text: Coventry Herald, 7-8 November 1919, p. 8. Mostly published: Haight, George Eliot, pp. 254-255.
March 27.
Dear Cara,
Your letter was very sweet to me, coming spontaneously, not a propos of a parcel. The feeling that you and Sara have been and always will be the women I have loved best in the world -- the women I have had most reason to love and admire -- strengthens instead of fading with time and absence. It is impossible ever to revive the past, and if we could recover the friend from whom we have parted we should perhaps find that we could not recover precisely the old relation. But that doesn't hinder the past from being sacred and belonging to our religion. I have some faith, too, that we should never lose our old fitness for each other, and that our talks together, and looks at each other must always be fuller of mutual understanding than we could find elsewhere.
In this faith I shall venture to recommend to you and Sara, a lady of my acquaintance in whom I have a peculiar interest. 382 She will present herself to you shortly, with a note from my hand, and I believe that for my sake you will receive her with indulgence. I can't say much that is good of her, but I am confident that she will not misconduct herself in your society. She will sit in modest silence, looking ready to enjoy any joke that is passing.
Marian.
Signature
Marian.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, [Richmond], 27 March [1858], 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/93227