GE to Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, London, 11 October 1868
Title
GE to Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, London, 11 October 1868
Title
GE to Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, London, 11 October 1868
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray
Date(s)
- 1868-10-11
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, London, 11 October 1868
MS: Yale. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
October 11. 68.
My dear Cara
Soon after we returned from the Continent, Mr. Lewes went to Mr. and Mrs. Call to deliver a book which had been entrusted to him, and they told him that you and Mr. Bray were at Sydenham, but very busy superintending re-arrangements. So I did not write, trusting that when you were at liberty to come to London you would not deny me the chance of seeing you -- since owing to our arrant rambling tendencies our being at home at a particular time could not be certified, so as to warrant my asking for more than a chance. I wonder whether you do think of coming to London at all before you go back to Coventry? If you could and would be so kind as to write me a note beforehand, saying that you and Mr. Bray would be with us on a given day and hour, I should answer immediately, according to my habit if I were at home. Not receiving an immediate word in reply you would conclude that I was not at home. I think our lunch-time -- 'bc to 2 -- is the time when Mr. Bray prefers to dine, and knowing beforehand I would have something warm and "comfortable."
We quite escaped the summer's heat in the Black Forest and in Switzerland, indeed we should have been glad there of more uninterrupted sunshine and of a temperature that would have made the heights more desirable. Since we came from abroad, Mr. Lewes has been to the Medical Assoc[iation] at Oxford, and we have been into Yorkshire. Our flights would perhaps be longer but they are restrained by the needs of Mr. Lewes's Mother, who is now so aged and fidgetty that she is never long satisfied in her son's absence. We are ill by turns, as usual. Just now the worseness is mine. In this way, you see, we are saved from being ashamed of our untroubled life in this troublous world. Love to Sara, when you write.
Always your faithfully affectionate
Marian.
We plunge into the country between Sundays, but it is for the sake of perfect peace in the wood and fields. Sydenham and back in one day would be too fatiguing to me. As acquaintances and solicitations tend to multiply I find it more necessary than ever to keep rigidly to my rule of paying no visits in or near London, and to renounce seeing any friends unless they will kindly come to me.
MS: Yale. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
October 11. 68.
My dear Cara
Soon after we returned from the Continent, Mr. Lewes went to Mr. and Mrs. Call to deliver a book which had been entrusted to him, and they told him that you and Mr. Bray were at Sydenham, but very busy superintending re-arrangements. So I did not write, trusting that when you were at liberty to come to London you would not deny me the chance of seeing you -- since owing to our arrant rambling tendencies our being at home at a particular time could not be certified, so as to warrant my asking for more than a chance. I wonder whether you do think of coming to London at all before you go back to Coventry? If you could and would be so kind as to write me a note beforehand, saying that you and Mr. Bray would be with us on a given day and hour, I should answer immediately, according to my habit if I were at home. Not receiving an immediate word in reply you would conclude that I was not at home. I think our lunch-time -- 'bc to 2 -- is the time when Mr. Bray prefers to dine, and knowing beforehand I would have something warm and "comfortable."
We quite escaped the summer's heat in the Black Forest and in Switzerland, indeed we should have been glad there of more uninterrupted sunshine and of a temperature that would have made the heights more desirable. Since we came from abroad, Mr. Lewes has been to the Medical Assoc[iation] at Oxford, and we have been into Yorkshire. Our flights would perhaps be longer but they are restrained by the needs of Mr. Lewes's Mother, who is now so aged and fidgetty that she is never long satisfied in her son's absence. We are ill by turns, as usual. Just now the worseness is mine. In this way, you see, we are saved from being ashamed of our untroubled life in this troublous world. Love to Sara, when you write.
Always your faithfully affectionate
Marian.
We plunge into the country between Sundays, but it is for the sake of perfect peace in the wood and fields. Sydenham and back in one day would be too fatiguing to me. As acquaintances and solicitations tend to multiply I find it more necessary than ever to keep rigidly to my rule of paying no visits in or near London, and to renounce seeing any friends unless they will kindly come to me.
Signature
Marian.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, London, 11 October 1868, 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/93266