GE to Maria [Mrs. Richard] Congreve, Wandsworth, 27 June 1859
Title
GE to Maria [Mrs. Richard] Congreve, Wandsworth, 27 June 1859
Title
GE to Maria [Mrs. Richard] Congreve, Wandsworth, 27 June 1859
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Maria [Mrs. Richard] Congreve
Date(s)
- 1859-06-27
Place
Wandsworth
Letter Content
GE to Maria [Mrs. Richard] Congreve, Wandsworth, 27 June 1859
Text: Cross, II, 115-116.
I am told peremptorily that I am to go to Switzerland next month, but now I have read your letter, 178 I can't help thinking more of your illness 179 than of the pleasure in prospect -- according to my foolish nature, which is always prone to live in past pain.
We shall not arrive at Lucerne till the 12th, at the earliest, I imagine, so I hope we are secured from the danger of alighting precisely on the days of your absence. 180 That would be cruel, for I shall only be left at Lucerne for three days. You must positively have nothing more interesting to do than to talk to me and let me look at you. Tell your sister 181 I shall be all ears and eyes and no tongue, so she will find me the most aimable of conversers.
I think it must be that the sunshine makes your absence more conspicuous, for this place certainly becomes drearier to me as the summer advances. The dusty roads are all longer, and the shade is farther off. No more now about anything -- except that Mr Lewes commands me to say he has just read the '91Roman Empire of the West'92 182 with much interest, and is going now to flesh his teeth in the "Politique" 183 (Auguste Comte's).
Text: Cross, II, 115-116.
I am told peremptorily that I am to go to Switzerland next month, but now I have read your letter, 178 I can't help thinking more of your illness 179 than of the pleasure in prospect -- according to my foolish nature, which is always prone to live in past pain.
We shall not arrive at Lucerne till the 12th, at the earliest, I imagine, so I hope we are secured from the danger of alighting precisely on the days of your absence. 180 That would be cruel, for I shall only be left at Lucerne for three days. You must positively have nothing more interesting to do than to talk to me and let me look at you. Tell your sister 181 I shall be all ears and eyes and no tongue, so she will find me the most aimable of conversers.
I think it must be that the sunshine makes your absence more conspicuous, for this place certainly becomes drearier to me as the summer advances. The dusty roads are all longer, and the shade is farther off. No more now about anything -- except that Mr Lewes commands me to say he has just read the '91Roman Empire of the West'92 182 with much interest, and is going now to flesh his teeth in the "Politique" 183 (Auguste Comte's).
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Maria [Mrs. Richard] Congreve, Wandsworth, 27 June 1859, 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/93676