GE to Mrs. William Cross, Blackbrook, 17 September [1873]
Title
GE to Mrs. William Cross, Blackbrook, 17 September [1873]
Title
GE to Mrs. William Cross, Blackbrook, 17 September [1873]
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Mrs. William Cross
Date(s)
- 1873-09-17
Place
Blackbrook
Letter Content
GE to Mrs. William Cross, Blackbrook, 17 September [1873]
MS: Yale. Endorsed: 73. Extracts published: Cross, III, 210-212.
Blackbrook | Bickley, Kent | September 17.
Thanks, dear friend, for the difficult exertion you gave to the telling of what I so much wished to know -- the details of the trouble which you have all had to go through either directly or sympathetically. I almost think your trial was the worst, when you had no telegram and were uncertain about Eleanor and Emily. But I will not dwell now on what it cost you, I fear, too much pain to recall so as to give me the vivid impressions I felt in reading your letter. The great practical result of such trouble is to make us all more tender to each other -- this is a world in which we must pay heavy prices for love, as you know by experience much deeper than mine.
I will gossip a little about ourselves now. Pity us when you read that my husband was afflicted with deafness, and frequently with much pain, in one ear during the whole of our stay abroad. We gave up our intention of going far southward, fearing the fatigue of long railway journeys, and the heat (which hardly ever came) of July and August in the region we had thought of visiting. So after staying a very enjoyable time at Fontainebleau we went to the Vosges, and at Plombi'e8res and Luxeuil we should have felt ourselves in paradise if it had not been for this sad deafness which, with George's general depression of health, kept us uneasy and made us hurry to that undesirable place Frankfurt in order to consult Spiess. 838 At Frankfurt the nearest Bath was the also undesirable Homburg, so we spent or wasted a fortnight there winning little but the joy of getting away again. The journey home which we took very easily, was interesting -- through Metz, Verdun, Rheims and Amiens. Immediately on our arrival in London, George went to Hinton, the aurist and -- conceive my happiness -- came back entirely relieved of his deafness, which in one ear had been total. The cause was simply a mass of hardened wax, from which he had once before suffered in a milder way. But he has been altogether far from flourishing of late -- has had a cough, and is only just beginning to enjoy his work here in the mornings.
As to our house, spite of beautiful lawn, tall trees, fine kitchen garden, and good invigorating air, we have already made up our minds that it will not do for our home. The house is old and cold and wants rebuilding -- in fact is too much like our own bodies. And, as usual, we were too precipitate in our conclusions about practical matters -- engaging ourselves without due examination into facts. When we saw the house it was inhabited by a family who had taken it for three months and had brought down some waggon loads of furniture. We imagined that this abundant furniture belonged to the house, and have gone through the disillusion of finding it comparatively bare. Still there is nothing to complain of very bitterly. We have many things to enjoy and the weather is to be grieved over for the sake of the nation and not for our private sakes. We shall not probably remain here longer than to the end of October.
My motherly love to all such young ones as may be around you, from Mr. Hall to Florence, and from Florence to Alkie. 839 I do not disturb George in order to ask for messages from him, being sure that his love goes with mine. Ever, dear Friend,
Yours affectionately
M. E. Lewes.
MS: Yale. Endorsed: 73. Extracts published: Cross, III, 210-212.
Blackbrook | Bickley, Kent | September 17.
Thanks, dear friend, for the difficult exertion you gave to the telling of what I so much wished to know -- the details of the trouble which you have all had to go through either directly or sympathetically. I almost think your trial was the worst, when you had no telegram and were uncertain about Eleanor and Emily. But I will not dwell now on what it cost you, I fear, too much pain to recall so as to give me the vivid impressions I felt in reading your letter. The great practical result of such trouble is to make us all more tender to each other -- this is a world in which we must pay heavy prices for love, as you know by experience much deeper than mine.
I will gossip a little about ourselves now. Pity us when you read that my husband was afflicted with deafness, and frequently with much pain, in one ear during the whole of our stay abroad. We gave up our intention of going far southward, fearing the fatigue of long railway journeys, and the heat (which hardly ever came) of July and August in the region we had thought of visiting. So after staying a very enjoyable time at Fontainebleau we went to the Vosges, and at Plombi'e8res and Luxeuil we should have felt ourselves in paradise if it had not been for this sad deafness which, with George's general depression of health, kept us uneasy and made us hurry to that undesirable place Frankfurt in order to consult Spiess. 838 At Frankfurt the nearest Bath was the also undesirable Homburg, so we spent or wasted a fortnight there winning little but the joy of getting away again. The journey home which we took very easily, was interesting -- through Metz, Verdun, Rheims and Amiens. Immediately on our arrival in London, George went to Hinton, the aurist and -- conceive my happiness -- came back entirely relieved of his deafness, which in one ear had been total. The cause was simply a mass of hardened wax, from which he had once before suffered in a milder way. But he has been altogether far from flourishing of late -- has had a cough, and is only just beginning to enjoy his work here in the mornings.
As to our house, spite of beautiful lawn, tall trees, fine kitchen garden, and good invigorating air, we have already made up our minds that it will not do for our home. The house is old and cold and wants rebuilding -- in fact is too much like our own bodies. And, as usual, we were too precipitate in our conclusions about practical matters -- engaging ourselves without due examination into facts. When we saw the house it was inhabited by a family who had taken it for three months and had brought down some waggon loads of furniture. We imagined that this abundant furniture belonged to the house, and have gone through the disillusion of finding it comparatively bare. Still there is nothing to complain of very bitterly. We have many things to enjoy and the weather is to be grieved over for the sake of the nation and not for our private sakes. We shall not probably remain here longer than to the end of October.
My motherly love to all such young ones as may be around you, from Mr. Hall to Florence, and from Florence to Alkie. 839 I do not disturb George in order to ask for messages from him, being sure that his love goes with mine. Ever, dear Friend,
Yours affectionately
M. E. Lewes.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Mrs. William Cross, Blackbrook, 17 September [1873], 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/93714