Robert Lytton to GHL, [Knebworth, June 1872]
Title
Robert Lytton to GHL, [Knebworth, June 1872]
Title
Robert Lytton to GHL, [Knebworth, June 1872]
Sender
Robert Lytton
Recipient
M
Date(s)
- 1872-06
Place
Knebworth
Letter Content
Robert Lytton to GHL, [Knebworth, June 1872]
MS: Newnham College, Cambridge.
Wednesday morning.
My dear Lewes
Your little line to Edith, received and warmly welcomed this morning, has been anticipated, as you will see, by little lines from both of us to your dear wife. I have nothing to add this morning except ("on behalf of self and Partner") this expression of the very great pleasure it has given both of us to hear from you. I am also, above all things, rejoiced, on the world's behalf, as well as my own, to learn that you are [hard at work.] I wish I was. What with the reaction from a very laborious and anxious charg'e9 d' affaireship and an extra supply of stupidity from shaken health, I pass my days just now in wishing much, and doing nothing. I can say of work however what the French lady said of Virtue -- cela a toujours 'e9t'e9 pour moi un effort rarement couron[n]'e9 de succ'e9s.
What is your son doing in Africa? I mean -- besides being happy. Our two little girls are growing very fast, and growing very pretty.
I don't wonder at your being startled by the likeness between those two Dromias, Lizzie and Edith. I always tell my wife that she is half a charming woman. I don't [know] which has the best half of that charming woman, Henry Loch or myself. But I am well content with my own half.
Write again whenever you feel in a charitable disposition. Mr. Casaubon is excellent, but as he is quite good enough to die, and too good to change for the better in this world, I hope for Dorothea's sake that it will please her creator to remove him to another world before the end of the book. 107
Here is a riddle for you, the character of which must be excused by your knowledge of my present domestic circumstances. What is the difference entre un conspirateur et une nour[r]ice? Le conspirateur a toujours un dessien cach'e9. La nour[r]ice a toujours un des seins d'e9couverts.
Adieu! adieu! adieu! Your ever affectionate
R. Lytton.
MS: Newnham College, Cambridge.
Wednesday morning.
My dear Lewes
Your little line to Edith, received and warmly welcomed this morning, has been anticipated, as you will see, by little lines from both of us to your dear wife. I have nothing to add this morning except ("on behalf of self and Partner") this expression of the very great pleasure it has given both of us to hear from you. I am also, above all things, rejoiced, on the world's behalf, as well as my own, to learn that you are [hard at work.] I wish I was. What with the reaction from a very laborious and anxious charg'e9 d' affaireship and an extra supply of stupidity from shaken health, I pass my days just now in wishing much, and doing nothing. I can say of work however what the French lady said of Virtue -- cela a toujours 'e9t'e9 pour moi un effort rarement couron[n]'e9 de succ'e9s.
What is your son doing in Africa? I mean -- besides being happy. Our two little girls are growing very fast, and growing very pretty.
I don't wonder at your being startled by the likeness between those two Dromias, Lizzie and Edith. I always tell my wife that she is half a charming woman. I don't [know] which has the best half of that charming woman, Henry Loch or myself. But I am well content with my own half.
Write again whenever you feel in a charitable disposition. Mr. Casaubon is excellent, but as he is quite good enough to die, and too good to change for the better in this world, I hope for Dorothea's sake that it will please her creator to remove him to another world before the end of the book. 107
Here is a riddle for you, the character of which must be excused by your knowledge of my present domestic circumstances. What is the difference entre un conspirateur et une nour[r]ice? Le conspirateur a toujours un dessien cach'e9. La nour[r]ice a toujours un des seins d'e9couverts.
Adieu! adieu! adieu! Your ever affectionate
R. Lytton.
Signature
R. Lytton.
Citation
Robert Lytton, Robert Lytton to GHL, [Knebworth, June 1872], 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/95588