October 26.
My dear love, I began to wish so earnestly to hear from you, that the
sight of your letters occasioned such pleasurable emotions, I was
obliged to throw them aside till the little girl and I were alone
together; and this said little girl, our darling, is become a most
intelligent little creature, and as gay as a lark, and that in the
morning too, which I do not find quite so convenient. I once told you,
that the sensations before she was born, and when she is sucking, were
pleasant; but they do not deserve to be compared to the emotions I feel,
when she stops to smile upon me, or laughs outright on meeting me
unexpectedly in the street, or after a short absence. She has now the
advantage of having two good nurses, and I am at present able to
discharge my duty to her, without being the slave of it.
I have therefore employed and amused myself since I got rid of ——, and
am making a progress in the language amongst other things. I have also
made some new acquaintance. I have almost _charmed_ a judge of the
tribunal, R——, who, though I should not have thought it possible, has
humanity, if not _beaucoup d’esprit_. But let me tell you, if you do not
make haste back, I shall be half in love with the author of the
_Marseillaise_, who is a handsome man, a little too broad-faced or so,
and plays sweetly on the violin.
What do you say to this threat?—why, _entre nous_, I like to give way to
a sprightly vein, when writing to you. “The devil,” you know, is
proverbially said to be “in a good humour, when he is pleased.” Will you
not then be a good boy, and come back quickly to play with your girls?
but I shall not allow you to love the new-comer best.
— — — — —
— — — — —
My heart longs for your return, my love, and only looks for, and seeks
happiness with you; yet do not imagine that I childishly wish you to
come back, before you have arranged things in such a manner, that it
will not be necessary for you to leave us soon again, or to make
exertions which injure your constitution.
Yours most truly and tenderly
* * * *
P. S. You would oblige me by delivering the inclosed to Mr. ——, and pray
call for an answer.—It is for a person uncomfortably situated.