[December, 1844]
_Darlingest Phoebe_,
I knew that a letter must come to-day; and it cheered and satisfied
me, as mine did thee. How we love one another! Blessed we! What a blot
I have made of that word "blessed"! But the consciousness of bliss is
as clear as crystal in my heart, though now and then, in great stress
of earthly perplexities, a mist bedims its surface.
Belovedest, it will not be anywise necessary for thee to see Bridge at
all, before I come,--nor then either, if thou preferrest meeting him
in Concord. If I find him resolved to go to Concord, at any rate, I
shall not bring him to see thee in Boston; because, as a lady ought,
thou appearest to best advantage in thine own house. I merely asked
him to call at 13 West-street to learn my whereabout--not to be
introduced to thee. Indeed; I should prefer thy not seeing him till I
come. It was his purpose to be in Boston before this time; but
probably he has remained in Washington to see the opening of Congress,
and perhaps to try whether he can help forward our official
enterprises. Unless he arrive sooner, I purpose to remain here till
Wednesday, and to leave on the evening of that day.
I have not yet called on the Pickmen or the Feet, but solemnly purpose
so to do, before I leave Salem.
Mr. Upham, it is said, has resigned his pastorship. When he returned
from Concord, he told the most pitiable stories about our poverty and
misery; so as almost to make it appear that we were suffering for
food. Everybody that speaks to me seems tacitly to take it for granted
that we are in a very desperate condition, and that a government
office is the only alternative of the almshouse. I care not for the
reputation of being wealthier than I am; but we never have been quite
paupers, and need not have been represented as such.
Now good-bye, mine ownest little wife! I thank God above all things
that thou art my wife--next that Una is our child. I shall come back
to thee with tenfold as much love as ever I felt before. Nobody but we
ever knew what it is to be married. We alone know the bliss and the
mystery; if other people knew it, this dull old earth would have a
perpetual glow round about it.
Mrs. Sophia A. Hawthorne,
Care of Dr. N. Peabody,
Boston, Mass.