_Salem_, Novr. 10th, 1845
_Ownest_,
It was revealed to me that thou didst write on Saturday, and so, at
nightfall, I went to the Post-Office, but found no letter. This
morning, it has arrived, with the postmark of to-day. It gladdens me
to hear of Una's joy, and of thy being with people whom thou knowest
well, and who know thee well, and with whom thou canst have real
intercourse and sympathy. As for us in Castle Dismal, we miss thee
greatly, all of us, and dwell in a deeper shadow for lack of thee, and
that streak of living sunshine with which thou hast illuminated the
earth. Whom do I mean by this brilliant simile? Can it be that little
redheaded personage? Louisa complains of the silence of the house; and
not all their innumerable cats avail to comfort them in the least. Thy
husband thinks of thee when he ought to be scribbling nonsense--and
very empty and worthless is his daily life, without thee.
Nevertheless, if thou art at ease, do not come home in less than a
week. I feel as if it were good for thee to be there, and good for Una
too. Louisa told me, yesterday, with some alarm in her manner, that
Dr. Moss (thy medical friend) says that the illness from vaccination
does not come on, or does not reach its crisis, till the ninth day.
Can this be so? And will it be necessary to wait so long? That would
postpone thy return till the middle of next week--a term to which I
cannot yet reconcile myself.
I read Una's note, addressed to "Madame Hawthorne," then sealed it up
and threw it downstairs. Doubtless, they find it a most interesting
communication; and I feel a little shamefaced about meeting them.
I hear nothing from Washington as yet; nor, indeed, is it yet time to
expect any definite intelligence. Meanwhile Pike and thy friend David
are planning to buy us an estate, and build a house, and have even
gone so far as to mark out the ground-plot of the house, in chalk, on
David's hearth. I fear it will prove a castle in the air; and yet, a
moderate smile of Providence would cause it to spring out of the
earth, on that beautiful hillside, like a flower in the summer time.
With a cottage of our own, and the surveyorship, how happy we might
be!--happier than in Concord, on many accounts. The Surveyorship I
think we shall have; but the cottage implies an extra thousand or
fifteen hundred dollars.
I have heard of Mr. Atherton's being in Boston since thy
departure;--whether Mrs. Atherton is with him I know not. Governor
Fairfield, I understand, starts for Washington to-day.
God bless thee, dearest!--and blessed be our daughter, whom I love
next to thee! Again, if thou feelest it good for thee, on any account,
to stay longer in Boston, do not hasten home;--but whenever thou
comest, my heart will open to take thee in.