I should have been very glad to join your pleasant party, but all next
week I shall be laid up with a broken heart, for I must occupy myself in
finishing the "Curiosity Shop," and it is such a painful task to me that
I must concentrate myself upon it tooth and nail, and go out nowhere
until it is done.
I have delayed answering your kind note in a vague hope of being
heart-whole again by the seventh. The present state of my work, however
(Christmas not being a very favourable season for making progress in
such doings), assures me that this cannot be, and that I must heroically
deny myself the pleasure you offer.
Always believe me,
Faithfully yours.
[Sidenote: Mr. George Cattermole.]