DEAR MRS. FENOLLOSA,--To say that you have sent me the most beautiful
letter that I ever received--certainly the one that most touched me--is
not to say anything at all! Of course I hope to see more of the soul
that could utter such a letter,--every word a blossom fragrant like the
lovely flower to which the letter was tied.
And yet--strange as it may seem--I feel like reproaching you!--It is
not _good_ for a writer to get such a letter;--he ought to be severely
maintained rather in a state of perpetual self-dissatisfaction. You
would spoil him! Nevertheless, how pleasant to know that there is
somebody to whom I can send a book hereafter with a tolerable certainty
of pleasing! I shall not even try to thank you any more now; and I shall
not dare to _re_read your letter for at least a month. But I hope that
my next publication--which is all new--will not have a less welcome in
your heart.
Ever with kindliest sympathies,--and unspoken gratitude for the
delicious letter and the delicious flower,