_Vailima_, _Samoa_, _April_ 17_th_, 1894.
MY DEAR MEREDITH,—Many good things have the gods sent to me of late.
First of all there was a letter from you by the kind hand of Mariette, if
she is not too great a lady to be remembered in such a style; and then
there came one Lysaght with a charming note of introduction in the
well-known hand itself. We had but a few days of him, and liked him
well. There was a sort of geniality and inward fire about him at which I
warmed my hands. It is long since I have seen a young man who has left
in me such a favourable impression; and I find myself telling myself, ‘O,
I must tell this to Lysaght,’ or, ‘This will interest him,’ in a manner
very unusual after so brief an acquaintance. The whole of my family
shared in this favourable impression, and my halls have re-echoed ever
since, I am sure he will be amused to know, with _Widdicombe Fair_.
He will have told you doubtless more of my news than I could tell you
myself; he has your European perspective, a thing long lost to me. I
heard with a great deal of interest the news of Box Hill. And so I
understand it is to be enclosed! Allow me to remark, that seems a far
more barbaric trait of manners than the most barbarous of ours. We
content ourselves with cutting off an occasional head.
I hear we may soon expect the _Amazing Marriage_. You know how long, and
with how much curiosity, I have looked forward to the book. Now, in so
far as you have adhered to your intention, Gower Woodsere will be a
family portrait, age twenty-five, of the highly respectable and slightly
influential and fairly aged _Tusitala_. You have not known that
gentleman; console yourself, he is not worth knowing. At the same time,
my dear Meredith, he is very sincerely yours—for what he is worth, for
the memories of old times, and in the expectation of many pleasures still
to come. I suppose we shall never see each other again; flitting youths
of the Lysaght species may occasionally cover these unconscionable
leagues and bear greetings to and fro. But we ourselves must be content
to converse on an occasional sheet of notepaper, and I shall never see
whether you have grown older, and you shall never deplore that Gower
Woodsere should have declined into the pantaloon _Tusitala_. It is
perhaps better so. Let us continue to see each other as we were, and
accept, my dear Meredith, my love and respect.