Edith Simcox, Autobiography, 26 May 1878
Title
Edith Simcox, Autobiography, 26 May 1878
Title
Edith Simcox, Autobiography, 26 May 1878
Sender
Edith Simcox
Recipient
U
Date(s)
- 1878-05-26
Place
London
Letter Content
Edith Simcox, Autobiography, 26 May 1878
MS: Bodleian.
Sunday 26 May 1878
May 26. On Monday next (20th) Mary came back from Egypt and just as she was leaving with her mother, the carriage drove up (I was in the doorway with Mrs. Hamilton and their cab had just drawn up so that the Lewes's carriage stopped further down the street). I rushed down the muddy pavement to greet them and then beckoned Mary, who was kindly welcomed -- then Mrs. Hamilton came and begged to introduce herself. Then they (the Lewes) drove off. We spoke for a few moments about silks, then the vision was lost. On Friday [24th] I went with fresh patterns of silk; Johnny was there and she asked me to come some other day, Sunday or Monday or Tuesday. Returning home through Kensington Gardens, if the truth must be told I sat down under a spreading tree and cried. By the next day I was ashamed and on Sunday [26th], rather than write to her, I resolved to go. -- Arrived just after 5, found Miss Helps and a lady, Lord Acton, (I think) Pauli the historian, another German, 441 Mark Pattison, later Kegan Paul and his wife. Talk was of Shakespere's generic superiority to other dramatists.
After the first set had left (I was going but she bade me stay) talk was of translations, ignorance in print and the unprincipledness of even good people like Mrs. Oliphant who write of that whereof they know nothing. I asked Lewes if the poem announced in Macmillan was the "Symposium" 442 as I supposed and he said yes. I am keeping back the sheets of Natural Law so as to get a motto thence. A note concerning silks was posted on Sunday, which got at the shop on the 28th. I answering half apologized for my appearance on Sunday -- a living refutation of the charge of misanthropy she brought in Johnny's presence. On Wednesday was in doubt whether to take or send another variety of silk -- at last resolved to take it and leave the parcel at the door if need were. The servant made me come in; she was very tired, but as I kissed her, her cheek pressed caressingly against mine. Then threw the folds of the silk round sleeves to see the effect in a mass, and as her hand passed near him, he seized it, even as I do, and left a kiss thereon; one of the things for which I am thankful through every jealous pain is the perfectness of the love binding those two together.
MS: Bodleian.
Sunday 26 May 1878
May 26. On Monday next (20th) Mary came back from Egypt and just as she was leaving with her mother, the carriage drove up (I was in the doorway with Mrs. Hamilton and their cab had just drawn up so that the Lewes's carriage stopped further down the street). I rushed down the muddy pavement to greet them and then beckoned Mary, who was kindly welcomed -- then Mrs. Hamilton came and begged to introduce herself. Then they (the Lewes) drove off. We spoke for a few moments about silks, then the vision was lost. On Friday [24th] I went with fresh patterns of silk; Johnny was there and she asked me to come some other day, Sunday or Monday or Tuesday. Returning home through Kensington Gardens, if the truth must be told I sat down under a spreading tree and cried. By the next day I was ashamed and on Sunday [26th], rather than write to her, I resolved to go. -- Arrived just after 5, found Miss Helps and a lady, Lord Acton, (I think) Pauli the historian, another German, 441 Mark Pattison, later Kegan Paul and his wife. Talk was of Shakespere's generic superiority to other dramatists.
After the first set had left (I was going but she bade me stay) talk was of translations, ignorance in print and the unprincipledness of even good people like Mrs. Oliphant who write of that whereof they know nothing. I asked Lewes if the poem announced in Macmillan was the "Symposium" 442 as I supposed and he said yes. I am keeping back the sheets of Natural Law so as to get a motto thence. A note concerning silks was posted on Sunday, which got at the shop on the 28th. I answering half apologized for my appearance on Sunday -- a living refutation of the charge of misanthropy she brought in Johnny's presence. On Wednesday was in doubt whether to take or send another variety of silk -- at last resolved to take it and leave the parcel at the door if need were. The servant made me come in; she was very tired, but as I kissed her, her cheek pressed caressingly against mine. Then threw the folds of the silk round sleeves to see the effect in a mass, and as her hand passed near him, he seized it, even as I do, and left a kiss thereon; one of the things for which I am thankful through every jealous pain is the perfectness of the love binding those two together.
Citation
Edith Simcox, Edith Simcox, Autobiography, 26 May 1878, Complete George Eliot Letters(2026), George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/91798