GE to Emily Southwood Hill, Redhill, 30 June 1872
Title
GE to Emily Southwood Hill, Redhill, 30 June 1872
Title
GE to Emily Southwood Hill, Redhill, 30 June 1872
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Emily Southwood Hill
Date(s)
- 1872-06-30
Place
Redhill
Letter Content
GE to Emily Southwood Hill, Redhill, 30 June 1872
Text: Paterson, pp. 159-160.
Park Road, | Red Hill. | June 30, 1872.
My dear Minnie, 547
I hope that Gertrude is link enough between us for me to be allowed to call you by that pretty name. For though we have not seen much of each other face to face during these seven years, regard is not always to be measured by direct intercourse, and there has been an unbroken thread of affectionate interest about you in my heart ever since we first met -- at church you remember when we had Mr. Maurice 548 preaching to us, and next at Hampstead one evening when I was particularly pleased that you took an opportunity of coming to sit by me. Whenever Gertrude could tell me anything about you I listened and kept a record of it. And so I thought I might claim the privilege of sharing a little in Gertrude's happy work of preparing pretty things for the great epoch which is coming in your life. I did not in the first instance mean that it should be other than a secret between her and me, but when she wrote implying that it would give you pleasure to know, I could not object, for I shall like to believe that you associate me with something that enters into your life as a convenience. 549
When I use the singular person please understand that it includes
Mr. Lewes, who shares all my feelings towards you. We have often spoken, chiefly in our peaceful walks, of our trust in the graver happiness in store for you. Surely, dear, there is greater promise in your future, for you enter on it after rich experience in close ties, and in duties well fulfilled.
Think of us always as your warm friends and believe me -- I am at this moment solitary 550 and can send no special message --
Yours with sincere affection,
M. E. Lewes
Text: Paterson, pp. 159-160.
Park Road, | Red Hill. | June 30, 1872.
My dear Minnie, 547
I hope that Gertrude is link enough between us for me to be allowed to call you by that pretty name. For though we have not seen much of each other face to face during these seven years, regard is not always to be measured by direct intercourse, and there has been an unbroken thread of affectionate interest about you in my heart ever since we first met -- at church you remember when we had Mr. Maurice 548 preaching to us, and next at Hampstead one evening when I was particularly pleased that you took an opportunity of coming to sit by me. Whenever Gertrude could tell me anything about you I listened and kept a record of it. And so I thought I might claim the privilege of sharing a little in Gertrude's happy work of preparing pretty things for the great epoch which is coming in your life. I did not in the first instance mean that it should be other than a secret between her and me, but when she wrote implying that it would give you pleasure to know, I could not object, for I shall like to believe that you associate me with something that enters into your life as a convenience. 549
When I use the singular person please understand that it includes
Mr. Lewes, who shares all my feelings towards you. We have often spoken, chiefly in our peaceful walks, of our trust in the graver happiness in store for you. Surely, dear, there is greater promise in your future, for you enter on it after rich experience in close ties, and in duties well fulfilled.
Think of us always as your warm friends and believe me -- I am at this moment solitary 550 and can send no special message --
Yours with sincere affection,
M. E. Lewes
Signature
M. E. Lewes
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Emily Southwood Hill, Redhill, 30 June 1872, 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/92322