GE to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, Shottermill, 20 [August 1871]
Title
GE to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, Shottermill, 20 [August 1871]
Title
GE to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, Shottermill, 20 [August 1871]
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon
Date(s)
- 1871-08-20
Place
Shottermill
Letter Content
GE to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, Shottermill, 20 [August 1871]
MS: Mr. Philip Leigh-Smith. Envelope: Madame Bodichon | Scalands | Robertsbridge | Hawkhurst. Postmarks: PETERSFIELD | A | AU 20 | 71; HAWKHURST | B | AU 21 | 71; ROBERTSBRIDGE | A | AU 22 | 71. Hitherto unpublished.
Cherrimans | Shottermill | Petersfield | Sunday, 20.
Dearest Barbara
The irregularities of the Post here are exasperating, and George has been in a constant state of r'e9clamations. Your former letter dated Tuesday, I answered immediately on receiving it, telling you that we should be delighted to see you, that we could give you a bed (unless you preferred the inn), and that you must let us know if possible when you would arrive at Haslemere Station, that you might be duly met and that we might arrange our dinner-hour to suit you.
And lo! now on-this unhappy Sunday morning we get a second note from you, showing that on Friday you had not received my letter punctually written on the Wednesday.
Whether this will get to Scalands in time before you start for Tunbridge I am necessarily uncertain, and write with little more than a forlorn hope.
George says, if you will telegraph from Tunbridge to say when you will be at Haslemere Station, he will meet you and escort you hither. There is a palatial bedroom here, but if you reject that, there is a Railway Hotel, just opposite the station. We are 'bc of an hour or 20 m. beyond the station.
It is a vexatious business that you did not get my letter. 351
Always your loving
Marian.
MS: Mr. Philip Leigh-Smith. Envelope: Madame Bodichon | Scalands | Robertsbridge | Hawkhurst. Postmarks: PETERSFIELD | A | AU 20 | 71; HAWKHURST | B | AU 21 | 71; ROBERTSBRIDGE | A | AU 22 | 71. Hitherto unpublished.
Cherrimans | Shottermill | Petersfield | Sunday, 20.
Dearest Barbara
The irregularities of the Post here are exasperating, and George has been in a constant state of r'e9clamations. Your former letter dated Tuesday, I answered immediately on receiving it, telling you that we should be delighted to see you, that we could give you a bed (unless you preferred the inn), and that you must let us know if possible when you would arrive at Haslemere Station, that you might be duly met and that we might arrange our dinner-hour to suit you.
And lo! now on-this unhappy Sunday morning we get a second note from you, showing that on Friday you had not received my letter punctually written on the Wednesday.
Whether this will get to Scalands in time before you start for Tunbridge I am necessarily uncertain, and write with little more than a forlorn hope.
George says, if you will telegraph from Tunbridge to say when you will be at Haslemere Station, he will meet you and escort you hither. There is a palatial bedroom here, but if you reject that, there is a Railway Hotel, just opposite the station. We are 'bc of an hour or 20 m. beyond the station.
It is a vexatious business that you did not get my letter. 351
Always your loving
Marian.
Signature
Marian.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, Shottermill, 20 [August 1871], 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/93081