GE to Mrs. Elma Stuart, London, 27 May 1877
Title
GE to Mrs. Elma Stuart, London, 27 May 1877
Title
GE to Mrs. Elma Stuart, London, 27 May 1877
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Mrs. Elma Stuart
Date(s)
- 1877-05-27
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Mrs. Elma Stuart, London, 27 May 1877
MS: British Museum. Published: Stuart, pp. 81-83.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
May 27. 77.
Dearest Elma
What other fingers than yours could have put in those myriad stitches slowly growing into apple and cherry blossoms for my sake? I must have known who was the sender of the little packet that came last night even if it had not had your writing on it.
I hope that the lovely flowers on the pale blue were created in spare moments when you were either chatting happily or meditating peacefully, and that you never looked at the petals through gathering tears, unless the tears were of that sort which come from a sense of good too deep for smiles to express. I can imagine various ornamental uses to which the precious square -- fair enough for an altar -- might be put. But I should like to know what use you had in your mind, and how you have been conceiving its place, so that I may carry out your idea as completely as possible.
On Thursday the 31st we go to Cambridge while our servants will be busy in removing furniture, and from Cambridge we shall pass straight to our Witley home, where we hope to rest in quiet for four or five months. I think we have told you the address, but I repeat it for security -- [The Heights, Witley, Surrey.] We are going to camp there experimentally, merely sending down necessaries. For if we like the house and decide to keep it, there is still a great deal of work to be done to it, so that it must in any case have been emptied again. I wish we never had to think of these outside things. The small remainder of our lives seems all too little for the emotions and ideas which are aloof from our own chairs and tables, dinner-service and paper-hangings.
Let us know what you mean to do this summer and whether you think of coming to England. It is too long since we had precise news of you. How is Roland? Our love to him, and wishes that he may be growing in grace and favour with the best judges. Mrs. Menzies' gentle face has doubtless looked benignantly at my apple blossoms, if her fingers have not here and there put in a stitch. Commend us to her kind remembrance. Always, dearest Elma
Your loving Mother (in the spirit)
M. E. Lewes.
MS: British Museum. Published: Stuart, pp. 81-83.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
May 27. 77.
Dearest Elma
What other fingers than yours could have put in those myriad stitches slowly growing into apple and cherry blossoms for my sake? I must have known who was the sender of the little packet that came last night even if it had not had your writing on it.
I hope that the lovely flowers on the pale blue were created in spare moments when you were either chatting happily or meditating peacefully, and that you never looked at the petals through gathering tears, unless the tears were of that sort which come from a sense of good too deep for smiles to express. I can imagine various ornamental uses to which the precious square -- fair enough for an altar -- might be put. But I should like to know what use you had in your mind, and how you have been conceiving its place, so that I may carry out your idea as completely as possible.
On Thursday the 31st we go to Cambridge while our servants will be busy in removing furniture, and from Cambridge we shall pass straight to our Witley home, where we hope to rest in quiet for four or five months. I think we have told you the address, but I repeat it for security -- [The Heights, Witley, Surrey.] We are going to camp there experimentally, merely sending down necessaries. For if we like the house and decide to keep it, there is still a great deal of work to be done to it, so that it must in any case have been emptied again. I wish we never had to think of these outside things. The small remainder of our lives seems all too little for the emotions and ideas which are aloof from our own chairs and tables, dinner-service and paper-hangings.
Let us know what you mean to do this summer and whether you think of coming to England. It is too long since we had precise news of you. How is Roland? Our love to him, and wishes that he may be growing in grace and favour with the best judges. Mrs. Menzies' gentle face has doubtless looked benignantly at my apple blossoms, if her fingers have not here and there put in a stitch. Commend us to her kind remembrance. Always, dearest Elma
Your loving Mother (in the spirit)
M. E. Lewes.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Mrs. Elma Stuart, London, 27 May 1877, 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/93405