GE to Fanny [Mrs. Henry] Houghton, Gorey, 26 May 1857
Title
GE to Fanny [Mrs. Henry] Houghton, Gorey, 26 May 1857
Title
GE to Fanny [Mrs. Henry] Houghton, Gorey, 26 May 1857
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Fanny [Mrs. Henry] Houghton
Date(s)
- 1857-05-26
Place
Gorey
Letter Content
GE to Fanny [Mrs. Henry] Houghton, Gorey, 26 May 1857
MS: Miss Dorothy Evans. Hitherto unpublished.
Rosa Cottage | Gorey | Jersey | May 26th 57.
Dear Fanny
I am going to enclose this letter to Isaac and beg him to address it, for I should not like it to miscarry for want of a full address, though I hope my previous letter reached you in spite of that deficiency.
First, let me say that I hope Henry is rapidly recovering from his accident and freeing you from all anxiety on his account.
Next, let me ask you to open your eyes and look surprized, for I am going to tell you some very unexpected news. I am sure you retain enough friendship and sisterly affection for me to be glad that I should have a kind husband to love me and take care of me. Our paths in life lie far apart, but I, at least, shall always remember with gratitude how kind you were to me in old days, and how much pleasure it gave me to talk with you.
My husband has been well known to me for years, and marriage is a very sober and serious thing when people are as old as we are, so that the future is as little of a problem to me, as it can be to any of us. He is older than I am, not at all full of wealth or beauty, but very full indeed of literature and physiology and zoology and other invisible endowments, which happily have their market value. Still better, he is a man of high honor and integrity and the kindest heart, of which, of course, I think all the better because it is devoted to me.
We shall both be hard workers, for we have three little boys to keep as well as ourselves. Two of them are in Switzerland, at a delightful school there, and the youngest is at school in England. We shall live chiefly abroad for some time, for while the boys are at school, there is no necessity for our having a fixed residence near London.
My thoughts are very much with dear Chrissey. I have asked Isaac to send me word if she is well enough for me to write to her without a risk of agitating her too much.
[The remainder of this letter is lacking.]
MS: Miss Dorothy Evans. Hitherto unpublished.
Rosa Cottage | Gorey | Jersey | May 26th 57.
Dear Fanny
I am going to enclose this letter to Isaac and beg him to address it, for I should not like it to miscarry for want of a full address, though I hope my previous letter reached you in spite of that deficiency.
First, let me say that I hope Henry is rapidly recovering from his accident and freeing you from all anxiety on his account.
Next, let me ask you to open your eyes and look surprized, for I am going to tell you some very unexpected news. I am sure you retain enough friendship and sisterly affection for me to be glad that I should have a kind husband to love me and take care of me. Our paths in life lie far apart, but I, at least, shall always remember with gratitude how kind you were to me in old days, and how much pleasure it gave me to talk with you.
My husband has been well known to me for years, and marriage is a very sober and serious thing when people are as old as we are, so that the future is as little of a problem to me, as it can be to any of us. He is older than I am, not at all full of wealth or beauty, but very full indeed of literature and physiology and zoology and other invisible endowments, which happily have their market value. Still better, he is a man of high honor and integrity and the kindest heart, of which, of course, I think all the better because it is devoted to me.
We shall both be hard workers, for we have three little boys to keep as well as ourselves. Two of them are in Switzerland, at a delightful school there, and the youngest is at school in England. We shall live chiefly abroad for some time, for while the boys are at school, there is no necessity for our having a fixed residence near London.
My thoughts are very much with dear Chrissey. I have asked Isaac to send me word if she is well enough for me to write to her without a risk of agitating her too much.
[The remainder of this letter is lacking.]
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Fanny [Mrs. Henry] Houghton, Gorey, 26 May 1857, 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/93499