GE to the Hon. Lady Lytton, London, 24 April 1880
Title
GE to the Hon. Lady Lytton, London, 24 April 1880
Title
GE to the Hon. Lady Lytton, London, 24 April 1880
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
the Hon. Lady Lyt
Date(s)
- 1880-04-24
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to the Hon. Lady Lytton, London, 24 April 1880
Text: Cross, III, 389-391.
The beautiful photograph has reached me safely, and I am very grateful to you for your kindness in sending it to me. In comparing it with the photograph which you gave me seven or eight years ago, I see the effect of a saddening experience which the years must bring to us all, but to my feeling the face is the more endearing because of that effect.
You have been very often in my thoughts, because I have associated you with public affairs, and have imagined sympathetically how they must have affected your private life. I am sure that this momentous experience in India has been a hard discipline both for you and for Lord Lytton. 393 I can imagine he has often been sick at heart with the near vision which his post forces on him, of human meanness and rancour. You, too, must have gathered some melancholy knowledge of that sort, which has perhaps changed a little the curves of the mouth and the glance of the eyes since those Vienna days, when the delightful M. de Villers 394 helped to make the hours pleasant to us.
I saw the photographs of your daughters, which gave me an idea how fast the dramatic authoress has developed physically as well as mentally. When I first saw her at Vienna she was the prettiest little rosebud. 395
Mrs Strachey 396 called the other day when I was out, and among other reasons for my being sorry not to have seen her, was the having missed some authentic news about your probable movements. What happens to you will always have interest for me, since I have long been, with sincere regard, yours most truly.
Text: Cross, III, 389-391.
The beautiful photograph has reached me safely, and I am very grateful to you for your kindness in sending it to me. In comparing it with the photograph which you gave me seven or eight years ago, I see the effect of a saddening experience which the years must bring to us all, but to my feeling the face is the more endearing because of that effect.
You have been very often in my thoughts, because I have associated you with public affairs, and have imagined sympathetically how they must have affected your private life. I am sure that this momentous experience in India has been a hard discipline both for you and for Lord Lytton. 393 I can imagine he has often been sick at heart with the near vision which his post forces on him, of human meanness and rancour. You, too, must have gathered some melancholy knowledge of that sort, which has perhaps changed a little the curves of the mouth and the glance of the eyes since those Vienna days, when the delightful M. de Villers 394 helped to make the hours pleasant to us.
I saw the photographs of your daughters, which gave me an idea how fast the dramatic authoress has developed physically as well as mentally. When I first saw her at Vienna she was the prettiest little rosebud. 395
Mrs Strachey 396 called the other day when I was out, and among other reasons for my being sorry not to have seen her, was the having missed some authentic news about your probable movements. What happens to you will always have interest for me, since I have long been, with sincere regard, yours most truly.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to the Hon. Lady Lytton, London, 24 April 1880, 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/94148