John W. Cross to Isaac P. Evans, London, 22 December 1880
Title
John W. Cross to Isaac P. Evans, London, 22 December 1880
Title
John W. Cross to Isaac P. Evans, London, 22 December 1880
Sender
John Walter Cross
Recipient
Isaac P. Evans
Date(s)
- 1880-12-22
Place
London
Letter Content
John W. Cross to Isaac P. Evans, London, 22 December 1880
MS: British Museum.
Cheyne Walk, | Chelsea, S.W.
December 1880.
My dear Mr. Evans,
I scarcely know how to write and tell you that your noble sister and my wife died this night a little before 10 o'clock. I can scarcely realize yet that the crown of my life is gone. It has all been so very sudden. She was very ill this summer with a renal complaint of some standing but had quite recovered and we had just got into our new house here. On Friday last she went with me to St. George's Hall Langham Place to see the Agamemnon acted: on Saturday we were at the Popular Concert where I think she must have caught a chill for on Sunday evening she complained of a little sore throat and on Monday morning her throat being rather worse I went up for Dr. Andrew Clark who has been her chief medical attendant for some years. He was unable to come to see her that day but gave me a letter to a friend and old pupil of his Mr. W. G. Mackenzie who lives near here. Mr. Mackenzie came on Monday afternoon and again in the evening but thought there was nothing worse than a violent affection of the larynx causing great difficulty in swallowing. She had a wretched night on Monday but on Tuesday morning the pulse was down to 80 @ 90 and temperature to 99. Mr. Mackenzie came to see her twice on Tuesday and was not at all anxious about her state. When he came again on Wednesday (this) morning he found a great change for the worse -- the pulse having got much quicker and the breathing disturbed. She was also suffering from great pain over the right kidney. He came back at 2 and found her worse again and when Dr. Andrew Clark arrived at 6 o'clock he at once declared there was little or no hope and at 10 o'clock she passed away without any pain -- the cold had travelled down to the pericardium and complete loss of power of the heart supervened. I cannot write anything more tonight. I do not at all realize yet what has happened. It has all been so frightfully sudden. We have only been married a little over 7 months and one of the most gratifying collateral incidents of our marriage was that it broke the long silence that had existed between you and your sister.
I will write you again when a day has been fixed for the funeral. I am quite dazed tonight but I feel that you should be written to first of all. The Brother "who leaned soft cheeks together" 565 with her in the old old days.
In great woe,
Yours very truly,
J. W. Cross.
MS: British Museum.
Cheyne Walk, | Chelsea, S.W.
December 1880.
My dear Mr. Evans,
I scarcely know how to write and tell you that your noble sister and my wife died this night a little before 10 o'clock. I can scarcely realize yet that the crown of my life is gone. It has all been so very sudden. She was very ill this summer with a renal complaint of some standing but had quite recovered and we had just got into our new house here. On Friday last she went with me to St. George's Hall Langham Place to see the Agamemnon acted: on Saturday we were at the Popular Concert where I think she must have caught a chill for on Sunday evening she complained of a little sore throat and on Monday morning her throat being rather worse I went up for Dr. Andrew Clark who has been her chief medical attendant for some years. He was unable to come to see her that day but gave me a letter to a friend and old pupil of his Mr. W. G. Mackenzie who lives near here. Mr. Mackenzie came on Monday afternoon and again in the evening but thought there was nothing worse than a violent affection of the larynx causing great difficulty in swallowing. She had a wretched night on Monday but on Tuesday morning the pulse was down to 80 @ 90 and temperature to 99. Mr. Mackenzie came to see her twice on Tuesday and was not at all anxious about her state. When he came again on Wednesday (this) morning he found a great change for the worse -- the pulse having got much quicker and the breathing disturbed. She was also suffering from great pain over the right kidney. He came back at 2 and found her worse again and when Dr. Andrew Clark arrived at 6 o'clock he at once declared there was little or no hope and at 10 o'clock she passed away without any pain -- the cold had travelled down to the pericardium and complete loss of power of the heart supervened. I cannot write anything more tonight. I do not at all realize yet what has happened. It has all been so frightfully sudden. We have only been married a little over 7 months and one of the most gratifying collateral incidents of our marriage was that it broke the long silence that had existed between you and your sister.
I will write you again when a day has been fixed for the funeral. I am quite dazed tonight but I feel that you should be written to first of all. The Brother "who leaned soft cheeks together" 565 with her in the old old days.
In great woe,
Yours very truly,
J. W. Cross.
Signature
J. W. Cross.
Citation
John Walter Cross, John W. Cross to Isaac P. Evans, London, 22 December 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/95505