RECORD: Litchfield, Henrietta Emma. [1871].09.14. Letter to Jane Lushington. CUL-DAR245.500. Edited by John van Wyhe (Darwin Online, http://darwin-online.org.uk/)
REVISION HISTORY: Transcribed by Christine Chua and edited by John van Wyhe 11.2023. RN1
NOTE: See record in the Darwin Online manuscript catalogue, enter its Identifier here. Reproduced with permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University Library and William Huxley Darwin. The volume CUL-DAR245 contains correspondence and papers of Henrietta Emma Darwin, later Litchfield.
Jane Lushington née Mowatt. Married Vernon Lushington in 1865. Henrietta met Richard Litchfield through their friendship. Close family friends.
[1]
Hotel Sonnenburg Seelisburg Lucerne
Sept 14. [date added later:] 1871
My dear Jane,
Your kind & affectionate letter followed us here, after some wanderings, which will account for my delay in answering it. The fact is we have rather changed our plans & have stayed on in Switzerland which all our letters have been sent to Italy.
Thank you very much for writing to me. It will make a
[1v]
beginning of our new relationship & I hope, as you say, that we shall meet very soon after we come back to England. […]
[2]
underground station & a few other little necessities.
I believe Richard has not written to you since the wedding which we think a model one.
It was so nice to have no fuss whatever, a wedding cake seemed like a festivity. (I hope they sent your children a good lump to eat to our happiness.)
You know Richard even did without a best man. This was very good on his part, but it made such a difference to
[2v]
my Father to have the house absolutely quiet. He was in such a particularly low nervous state that I was afraid my eldest brother would have to give me away, which neither my Father nor I should have liked, but I am glad to say he did manage to come to church & since I have had good accounts of him. This has been such a comfort to me – it would have been very melancholy to leave home just when I was most wanted.
We are in a lovely place here
[3]
The hotel is on the edge of great cliffs […]
[3v]
people are so free we can change our minds as often as ever we like. […]
With Richard's & my love to you all.
believe me, yours affectly
Henrietta Litchfield
Citation: John van Wyhe, ed. 2002-. The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online. (http://darwin-online.org.uk/)
File last updated 19 November, 2023