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Wednesday [16.03.1859]

My dear William, Solemn events have happened. Mrs Grut is gone for ever this is how it came about.

On Monday at breakfast mama said very civilly that she wanted some alterariration in Horace's lessons. Mrs Grut was evidently ruffled at that, & then I said that I thought s'eloigner wasn't to ramble very mildly

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& that ruffed her again & she made me some rude speech or other "Oh very well if I knew better than the dictionary." I quite lost that speech then repeated it afterwards.

Nothing more came of it then, & all case went smooth till I went up to my german lesson in the evening. When I came in I saw there was

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the devil in her face well she scolded the children a bit & then sat down by me, when I showed her my lesson (a bit of very bad French) she said, if I knew better than she did it was no use her teaching me & so & so on, till it came to a crisis, & she left worked herself into a

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regular rage. Oh you've no feelings, but I have, I feel these things & so on. This all referred to my saying I thought s'eloigner wasn't to ramble, she had been brooding over it all day & then when she had got me all to herself herself it burst forth, I left the room then, & went down stairs to tell my injuries

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When Papa & Mama heard all about it they settled she shd go at once, so Papa wrote a letter telling her she shd have her 33 £ & nothing more. Mama went upstairs to watch till the children had done, they all came out crying. After she cdn't scold me she fell upon them I suppose, then Papa was to go upstairs & deliver the letter. The very first thing she said

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was "I don't care for your legal notice to quit" & tossed the letter on one side, "Mrs Darwin engaged me for six months & you'll have to keep me. The line of conduct they had settled upon was not tell her why she was sent away so that if there was a lawsuit it might only rest upon whether we had the right to dismiss

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her without paying her board & lodging. I Papa got such a torrent, telling him he was no gentleman, & white with passion all the time wanting to know what she had done what he had to accuse her of─ telling him he was in a passion— she wd give him time to think.

Some time ago Papa wrote to his solicitor to ask him what he was to do about salary

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& his advise was pay the salary but not the board & lodging. We had a very flustered tea. & in the all evening we sat preparing for the worst, what we shd do if she refused to go out of the house etc. However she did turn out much milder & sent us a letter to say she wd go on Wednesday.

Papa ha still is not sure whether we mayn't have

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