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Tuesday Oct 3 [date added later:] (1876)

Dear Geo,

There has been no news from Pantlludw for one or two days. The last thing that was said was that Frank had a very regular & methodical life & that Horace was a great comfort. They work in the morning both of them & go a good walk from 4 to 6 - & in the evening there is reading aloud. Mother has

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asked Mr R. [Ruck] to come back with Frank whenever he comes. This will be an immense help to him in his terrible task. He talks of not coming home for a month or 6 weeks – but I hope it will be sooner. I think the longer it is put off the worse it will be. The parents are off tomorrow to L.H.P & then on to Wms [William and Sara] on Sat

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where I hope they will stay a fortnight. We have been having a good many uibber jibbers about the baby [Bernard Darwin]. He has been having 3 very uncomfortable days – with his digestion all wrong. I hope however it s over today for he is sleeping like a little log for 3 hours in the drawing room. He is going to be moved into the new room for the winter or at any rate the present-

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& it will save us all so many stairs – besides being good they say to have the same care on a nursery. We think he is a little Darwin – His weight is 8 lbs 13 oz - & that is his chronicle.

Bessy comes home today just to see the Parents before they are off – She stays behind a week with R. & me – I shall have a good coach of German – I do mean to have a good go this autumn

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to try & get one step further on.

We are intensely interested in the acct of Sedgwick & the Conqueror. How I shd like to go with a conqueror. […]

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now.

Goodbye dear G. your H.E.L.

My back is qui right. Marshall is coming down today for a final talk with Father before they go off. It is rather unlucky no boy being to the fore now. Marshall seems rather an innocent.