3125. EBB to Emily Tennyson

As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 18, 231–232.

58 Welbeck street.

Wednesday– [Postmark: 29 September 1852]

My dear Mrs Tennyson,

It is delightful always to have kind words—most delightful to have them from you.

We had resolved on leaving England on the fifth, but you offer us an irresistible motive for staying, in spite of fogs & cold.

So you will see us on tuesday, & we shall come in time for the ceremony—we would not miss the christening for the world.

And I must tell you– A baby has screamed in this house ever since we have been in England, much to my sympathy, .. only, as the child grows fatter & fatter, I have come to consider the screaming to be a sign of prosperity. Still, it is very painful to hear a young child cry– When Wiedeman cried I was always near crying myself. Only the fact is that these little creatures will make much ado about nothing sometimes, & we are wrong in reading their ills too large through our imaginations. I hope to find your darling well & serene on tuesday, & yourself stronger than you seem to be now.

Let me be (why not?)

affectionately yours always

Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Address: Mrs Tennyson / Chapel House / Montpellier [sic] Row / Twickenham.

Publication: BBIS-22, p. 23.

Manuscript: Yale University.

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