[Boston—Sunday, 20 October 1867]
Sunday October 19th [sic]. These ten active days have slipped by and I have scarcely taken a pen in my hands. In the meantime I have been obliged to send off my waitress who proved dull-witted and incompetent, though clean & a girl of excellent intentions wh. made it rather a sad thing to be obliged to do. Now I have taken an English servant in her place, who is capable enough & willing but she has a temper. I could pray that the poor girl might keep it well controlled, not that I fear for myself but for the other servants.
I have had the torment of two sewing women besides, making five maids this week, but they have accomplished an immense amount of sewing & have put my wardrobe in order for six months I hope & believe. Beside wh. the weather has been perfect and every afternoon we have been in the country—no not every for Wednesday was the anniversary of our engagement-day & we tried hard to make it a holiday but business pushed & would not let us but we took our revenge Thursday by going to Roxbury, Friday to Cambridge where the foliage of individual trees was exquisite in beauty and Saturday to dine with the Quinceys.
We found Mr Whittier here Friday night on our return from Cambridge. He stayed to tea and until ten o clock talking most interestingly. Talking of Miss Sedgwick, how he loved her & if he had known her better would have written something to embalm her memory if possible or at least render his tribute, he went on to say that a woman had just died among the Friends at Lynn, whom he thought about as good a woman as he had ever known by the name of Avis Keene. He had been to see Mrs Thaxter among the hills of Watertown.
