Further relaxation is out of
the question, and I _will not permit myself to think of it_. My
publisher groans over my long delays; I am sometimes provoked to
check the expression of his impatience with short and crusty answers.
'Yet the pleasure I now deny myself I would fain regard as only
deferred. I heard something about your proposing to visit Scarbro'
in the course of the summer, and could I by the close of July or
August bring my task to a certain point, how glad should I be to join
you there for awhile!
'Ellen will probably go to the south about May to make a stay of two
or three months; she has formed a plan for my accompanying her and
taking lodgings on the Sussex Coast; but the scheme seems to me
impracticable for many reasons, and, moreover, my medical man doubts
the advisability of my going southward in summer, he says it might
prove very enervating, whereas Scarbro' or Burlington would brace and
strengthen. However, I dare not lay plans at this distance of time.
For me so much must depend, first on papa's health (which throughout
the winter has been, I am thankful to say, really excellent), and
second, on the progress of work, a matter not wholly contingent on
wish or will, but lying in a great measure beyond the reach of effort
and out of the pale of calculation.
Pages:
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417