“Within a short distance lives Birket Foster, and nearer still that charming water-colour painter, Mrs. Allingham.
“But my mind is full of George Eliot, her books, her life, her struggles, aspirations——
“The carriage is here for a drive, so I have to conclude abruptly.”
Here is a letter telling of one of her summer trips—the meeting alluded to being that first important interview with the Endowed Schools Commission—
“Harwich, Aug. 8, 1873.
“My dear Alfred and Léonie,
“The sea is rolling in before my window; except for that pleasant sound, nothing else can be heard! The sun is shining on the opposite coast of the river Orwell, while on my right stretches out the German Ocean.
“Having leisure before service, and again, as I hope, after it, what better can I do with it than write a little acknowledgment of your loving letters....
“I left home last Thursday, met Sep at Kelvedon, stayed there till Saturday. The doctor, father, and I drove to Colchester, thence to Manningtree and here, where we are planted for a week. On Monday I go by train (the father and uncle drive up, taking three days), attend the meeting on Tuesday, and on Wednesday start for Dover, Ostend, and Brussels, where Sep will meet us. Miss Jeanie Ridley travels with us. On Saturday week Uncle Henry joins me in Brussels, and we go on to Cologne, thence sleeping at Mayence, and going next morning to Homburg, that I may, for the first and last time, see the gambling-tables. They are to be closed this year. At Heidelberg Miss J. Ridley leaves us, to remain with her friends there, and we go on to Zurich, over the Splügen, returning by Strasburg and Paris.
“This route will take us to Venice by way of the Brenner Pass, between Munich and Verona.