Our loves to the noble boy and to dear Mrs. Macready.
Ever, my dearest Macready,
Your attached and affectionate.
Mr. Edmund Ollier.
Gad's Hill Place, Higham by Rochester, Kent,
Tuesday, Aug. 3rd, 1869.
My dear Mr. Ollier,
I am very sensible of the feeling of the Committee towards me; and I receive their invitation (conveyed through you) as a most acceptable mark of their consideration.
But I have a very strong objection to speech-making beside graves. I do not expect or wish my feeling in this wise to guide other men; still, it is so serious with me, and the idea of ever being the subject of such a ceremony myself is so repugnant to my soul, that I must decline to officiate.
Faithfully yours always.
Miss Dickens.