“June 5th, 1854.
“Dear Effie,—From a formidable pile of letters of good wishes and congratulation, I select (not happen upon!) your sweet, affectionate epistle, every word of which, if it did not come from your heart, went straight to mine.
“I shall never be a literary iceberg! That is clear. I have had a surfeit of compliments in public and in private, but a word of appreciation from a true, loving friend gives me more delicious pleasure than all else.
“I make no excuse for speaking freely to you of what you say is ‘near akin’ to you. I thank you heartily for owning the relationship. Two editions have been ‘run off’ already, and another is now in press—unprecedented success in this part of the world—or so they tell me. Northern papers notice the book more at length and more handsomely than does the Richmond press.
“Of the sales in your county, I know nothing. Oh yes! C. W. told Mr. Rhodes that ‘Miss Virginia Hawes’s novel is having a tremendous run in Powhatan. Tre-men-dous, sir! Why, I had an order to buy a copy and send it up, myself, sir!’
“Isn’t that characteristic?”
XXV
BROUGHT FACE TO FACE WITH MY FATE
The promised visit to Powhatan was paid in July.