Julian and Joyce taken together may perhaps give a faint idea of my perfections as a child. I have not only a distinct recollection of being noticed on the score of my good looks, but my mother used to remind me painfully of them in my later years, looking at me mournfully and saying, "And you were such a pretty boy!"
[Much as he would have liked to visit the Maloja again this year, the state of his wife's health forbade such a long journey. He writes just after his attack of influenza to Sir M. Foster, who had been suffering in the same way:—]
Hodeslea, May 12, 1891.
My dear Foster,
I was very glad to hear from you. Pray don't get attempting to do anything before you are set up again.
I am in a ridiculous state of weakness, and bless my stars that I have nothing to do. I find it troublesome to do even that.
I wish ballooning had advanced so far as to take people to Maloja, for I do not think my wife ought to undertake such a journey, and yet I believe the high air would do us both more good than anything else….
The University of London scheme appears to be coming to grief, as I never doubted it would.
Ever yours,
T.H. Huxley.