order, and the green and
white curtains are up; they exactly suit the papering, and look neat
and clean enough. I had a letter a day or two since announcing that
Mr. Nicholls comes to-morrow. I feel anxious about him, more anxious
on one point than I dare quite express to myself. It seems he has
again been suffering sharply from his rheumatic affection. I hear
this not from himself, but from another quarter. He was ill while I
was at Manchester and Brookroyd. He uttered no complaint to me,
dropped no hint on the subject. Alas! he was hoping he had got the
better of it, and I know how this contradiction of his hopes will
sadden him. For unselfish reasons he did so earnestly wish this
complaint might not become chronic. I fear, I fear. But, however, I
mean to stand by him now, whether in weal or woe. This liability to
rheumatic pain was one of the strong arguments used against the
marriage. It did not weigh somehow. If he is doomed to suffer, it
seems that so much the more will he need care and help. And yet the
ultimate possibilities of such a case are appalling. You remember
your aunt. Well, come what may, God help and strengthen both him and
me. I look forward to to-morrow with a mixture of impatience and
anxiety. Poor fellow! I want to see with my own eyes how he is.

'It is getting late and dark. Write soon, dear Ellen. Goodnight and
God bless you.--Yours affectionately,

'C. BRONTE.

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

'HAWORTH, _May_ 27_th_, 1854.

'DEAR ELLEN,--Your letter was very welcome, and I am glad and
thankful to learn you are better. Still, beware of presuming on the
improvement--don't let it make you careless. Mr. Nicholls has just
left me. Your hopes were not ill-founded about his illness. At
first I was thoroughly frightened. However, inquiring gradually
relieved me. In short, I soon discovered that my business was,
instead of sympathy, to rate soundly. The patient had wholesome
treatment while he was at Haworth, and went away singularly better;
perfectly unreasonable, however, on some points, as his fallible sex
are not ashamed to be.

'Man is, indeed, an amazing piece of mechanism when you see, so to
speak, the full we