this
delay--the weather. I do not know whether it has been as bad with
you as with us, but here for three weeks we have had little else than
a succession of hurricanes.

'In your last you asked about Mr. Sowden and Sir James. I fear Mr.
Sowden has little chance of the living; he had heard nothing more of
it the last time he wrote to Arthur, and in a note he had from Sir
James yesterday the subject is not mentioned.

'You inquire too after Mrs. Gaskell. She has not been here, and I
think I should not like her to come now till summer. She is very
busy with her story of _North and South_.

'I must make this note short that it may not be overweight. Arthur
joins me in sincere good wishes for a happy Christmas, and many of
them to you and yours. He is well, thank God, and so am I, and he is
"my dear boy," certainly dearer now than he was six months ago. In
three days we shall actually have been married that length of time!
Good-bye, dear Nell.--Yours faithfully,

'C. B. NICHOLLS.'

At the beginning of 1855 Mr. and Mrs. Nicholls visited Sir James
Kay-Shuttleworth at Gawthorpe. I know of only four letters by her,
written in this year.

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

'HAWORTH, _January_ 19_th_, 1855.

'DEAR ELLEN,--Since our return from Gawthorpe we have had a Mr. Bell,
one of Arthur's cousins, staying with us. It was a great pleasure.
I wish you could have seen him and made his acquaintance; a true
gentleman by nature and cultivation is not after all an everyday
thing.

'As to the living of Habergham or Padiham, it appears the chance is
doubtful at present for anybody. The present incumbent wishes to
retract his resignation, and declares his intention of appointing a
curate for two years. I fear Mr. Sowden hardly produced a favourable
impression; a strong wish was expressed that Arthur could come, but
that is out of the question.

'I very much wish to come to Brookroyd, and I hope to be able to
write with certainty and fix Wednesday, the 31st January, as the day;
but the fact is I am not sure whether I shall be well enough to leave
home. At present I should be a most tedious visitor. My health has
been really very good since my return from Ireland till about ten