s. Rogers took me there,
and brought me home in his carriage; he is exceedingly kind to me. Henry
Greville dined with us, sat by me, and talked to me the whole time about
my sister, which was very pleasant and did me good. Sir Edward
Codrington and his daughter, who are old friends of mine, were there,
and met me with great cordiality; and though the evening was not very
brilliant, I enjoyed myself very much.

Kinglake, the author of "Eothen," paid me a long visit to-day, and was
very agreeable....

Mrs. Procter asked me to-day to take their family dinner with them,
because she knew I should else dine all alone. Mr. Procter was not at
home, so that we had a _tete-a-tete_ gossip about everybody....

I know very well that nobody likes to be bored, but I think it would be
better to be bored to extinction than to mortify and pain people by
rejecting their society because they are not intensely amusing or
distinguished, or even because they are intensely tiresome and
commonplace....

Good-night, dear. My eyes smart and ache; I must go to bed. I have seen
to-day some verses written by an American friend of mine on my
departure. I think they are good, but cannot be quite sure, as they are
about myself. I will send them to you, if you care to see them.

Ever yours,
FANNY.

MORTIMER STREET, November 30th, 1845.

I wrote to you until 12.30 last night, and it is now 12.30 this morning,
and it must be very obvious to you that, not being Dorothy, I can have
nothing under the heavens to say to you. Let me see for the _events_ of
these hours. After I went to bed I read, according to a practice which I
have steadily followed for the past year, in the hope of substituting
some other _last thoughts_ and visions for those which have haunted me,
waking or sleeping, during that time. So last night, having, alas! long
ago finished Arnold, and despatched two historical plays, long enough,
but nothing else, to have been written by Schiller, which my brother
gave me, I betook myself to certain agricultural reports, written by a
Mr. Coleman, an American, who came over here to collect information upon
these subjects for an agricultural society. These reports he gave me the
other day, and you know I read implicitly whatever is put into my hands,
holding every species of book worth reading for something. So I rea