Ever most affectionately yours,
My dear Landor.

[Sidenote: The Hon. Mrs. Watson.]

[Symbol: right hand] THIS IS NO. 2.

DEVONSHIRE TERRACE, _Monday Morning, Dec. 9th, 1850._

MY DEAR MRS. WATSON,

Your note to me of Saturday has crossed mine to you, I find. If you open
both of mine together, please to observe _this is No. 2_.

You may rely on Mr. Tucker's doing his work thoroughly well and charging
a fair price. It is not possible for him to say aforehand, in such a
case, what it will cost, I imagine, as he will have to adapt his work to
the place. Nathan's stage knowledge may be stated in the following
figures: 00000000000. Therefore, I think you had best refer Mr. Tucker
to _me_, and I will apply all needful screws and tortures to him.

I have thought of one or two very ingenious (hem!) little contrivances
for adapting the difficulties of "Used Up" to the small stage. They will
require to be so exactly explained to your carpenter (though very easy
little things in themselves), that I think I had better, before
Christmas, send my servant down for an hour--he is quite an old stager
now--to show him precisely what I mean. It is not a day's work, but it
would be extremely difficult to explain in writing. I developed these
wonderful ideas to the master carpenter at one of the theatres, and he
shook his head with an intensely mournful air, and said, "Ah, sir, it's
a universal observation in the profession, sir, that it was a great loss
to the public when you took to writing books!" which I thought
complimentary to "Copperfield."

Ever faithfully yours.

[Sidenote: The same.]

DEVONSHIRE TERRACE, _Saturday, Dec. 14th, 1850._

MY DEAR MRS. WATSON,

I shall be delighted to come on the seventh instead of the eighth. We
consider it an engagement. Over and above the pleasure of a quiet day
with you, I think I can greatly facilitate the preparations (that's the
way, you see, in which we cheat ourselves into making duties of
pleasures) by being at Rockingham a day earlier. So that's settled.

I was quite certain when that Child of Israel mentioned those
dimensions, that he must be wrong. For which wooden-headedness the Child
shall be taken to task on Monday morning, when I am going to look at his
preparations, by appointm