s annoyances, which have been unpleasantly forced upon me
since your departure; and when I say that I do not feel happy, you
will not count it merely the blue-devilish fancy of a German brain
or an English (that is bilious) stomach.

I have a feeling, not of dissatisfaction or discontent so much as
of sadness and weariness, though I struggle always and sometimes
pretty successfully to rouse myself from it.

You say you wish to know what we did on Christmas Day. I'll tell
you. In the morning I went to church, after which I came home and
copied "The Star of Seville" till dinner-time. After dinner my
mother, who had proposed spending the evening at our worthy
pastor's, Mr. Sterky's, finding my father disinclined for that
exertion, remained at home and went to sleep; my father likewise,
Dall likewise, Henry likewise; and I copied on at my play till
bedtime: _voila_. On Monday, contrary to my expectation, I had to
play Euphrasia before the pantomime. You know we were to spend
Christmas Eve at my aunt Siddons's; we had a delightful evening and
I was very happy. My aunt came down from the drawing-room (for we
danced in the dining-room on the ground floor) and sat among us,
and you cannot think how nice and pretty it was to see her
surrounded by her clan, more than three dozen strong; some of them
so handsome, and many with a striking likeness to herself, either
in feature or expression. Mrs. Harry and Cecy danced with us, and
we enjoyed ourselves very much; I wished for dear A----
exceedingly. Wednesday we dined at Mrs. Mayow's.

[My mother's dear friend, Mrs. Mayow, was the wife of a gentleman in a
high position in one of our Government offices. She was a West Indian
creole, and a singularly beautiful person. Her complexion was of the
clear olive-brown of a perfectly Moorish skin, with the color of a
damask rose in her cheeks, and lips as red as coral. Her features were
classically symmetrical, as was the soft, oval contour of her face; her
eyes and hair were as black as night, and the former had a halo of fine
lashes of the most magnificent length. She never wore any head-dress but
a white muslin turban, the effect of which on her superb dark face was
strikingly handsome, and not only its singularity but its noble and
becoming simplicity distinguished her in every assembly, amid the
various fantastic head