Love Letters of Nathaniel Hawthorne Volume II Part 13

[_Salem_, March 15th, 1847]

_Ownest Phoebe_,

Above is the note. I will not say how much beyond all money I feel indebted to Mr. Shaw for his kindness. It relieves my spirits from a great burthen, and now I feel calm and very happy.

I love thee infinitely, and need thee constantly. I long to hear Una's voice. I find that I even love Bundlebreech!!!

Ellery and I have a very pleasant time, and take immense walks every afternoon, and sit up talking till midnight. He eats like an Anaconda.

Thou didst never see such an appet.i.te.

Thou dost not tell me when thou wilt turn thy face homeward. Shouldst thou stay till next week, I will come and escort thee home. Ellery, I suppose, will go as soon as Sat.u.r.day. (I shall need some money to come with. Couldst thou send me ten dollars?) In haste, in depths of love.

THY HUSBAND.

Mrs. Sophia A. Hawthorne, Care of Dr. N. Peabody, Boston, Ma.s.sachusetts.

TO MRS. HAWTHORNE

_Salem_, March 20th, 1847.--Sat.u.r.day

_Ownest Wife_,

Thy letter of Thursday did not reach me till this morning. Ellery goes to-day--much to my satisfaction, though we have had a good time. Thou dost not know how much I long to see thee and our children. I never felt anything like it before--it is too much to write about.

I do not think I can come on Monday before 10 , arriving in Boston at about 11. It is no matter about the session at Johnson's; and if thou choosest to give him notice, so be it.

Now that the days are so long, would it not do to leave Boston, on our return, at past 4?

Kiss Una for me--likewise Bundlebreech.

THY HUSBAND.

P.S. Of course, my coming on Monday must be contingent on reasonably pleasant weather.

I shall probably go to Johnson's immediately after my arrival--before coming to West-street. I hope he will be otherwise engaged.

Mrs. Sophia A. Hawthorne, Care of Dr. N. Peabody, Boston, Ma.s.sachusetts.

TO MRS. HAWTHORNE

_Salem_, July 13th, 1847

_Ownest Phoebe_,

Greatly needed by me were thy two letters; for thou hadst never before been away from me so long without writing. And thou art still busy, every moment! I was in hopes thou wouldst have a little quiet now, with Dora to take care of the children;--but that seems fated never more to be thine. As for me, I sink down into bottomless depths of quiet:--never was such a quiet life as mine is, in this voiceless house. Thank G.o.d, there are echoes of voices in my heart, else I should die of this marble silence. Yet I am happy, and, dearest Phoebe, I wish that thou, likewise, couldst now and then stand apart from thy lot, in the same manner, and behold how fair it is. I think we are very happy--a truth that is not always so evident to me, until I step aside from our daily life. How I love thee!--how I love our children! Can it be that we are really parents!--that two beautiful lives have gushed out of our life! I am now most sensible of the wonder, and the mystery, and the happiness.

Sweetest wife, I have nothing to tell thee. My life goes on as regularly as our kitchen clock. It has no events, and therefore can have no history.

Well; when our children--these two, and three or four more are grown up, and married off, thou wilt have a little leisure, and mayst paint that Grecian picture that used to haunt thy fancy. But then our grandchildren--Una's children, and Bundlebreech's,--will be coming upon the stage. In short, after a woman has become a mother, she may find rest in Heaven, but nowhere else.

This pen is so horrible that it impedes my thought. I cannot write any more with it. Dearest, stay as long as it is good for the children and thyself. I have great joy in thinking how good it has been for Una to have this change. When thou comest back to me, it will be as the coming of an angel, and with a cherub in each hand. Indeed, it does not require absence and distance to make an angel of thee; but the divine qualities of the children do become somewhat more apparent, by occasionally getting beyond the reach of their clamor.

I think I had better not come on Sat.u.r.day; but if thou wilt tell me the day of thy return, I will come in the afternoon, and escort thee back. Poor little Una! How will she bear to be caged up here again.

Give her a kiss for me, and tell her I want to see her _very much_. I have been much affected by a little shoe of hers, which I found on the floor. Does Bundlebreech walk yet?

THINEST HUSBAND.

Mrs. Sophia A. Hawthorne, Care of Dr. N. Peabody, Boston, Ma.s.sachusetts.

TO MRS. HAWTHORNE

_Salem_, Oct. 7th, 1847

_Ownest Phoebe_,

Thy letter has just come. I knew the day would not pa.s.s over without one. Would that my love could transform this ugly east wind into the sweet south-west--then wouldst thou be full of pleasant air and suns.h.i.+ne. I want to be near thee, and rest thee.

Dearest, the things all arrived safe--not having suffered even the dollar's worth of damage to which the man restricted himself. The carpet shall not be put down till thou comest. There is no need of it, except to save thee the trouble. We are in hopes of getting an elderly woman (Hannah Lord, whom I think thou hast heard of) for a handmaiden, but this is not so certain as I could wish. Our mother and Louisa repugn at the idea of an Irish girl; and there are scarcely any others to be heard of. I should not wonder, after all, if we had to seek one in Boston. The usual price here is $1.25. I trust we shall be provided by the time thou art ready to come; but if otherwise, Mrs.

Campbell is now well, and can officiate for a few days.

Duyckinck writes me that the African Cruise has come to a second edition. It is also to be published in a cheaper style, as one of the numbers of a District School Library.

The weather is so bad that I hope thou wilt not have gone to Horn pond to-day. How different these east winds are from anything that we felt in Concord. Nevertheless, I feel relieved at having left that place of many anxieties, and believe that we shall pa.s.s a happy winter here.

All that I need is to have shelter, and clothes, and daily bread, for thee and Una, without the anguish of debt pressing upon me continually;--and then I would not change places with the most fortunate person in the world. What a foolish sentence that is! As if I would change places, in our worst estate, either with man or angel.

Phoebe, I think I had better not come for thee till Monday, as the weather is so unpropitious for thy visits. If that be too soon, tell me; for thou hadst better calculate on not seeing Boston again for some months; and, that being the case, it will be advisable to act as if thou wast going to make a voyage to Europe.

I find I shall love thee as thou never wast loved before. G.o.d bless our little Una. She is our daughter! What a miracle! I love mother and child so much that I can put nothing into words.

I think I shall be diligent with my pen, in this old chamber whence so many foolish stories have gone forth to the world. I have already begun to scribble something for Wiley & Putnam.

THINE OWNEST OWN HUSBAND.

Mrs. Sophia A. Hawthorne, Care of Dr. N. Peabody, Boston, Ma.s.s.