Thursday, 4 April 1861
Fine. Gray early ― fine afterwards.
Slept pretty well. Rose at 8―9. Letter from Mrs. Empson. Breakfast at 10. Kathleen ― a very charming odd child, makes me burst with laughter. ― Drew nonsenses till 12 or 1 & walked a little with Archer “all about the place.” And certainly the woods ― hanging over the Wye, & the calm river & green fields, are lovely; with the distant Ross Hills: ― & so is the quiet Terrace home garden. ―
Tired ― & unwell. ˆ[Home by 5.30] ― Little Kathleen came & amused us all. She sang “I am a Nemesis & a Fury rolled into one” ― with a queer spirit enough to kill a man outright: ― I thought I should never have been able to stop laughing.
Dinner: Mildmay is far pleasanter when you come to know more of him. Evening also pleasant: singing: & quiet.
Altogether the visit is highly pleasant.
A letter from poor Ellen. ―
[Transcribed by Marco Graziosi from Houghton Library, Harvard University, MS Eng. 797.3.]