Sent letters to Mrs. Bell & Mrs. Hunt.

Mizzle[-]drizzle ― & mugzy heat.

called at Macbeans. bought more goat goatographs. ― REILLY CALLED; a very gentlemanly & pleasant youth. ―― I could not work much: ― utter unsettling in the order of the day.

Later, came a letter from Corfû ― & grief it was to me to have to read poor Spiro’s letter ―: Elisabetta, poor Giorgio’s only girl ― is dead. I had to read this to G. ― who, after a twitching of his whole face ― said ― “lo sapeva.”1 “E volontà di Dio.”2 ― This grieves me extremely. ― Perhaps it was the best thing that the Lockwoods & Watts came just then. The W.s I half hope may take these rooms. ― Anyhow they are become intolerable. Then came letters from F.L.Mrs. Walpole, & Gush. ――

Ἔπειτα, επεριπάτισα3 to the Knights ― & saw them ― having called on P. Williams first.

O dreary Rome life!

Returned to dine alone: ― made George [sit] & smoke a cigar, ― hoping that his talking of Elisabeta ― would do him good, poor fellow. ― “Mi pare bugia, dire che è morta quella pupetta!”4 says the poor good man.

[Transcribed by Marco Graziosi from Houghton Library, Harvard University, MS Eng. 797.3.]

  1. I knew. []
  2. It is God’s will. []
  3. Lear clearly meant “then, I walked,” i.e. έπειτα Περπάτησα. []
  4. It sounds like a lie, saying that that little girl is dead. []