To David Lee Child
How melancholy I felt when you went off in the morning darkness. It seemed as if everything about me was tumbling down ; as if I never were to have a nest and a mate any more. Good, kind, generous, magnanimous soul! How I love you. How I long to say over the old prayer again every night. It almost [87] made me cry to see how carefully you had arranged everything for my comfort before you went,so much kindling stuff split up and the bricks piled up to protect my flowers.