He
speaks of "this vile influenza--be not alarmed. I think I shall get
the better of it, and shall be with you both the 1st of May;"
though, he adds, "if I escape, 'twill not be for a long period, my
child--unless a quiet retreat and peace of mind can restore me." But
the occasion of this letter was a curious one, and a little more must
be extracted from it. Lydia Sterne's letter to her father had, he
said, astonished him. "She (Mrs. Sterne) could know but little of my
feelings to tell thee that under the supposition I should survive
thy mother I should bequeath thee as a legacy to Mrs. Draper. No, my
Lydia, 'tis a lady whose virtues I wish thee to imitate"--Mrs.
James, in fact, whom he proceeds to praise with much and probably
well-deserved warmth. "But," he adds, sadly, "I think, my Lydia,
thy mother will survive me; do not deject her spirit with thy
apprehensions on my account. I have sent you a necklace and buckles,
and the same to your mother. My girl cannot form a wish that is in the
power of her father that he will not gratify her in; and I cannot in
justice be less kind to thy mother. I am never alone. The kindness of
my friends is ever the same.
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