Re: letter from Hitty
Charles Dickens (cdickens@RMPLC.CO.UK)
Tue, 9 Jul 1996 11:48:05 -0100
My dear Miss Hitty,
Forgive me if the form of my superscription is wrong, but
something tells me I am addressing a single lady: venerable
to be sure, but single.
So venerable, indeed, that you will understand when I say age
brings both forgetfulness and wisdom. Agree to that, and you
will remain tranquil when I ask how a gentleman could possibly
forget a meeting - evidently a dramatic one, from your account -
with a lady as sprightly, energetic and decisive as yourself.
It is not only in great age that we are alike. You, my dear
Hitty, are a writer too, and will have experienced, I do not
doubt, that mysterious condition of mind in which the fictions
you have contrived melt into the facts you have observed.
Let us agree, then, that we met as you say we did, together
with the youthful charmer, Isabella Van Rensselaer, whom by now
I hope you have forgiven for your humiliation.
I hope you have also forgiven Mary Krimmel your more recent
annoyance, scarcely one that calls for an apology to me, delighted
though I am to receive in the spirit in which it was offered.
It does give me pleasure, however, to learn that your memoirs
were laid before the juvenile public by Rachel Field, who did
something similar with stories from my books, in her publication
"People from Dickens."
Our literary labours bring us together, my dear Hitty, justification,
if any were needed, of our renewing acquaintanceship through this
electric telegraph system.
Faithfully yours,
Charles Dickens
======================
Charles Dickens
charles_dickens@rmplc.co.uk
Author