ulthart calling,
while my mother was out, and I was believed to be
so. I always respected her, as a good-hearted
friendly woman. And the Brownes have been here; I
find their affidavits on the table. The
_Ambuscade_ reached Gibraltar on the 9th of March,
and found all well; so say the papers. We have had
no letters from anybody, but we expect to hear
from Edward to-morrow, and from you soon
afterwards. How happy they are at Godmersham now!
I shall be very glad of a letter from Ibthorp,
that I may know how you all are, but particularly
yourself. This is nice weather for Mrs. J.
Austen's going to Speen, and I hope she will have
a pleasant visit there. I expect a prodigious
account of the christening dinner; perhaps it
brought you at last into the company of Miss
Dundas again.

_Tuesday._--I received your letter last night, and
wish it may be soon followed by another to say
that all is over; but I cannot help thinking that
nature will struggle again, and produce a revival.
Poor woman! May her end be peaceful and easy as
the exit we have witnessed! And I dare say it
will. If there is no revival, suffering must be
all over; even the consciousness of existence, I
suppose, was gone when you wrote. The nonsense I
have been writing in this and in my last letter
seems out of place at such a time, but I will not
mind it; it will do you no harm, and nobody else
will be attacked by it. I am heartily glad that
you can speak so comfortably of your own health
and looks, though I can scarcely comprehend the
latter being really approved. Could travelling
fifty miles produce such an immediate change? You
were looking very poorly here, and everybody
seemed sensible of it. Is there a charm in a hack
post-chaise? But if there were, Mrs. Craven's
carriage might have undone it all. I am much
obliged to you for the time and trouble you have
bestowed on Mary's cap, and am glad it pleases
her; but it will prove a useless gift at present,
I suppose. Will not she leave Ibthorp on her
mother's death? As a companion you ar