Friday, December 16, 1831

 

1831 December

Friday 16

8 5/..

1 5/..

Very fine, rather frostyish morning, F 61°at 8 in my room and 42° at 8 3/4 in the balcony – Down at 9 1/4 – read the paper – Miss Hobart came at 10 – Upstairs again at 11 –

Went out with Miss H- at 11 1/4  – Walked along High Street to Mr. North’s then turned left up the hill and came out at the turnpike on the London road, and returned by the London road, the 1st time she has ever been 1/2 so far on the London road, and came in and up to my room at 12 50/.. –

Asleep in my chair from then to 2 – Went out at 2 1/2 – Stopt at  Rouse’s High Street to buy some liquorice lozenges, and it then began to rain – Waited a little – Then went to Wooll’s and waited till it was fair (till after 3), paid for my German dictionary that came yesterday, and ordered Bernay’s German Grammar and Exercises, and inquiries to be made about some work on mythology for ladies – Walked slowly to the turnpike – Turned up the hill to the west, and came back along that road to the 1st windmill, then turned left (East) and came out into High Street –

Home at 4 – With Miss H- till 5 – Very good friends. Lastly got on the subject of Arundel Bouverie, and came away she begging to talk no more of it, and then arrived her German master.  She shews more interest about me than before, perhaps because I shew less for her. Take care not to border on shewing too much again. I might inadvertently do it without caring much. I am comfortably enough indifferent now.  She does not know much of German, but I may pick up a little pronunciation. Better than nothing –

At 5 dressed – Wrote the above of today – Then reading German grammar – Dinner at 7 in 3/4 hour – Music – Coffee at 8 1/2 – German lesson in pronunciation – 

In good spirits but no indiscretion. I saw, however, she had some fear of it, for when I laughed and said I am getting better now, I have been very poorly, I told you I should, I am only just beginning to feel better, she said, you may be too well and then I shall not be so well.  On my saying it was time for Gibbon, oh yes, said she, you are never too well when you read. Oh oh, thought I without taking any apparent notice, I see how it is. I am indifferent now to do as I think best without it being much pother to me and you shall have me more dignified.  She had at breakfast shewn some more than usual interest about me, in expressing that she did not like my cutting up anatomizing, and I had said, well that looks like rather more than everyday interest, which she said she did not mean to deny.  And then I could give it up, saying but I really never had assisted at the dissection of any adult corpse. This evening too, at tea she had said  (when I laughed about the rice cake, saying, If you will not when you may, when you will you shall have nay), Oh, but I shall never have nay from you, to which I made no reply. She likes me, I think, but I am very comfortable about whether she does or not.  Read tonight as usual but came up at eleven. She would think, perhaps, I had noticed her remark about might be too well, but we are, and I shall take care to be, very good friends. –

Came up to my room at 11 – Wrote the last 17 lines – Fine morning and day till about 2 3/4 p.m., then a shower, then fair till evening, and then about 9 and afterwards, rainy, stormy night – very high wind, and rain pelting against the windows – F (now in my room with a fire) 61°at 11 1/2 p.m. and 43° at 12 1/4 in the balcony, and raining hard from 9 55/.. to 10 50/..

Read aloud this evening from page 226 to 277, chapter 25, volume iv, Gibbon and till 12 35/.. reading over the German fable (Lessing’s book 1 fable 10) that I read to Miss H- this evening – and of which she knows nothing but the given English of the words, without having learnt by herself of the book of her master one syllable of the real grammatical construction.

WYAS Finding Numbers  SH:7/ML/E/14/0163 and SH:7/ML/E/14/0164