25 November 1881 • Hartford, Conn. (MS: MH-H, UCCL 02099)
How you startle me! Can a man so near by, fall sick, & linger along, & approach death, & a body never hear of it? This is the most surprising thing that has come under my notice lately—for I am in correspondence with Boston all the time, these days,. I supposed Howells went to Toronto the 20th, & that he would fetch around & join Osgood & me in Montreal three or four days from now. I was counting on this programme with the entirest confidence.
I reach Boston tonight, & leave for Montreal by the earliest train in the morning. Doubtless visitors would be an incumbrance, now; s neverthel[e]ss if I had got your letter an hour sooner I could have caught the noon train, & so would have looked in on you a moment thsis evening, if (after inquiring of the Fairchilds as to the propriety of it.)
It seems to me that Winny’s long illness filled up your share of trouble; but then these things never trickle, they pour. Well, that the danger is over, is a good deal to be thankful for, anyway. Mrs. Clemens sends her love & sympathy.
References
- Harvard University, Houghton Library, Cambridge, Mass.
- Machlis, Paul, ed. Union Catalog of Clemens Letters. Edited by Paul Machlis. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press. [In some cases, UCCL catalog numbers cited in this volume supersede those assigned in 1986 and reflect corrections or additions to the catalog since publication. An updated version of the catalog can be consulted via the Letters Search page at MTPO.] 1986
- MTHL. Mark Twain–Howells Letters. Edited by Henry Nash Smith and William M. Gibson, with the assistance of Frederick Anderson. 2 vols. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. 1960
MS, MH-H (shelf mark bMS Am 1784.5 [4], 2).
MTHL, 1:379.
See Howells Letters in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.