亨利詹姆斯致 姐姐（艾丽斯詹姆斯）

　　3 bolton st. w.
　　feb 29 th， 1884
　　dearest sister，
　　i seemto myselfto be constantlyletting longer intervals elapse between my letters to you ；buti suppose that is inevitable in a prolonged correspondence. iwill tryand not let silence get too much ahead of speech.iwrote you last just afteri had gone over to paris； from which place i returned，after a stay of some three weeks， twodays ago. iamverygladto relapse into bolton street asi always am， after any absence，howeverpleasant， andi say this without detriment to paris， which， for short periods， is alwayscharming to me.nothing very particular happened to me there， buti saw my old friends and the newplays and had some excellent food.igreatly missed turgénieff， buti saw the princess ouroussoff， whomi used to see a great deal of old， and who is a most clever and curious woman，andshetold me various things about the lastyear ofhislife. iam much horrified to learn that sincehisdeath mme viardot complains of him——of hishaving impoverished them； whereas he ruinedhimselffor her and her children. but these areodious discussions. whilei was in parisi heardfromaunt kate ofyour intending to go on to n.y.to tryan electrician； and therefore supposethat you have achieved it and that you even noware lodged behind some brownstone front of yournative city. this sounds to me like a big attempt，and ihope it will be abigsuccess. the drama ofyour separation from katharine is well over now，i suppose；andi will not indulge in vain conjecturesas to how you bear your bereavement .ipray thatwhatever it may be， it is at least not worse thanyou——or she——supposed. iam writing her aword of greeting， here， through the barings， andshe probablywill send me a line——describingyou，as she left you——when she arrives initaly.——we are having the first cold of thewinter and mrs. duncan stewart is dead. but thecold is bright and wholesome and mrs. stewarthad become a kind of talking melancholy ghost.she was a charming old being， however， andishall miss her much.somedayi shall put her intoa book. ihave alreadyseen mrs. kemble and find her constantly a little more and a little morebroken and， as it were， indented. ishall neverput her into a book.——salvini made his firstappearance here，last night，in othello， andiwent to see him； but to my surprise and distress hegave all the climax of the play much less finelythan wheni saw him a year ago in boston， andiwas proportionately taken aback， having puffedhim so to some ofmy friendswho were there. itwas as if he had toned it down and weakened itdeliberately， andidon'tunderstandthe mystery. ishall try and see him， and inquire.—— a notejust comes in from william， accompanying somepapers for me to sign in which he speaks definitelyof your going to n.y.on the 14th.ihope marywill be an efficient（and effective） soubrette. idon't think ihave anynews that will interest you.miss motley（a supposedly hopeless old maid，plain and not moneyed） is to marry colonel mildmay. there is a sign ofcheer for you——havingthe advantages thatshe lacks. mrs.lombard was stillseriously ill when ileft paris，andi took upon myself to write to her son. sheought to come home unless she has some one withher more powerful than fanny.—— ihear everynow and then from carrie， but it is difficult to write to her， for want of topics. buti do whatican. ishall send this to aunt kate to give you.bob's quietude seems almost too good to be true.ever your affectionate.
　　henry