MS Westcountry Studies Library, Exeter/ Yonge 1861/14
My dear Miss Smith
I have not the letter, at least I do not believe I have but I am almost certain that it was to be the 4 couples at 2lb; and I think you may safely so apply it. I will wait a week to write to Mrs Elphinstone in case you should be able to tell me anything specially about any of the people.1
I do not know whether I forgot to finish my story or only put it stupidly, the point of it was the staring of the strangers at hearing such a grave polished man as Dr Harris proposing the worst street in Torr as an allurement to a lady. That Torr Churchyard is indeed a strangely mournful place, with all its records of early deaths among strangers and its graves so close together I wish we had more time to spend with the kind cousins there, but I was hurried away by having to meet Mrs Selwyn before her return to New Zealand, and I could not go to Cockington though I have a whole houseful of cousins and a godson there.2 I did once walk there from Livermead many years ago.
Masters’s corrections and criticisms amuse me very much – it was great fun to see how he presided over the Maiden of our own day. I wish you would have a good fight with him it would do him good
yours sincerely
C M Yonge