| London 11 April 1868.
My dear Cacadou,
You know I am a slow hand at
writing, but this time the shortcomings of my left
hand
arm
are responsible for the sins of my right hand. Under those
circumstances I missed the more my secretary who might have addressed to
himself, on my behalf, the most charming letters.
I am
happy to see from your scribblings
(you excuse the
“term”,
Borkheim
with his “scribaille”
is
still
dinning
my ears) and those
of your
helpmate
that you are
thoroughly enjoying your
Brautfahrt,
and that all the outer circumstances, spring and sun and air and Paris
jollities, conjure in your favour. As to that said helpmate,
his sending books to me
, at such a critical juncture, speaks volumes
for the innate kindness of the
“
young man
”
. This simple fact would go far to
prove that he must belong to a better than the European race.
By the by, as we have just
touched the chapter of books, you might pay a visit to
Guillaumin
(14, rue Richelieu)
and get his (economical)
bulletins de librairie
for 1866–1868. You might also wend
your steps to
the
Librairie
Internationale
(15, Boulevard Montmartre) and ask for
their catalogues (1865–68). Of course, if you get these desiderata, you will not
send
them, but bring them
back
on your return to this dreary place.
I am expecting, from
Meissner
, 3 copies of
my
book
. On their arrival, I shall send two to
Caesar de Paepe
, one for himself, the other for
Altmayer
.
Meanwhile, if you should find the time to see
Schily
(that is to say
if you
write to him
4, rue St. Quentin
to come and see
you) be so kind to ask him what has become of the 3 copies, 1 sent for
Jacquelard
, 1
for
Taine
, 1 for
Reclus
? If Jacquelard was not to be found, you might give his
copy to Altmayer, since Meissner
is very slow
in
forwarding the copies. In that case, however, I ought to be informed.
| You’ll certainly fancy, my dear child, that I am very fond of books,
because I trouble you with them at so unseasonable a time. But you would be
quite mistaken. I am a machine, condemned to devour them and, then, throw them,
in a changed form, on the dunghill of history. A rather dreary task, too, but
still better than that of
Gladstone
’s who is obliged, at a day’s notice, to work himself
into “states of mind”, yclepted “earnestness”.
We feel here rather somewhat
lonely. First you disappeared together with the meridional “silent man”,
and then Engels
went
left us
. In lieu of an “excitement” we had the
Lormiers
yesterday evening. I played
with
Louis
two parties of chess and allowed
him to win one. What do you think the strange
Caliban
boy told me, in the most solemn
manner of the world, on taking leave? “
Sans
rancune
, j’espère!”
And now, my dear Cacadou, Adio.
Old Nick.
Lieber Lafarque
Finden Sie nicht, daß der
Aufenthalt in Paris with a young laughable wife viel angenehmer ist als mit
Politik?
Bei der Ankunft Ihres
Vaters
in Paris empfehlen Sie mich ihm aufs Beste u. namentlich vergessen Sie u.
Laura
nicht ihm den Aufenthalt so
pleasant als möglich zu machen. Bei seinem Augenzustand bedarf er der
Zerstreuung u. nichts wird ihn mehr zerstreuen als wenn das junge Paar die kurze
Zeit, die es mit dem alten Herrn zusammen bleibt, ihm ganz widmet. Ich schreibe
Ihnen deutsch, damit Sie je nach Belieben den Inhalt dieser Zeilen dem
Geheimsekretair
mittheilen
oder vorenthalten können. Und nun mit herzlichsten Grüssen
Ihr ergebner
K. M.