Argenteuil, 27 July 1881 
11 Boulevard Thiers 

Dear Engels, 

I can’t write at any greater length today as I have a mass of letters 
to get off and on this, our first day, the little ones* have rightly laid 
claim to me. 

The journey from London to Dover went off as well as could be ex- 
pected, i. e. my wife, who was most unwell when we set out from 
Maitland Park, did not notice any change for the worse as a result of 
the journey. On the boat she at once went to the ladies’ cabin where 
she found an excellent sofa to lie on. The sea was quite calm and the 
weather couldn’t have been finer. She landed in Calais in better 
shape than when she had left London and decided to carry on. The 
only stations where our tickets allowed us to break the journey to 
Paris were Calais and Amiens. She thought the latter place (asour 
2 Hours’ journey from Paris) too close to stop at. Between Amiens and 
Creil she felt diarrhoea coming on, and the griping pains also grew 
more violent. At Creil the train stopped for only 3 minutes, but she 
had just enough time to do what was necessary. In Paris, where we 
arrived at 7.30 in the evening, we were met at the station by Longuet. 
However the direct train from this station to Argenteuil left too late 
for us to wait for it. So, after the douaniers had examined our trunks, 
by cab to St Lazare station and from there, after waiting some while, 
by railway to our destination which we did not reach, however, until 
about 10 o'clock. She was in very poor shape, but this morning (at any 
rate now, about 10 o'clock) feels better than she used to do in London 
at a similar hour. At all events, the return journey will be made in 
much easier stages. 

Longuet is introducing me to his doctor‘ today, so that we can act 
immediately in the event of the diarrhoea recurring. 

@ Marx’s grandsons: Jean, Henri, Edgar and Marce! Longuet-? customs officers - 
© Dourlen 

We found everyone well here, except that Johnny and Harry had 
slight colds as a result of the change of temperature (all the children, 
especially Johnny, had been affected by the days of extreme heat). As 
a summer residence the house is first-class, must obviously have once 
served as such for a richard. * 

WITH BEST COMPLIMENTS TO Pumps. 

Your 
Moor 

It would seem that Tussy has written to her correspondent over 
there” telling him of my arrival and hence, or so Longuet tells me, 
this is already an open secret. The ‘anarchists’, he says, will impute to 
me the malicious intention of swinging the vote. Clemenceau told 
him that I had absolutely nothing to fear from the police.