Monday May 30. My dearest Nickey,

The devil and his grand-motherAnspielung auf das Märchen „Der Teufel und seine Großmutter“ aus der Sammlung „Kinder- und Hausmärchen“ der Brüder Grimm. have conspired to prevent my having a chat with you. Since three days all my attempts to do so have been useless. On Sunday I was just going to settle down in my “snuggery”, when who should put in an appearance but Mrs. Lormier. To-day I am alone in the house—to mind it—mama and Helen having just set out on a visit to the Lormiers Alfred und Eleonore Lormier, Bekannte der Familie Marx in London. to partake of a pork dinner and to inspect the life-stock, which, Tussy will be shocked to hear, is increasing notwithstanding her warning—a goat and seven rabbits having been added. Indeed, old Mortality was on the point of buying a horse, (the back-kitchen was to be turned into stables) where his better-half unwisely uttered the following exclamation: “Ce sera charmant, mon vieux, nous aurons aussi une voiture et je te conduirai tous les jours en ville”. Mais cette idée souriante ne sourit pas du tout au découcheur. “En voilà une belle, s’écria-t-il – c’est pas drôle, je serais à la tâche”. That picture of conjugal bliss will do more to frighten A. Lormier, pigeon proprietor, than a thousand threatening letters. So please tell Tussy that henceforward she need not take the matter in hand. Instead of writing threatening letters I must request my Fenian friend to drop me some lines to let me know whether the change of air has cured You of Your cold, dear Mohr, and whether in other respects, it has improved your health? Have you seen Gumpert—what does he think of Carlsbad?

To-day mama sent off Lange’s book . You will see that I have taken the liberty to cut open a few pages. I could not resist the temptation of peeping into it. What a muddler and meddler Lange is! His book is for all the world like an Irish stew—a mixture of “all sorts”. As however the old “confusibles” is popular, much read, his notice of Das Kapital will no doubt make your book better known. It is fortunate he now and deigns to quote your words without putting his plausible sauce to them.

Last Thursday I returned to the Monros Dr. and Mrs. Monroe, deren Kinder Jenny Marx unterrichtete.. I found them just as I had left them—without a living. The place-hunting is daily growing fiercer. The would-be-wife is downrightly ferocious. Her last hope is to get her future husband, into the new College now being founded at Manchester, as headmaster I suppose … a knock … Lina Caroline (Lina) Schoeler? … I must say good bye to you for to-day. Kiss Tussy for me and give my kindest regards to Engels and Mrs Burns.

I am, my dear Nickey,very affectionately yours,Jenny.

We went to the French plays the other night and enjoyed ourselves very much indeed. There is a new actor who even outdoes Lafont. Tell Tussy that she addressed her last letter to Manchester instead of London. It is wonderful it reached us.