‘I am ashamed of such an untidy scrawl as this. I do not know how that blot on the first page made its appearance. Of course the _writer_ was not to blame!... I could chat much longer with you, dear one, but I have other notes to write; and my pen, or ink, or paper, or something or other, will go wrong to-night, so as to make the act of writing irksome, as well as the note untidy.’