To: Wilhelm HI Bleek (02 April 1862)

To: Wilhelm HI Bleek (02 April 1862)

Correspondence

A letter from Jemima Lloyd to Wilhelm Bleek, sent from Hawkhurst Parsonage, Staplehurst, Kent, on 2 April 1862 (continued 3-4 April). Overjoyed by his "answer" letter confirming their engagement, she reflects on past doubts, now resolved, and his October letter, once painful but now seen as proof of his unselfish care for her. His reassurances assuage her fears, for instance about hereditary insanity. She, in turn, soothes his concerns about his health and the possiblity of hardship in their marriage and his early death and describes their spiritual union in the face of all trials. On 3 April, she feels unwell but blames recent "anxious suspense" and joy plus the effects of neuralgia and dental surgery. She defends Dr Russell's skill but agrees to consult Dr Wolff in Bonn for a second opinion. Their engagement, now settled, is to be kept from her mother's family until her departure, although she confesses informing three relations and explains why. She acknowledges his difficulty in telling his mother but fears visiting her in Bonn as a "mere stranger". On 4 April, she shares Aunt Char and Uncle Henry's warm response to her news and describes her English family and personal history. After further discussion of Natal, their engagement, their prospects and his news, she ends with "God bless and help you my darling".

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1. Jemima is staying with her Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Henry (Jeffreys) (her mother's sister and brother) at the latter's Kent parsonage. 2. "Dear Heinrich": see Jemima's letter of 4 January 1862 [C8.10] where she does not want to call him by her father's name. 3. See Jemima's letter of 29 December 1861 [C8_9]. 4. The final 4 pages of her letter of 16 March 1862 [see C8.16] 5. There are photographs of Dr Wolff, Dr Russell and family and the Sandersons. See Photographs and Portraits on this website.