"March 16th, 1892.
"Dear impulsive, warm-hearted Thelma,—
"Tell me what I am to give you for Thelma.[1] I should like to gratify your wish. Your prosperity and success you know I rejoice at, and I trust your belief of a short life is only the outcome of one of those wistful sad moments, which come to all who are richly endowed with imagination."
"April 11th, 1892.
"So cheer up, little Thelma; you have youth and imagination, and love your art, and have the will to work. So you have the world before you, and ought to die a rich woman, if that is worth living for."
"April 16th, 1892.
"Dear Little Lady,—
"It makes me feel uncomfortable to hear of brave little Thelma being half killed, like Keats, for a review.
"Pooh! stuff and nonsense! You are not to be snuffed out by any notice. As to not writing again, you will live to write many a good book yet.
"Laugh at the review, and don't notice it to any of your friends. You have a good spirit of your own, and you don't need to be crushed, and neither will you be. You will be the first to laugh this day six months for having been temporarily disquieted.
"As to Law! Oh, lor! Wouldn't your enemies, if you have any, rejoice to see you at loggerheads with the Press? No, no, that wouldn't do.
"You can firmly rely on your gifts to render
- ↑ Meaning, what terms for a new edition.
