MARY LAMB TO MRS. JAMES KENNEY

[No date. ?Early December, 1822.]

My dear Friend,--How do you like Harwood? Is he not a noble boy? I
congratulate you most heartily on this happy meeting, and only wish I
were present to witness it. Come back with Harwood, I am dying to see
you--we will talk, that is, you shall talk and I will listen from ten in
the morning till twelve at night. My thoughts are often with you, and
your children's dear faces are perpetually before me. Give them all one
additional kiss every morning for me. Remember there's one for Louisa,
one to Ellen, one to Betsy, one to Sophia, one to James, one to Teresa,
one to Virginia, and one to Charles. Bless them all! When shall I ever
see them again? Thank you a thousand times for all your kindness to me.
I know you will make light of the trouble my illness gave you; but the
recollection of it often sits heavy on my heart. If I could ensure my
health, how happy should I be to spend a month with you every summer!

When I met Mr. Kenney there, I sadly repented that I had not dragged you
on to Dieppe with me. What a pleasant time we should have spent there!

You shall not be jealous of Mr. Payne. Remember he did Charles and I
good service without grudge or grumbling. Say to him how much I regret
that we owe him unreturnable obligations; for I still have my old fear
that we shall never see him again. I received great pleasure from seeing
his two successful pieces. My love to your boy Kenney, my boy James, and
all my dear girls, and also to Rose; I hope she still drinks wine with
you. Thank Lou-Lou for her little bit of letter. I am in a fearful
hurry, or I would write to her. Tell my friend the Poetess that I expect
some French verses from her shortly. I have shewn Betsy's and Sophy's