Letter from Emelia Gurney, Bordighera, to John Field, 1886 April 6 : autograph manuscript signed.

Discussing the beauty of Bordighera; saying "As I walked under the grey cloud like Olives, you & your beloved wife seemed very present - These woods are like Dantes, full of sheltering meaning shutting out distractions of the present & letting in the Past & the Ever-abiding - It is wonderful to me that you should have come to 71 - You never can be old you have so much possession of youth! One feels ones pilgrimage ending when to oneself it seems only just beginning! but now I gather from your dear note that days run less easily - yet that your courage & cheerfulness are untouched - God be thanked for it! Here flowers are abounding - I s'd like to send you a ship load of them! & how beautifully w'd the dear one deck your rooms - We had a horrible crossing from Dover to Calais, after waiting 2 days of hurricane & the subsiding waves were still painfully rampant & my darling Ellen was sadly unfitted for the following 22 hours to Marseilles - but she is now gradually recovering I am thankful to say - George MacDonald is quite the Sage of Bordighera - we enjoy spending our Evenings with him & his family - we expect to be at Florence on the 16th till about the 10th of May then a week at Siena - then homewards - Letters will always be forwarded from Orme - Your & your dear one are indeed good in writing - You are both constantly in my thoughts - God have you in His holy keeping."