Henry James to
His Sister（Alice James）
3 Bolton St． W．
Feb 29 th， 1884
Dearest Sister，
I seemto myselfto be constantlyletting longer intervals elapse between my letters to you ；butI suppose that is inevitable in a prolonged correspondence． Iwill tryand not let silence get too much ahead of speech．Iwrote you last just afterI had gone over to Paris； from which place I returned，after a stay of some three weeks， twodays ago． Iamverygladto relapse into Bolton Street asI always am， after any absence，howeverpleasant， andI say this without detriment to Paris， which， for short periods， is alwayscharming to me．Nothing very particular happened to me there， butI saw my old friends and the newplays and had some excellent food．Igreatly missed Turgénieff， butI saw the Princess Ouroussoff， whomI used to see a great deal of old， and who is a most clever and curious woman，andshetold me various things about the lastyear ofhislife． Iam much horrified to learn that sincehisdeath Mme Viardot complains of him——of hishaving impoverished them； whereas he ruinedhimselffor her and her children． But these areodious discussions． WhileI was in ParisI heardfromAunt Kate ofyour intending to go on to N．Y．to tryan electrician； and therefore supposethat you have achieved it and that you even noware lodged behind some brownstone front of yournative city． This sounds to me like a big attempt，and Ihope it will be abigsuccess． The drama ofyour separation from Katharine is well over now，I suppose；andI will not indulge in vain conjecturesas to how you bear your bereavement ．Ipray thatwhatever it may be， it is at least not worse thanyou——or she——supposed． Iam writing her aword of greeting， here， through the Barings， andshe probablywill send me a line——describingyou，as she left you——when she arrives inItaly．——We are having the first cold of thewinter and Mrs． Duncan stewart is dead． But thecold is bright and wholesome and Mrs． Stewarthad become a kind of talking melancholy ghost．She was a charming old being， however， andIshall miss her much．SomedayI shall put her intoa book． Ihave alreadyseen Mrs． Kemble and find her constantly a little more and a little morebroken and， as it were， indented． Ishall neverput her into a book．——Salvini made his firstappearance here，last night，in Othello， andIwent to see him； but to my surprise and distress hegave all the climax of the play much less finelythan whenI saw him a year ago in Boston， andIwas proportionately taken aback， having puffedhim so to some ofmy friendswho were there． Itwas as if he had toned it down and weakened itdeliberately， andIdon'tunderstandthe mystery． Ishall try and see him， and inquire．—— A notejust comes in from William， accompanying somepapers for me to sign in which he speaks definitelyof your going to N．Y．on the 14th．Ihope Mar
ywill be an efficient（and effective） soubrette． Idon't think Ihave anynews that will interest you．Miss Motley（a supposedly hopeless old maid，plain and not moneyed） is to marry Colonel Mildmay． There is a sign ofcheer for you——havingthe advantages thatshe lacks． Mrs．Lombard was stillseriously ill when Ileft Paris，andI took upon myself to write to her son． Sheought to come home unless she has some one withher more powerful than Fanny．—— Ihear everynow and then from Carrie， but it is difficult to write to her， for want of topics． ButI do whatIcan． Ishall send this to Aunt Kate to give you．Bob's quietude seems almost too good to be true．Ever your affectionate．
Henry
亨利·詹姆斯致
姐姐（艾丽斯·詹姆斯）
亲爱的姐姐：
我似乎总是隔很长一段时间才给你写信；但我想在长期的通信联系中这是不可避免的。我想方设法尽快打破这种沉静的局面。上封信就是在我刚去巴黎时写的；我在巴黎呆了约三个星期后于两天前返回。像往常一样，无论别离后的日子多么愉快，返回波顿大街总是让我禁不住高兴不已；我说这些丝毫无损于巴黎，因为在巴黎短时间的逗留对我来说总是很美好的。这次在巴黎我没有遇到什么特别的事，不过见了几个老朋友，看了几出新剧，吃了些可口的食品。我再也见不到特金涅夫了，但我见到了欧罗索夫王妃，过去我常常见到她。她是一位极聪明而又富有传奇色彩的女性。她告诉了我许多有关特金涅夫临终那一年的生活琐事。得知自他死后维尔多特太太（他的妻子）就开始抱怨他——抱怨他无能而使他的家人陷入贫困，我就不寒而栗；要知道他是为了她和她的孩子才毁了自己。这些都是令人讨厌的争论。我在巴黎时，从凯特婶婶那里得知你还想到纽约去尝试做“电工”，想必现在已如愿以偿了，甚至正跻身于家乡的上层名流之列。这在我看来是一次大胆的尝试，希望它会是一个巨大的成功。我想你与凯瑟琳分离的悲剧至此应该结束了，我不会沉溺于徒劳的猜测——你会怎样承受丧亲之痛。我祈祷，无论情况如何，实际情况至少不会比你或她所想象的还要糟。在此，我通过巴因斯一家转达了对她的问候，她到达意大利时，可能会给我回一封信——告知她离开你时有关你的情况。我们正在经历冬天的第一次寒潮，邓肯·斯图尔特太太死了。但寒潮清心且有益于健康。斯图尔特太太已成为人们悲哀地谈论的阴间的人了，可她是一位可爱的老人，我会很怀念她的。总有一天我会把她写入书中。我见到了肯布尔太太，发现她正日益陷入绝望之中，似乎已精神崩溃。我决不会把她写进书中。——萨尔维尼昨晚在《奥塞罗》剧中首次露
面，我去看了他的演出。但出乎我意料且令我沮丧的是，他在剧中的高潮部分的表现远不如我一年前在波士顿见到的那样令人满意，我也感到很吃惊，因为我曾向我在巴黎的那些朋友吹过他。他似乎有意降低并减弱了调子，我不理解其原由。我会设法见他并询问此事。——我刚收到威廉的一张便条和一些要我签字的文件，威廉在便条中肯定地说你将于14日去纽约。我希望玛丽是一个能干踏实的女佣。我想也没有什么消息会使你感兴趣。莫特利小姐（一个人们认为无望的清贫的老女佣）准备嫁给迈尔德梅陆军上校。对你而言这是一个令人兴奋的好兆头——她无论如何也不能跟你比。隆巴德太太在我离开巴黎时仍然病得很重，我主动给她儿子写了信。她应该回家，除非有比范妮更能起作用的人照顾她。——我时常收到卡丽的信，但很难给她回信，因没有什么话题可谈，不过我会尽力而为。我将把这封信寄给凯特婶婶再转给你。鲍勃的过于平静简直令人难以置信。
永远爱你的，
亨利
于波顿第三西大街
1884年2月29日