4, December 1812
My Dearest Doctor,
Life here continues in a fit of do-nothingness, and short of
making a few scant decisions, planning for the wedding has come to a halt. I try not to count down the days until next
October, but I know you know me well enough to suspect my failure in doing
so. Mr. Hegwood has suffered very little
since winter has begun, thankfully, but on the coldest days he finds himself
slower to rise in the mornings and should he sit for long periods with little
animation he grows too stiff and requires assistance getting out of his chair
and must move about until he is more comfortable. It has been very mild here, and I do hope for
some snow soon. Last year, as you well
know, since our winter was quite warm there was an excess of insects come
spring time that was almost unbearable and caused the crops no small amount of
distress.
Mrs. Hegwood, you can well believe, has spent all of her
time busying herself with preparations for the wedding that I must go behind
and undo for I do not agree with them, and changing her mind from delight to
perturbation that I had not chosen a better candidate (she had two or three in
mind ahead of you, but do not take it to heart). I love the creature with all
my heart and has replaced the position of my mother with great alacrity and
skill, but her tastes are old-fashioned and differ from mine entirely, and we
shall agree on nothing.
It has rained all day here, causing us all to be low in
spirits and heavy in our activities; or as it has been oft today lack
thereof. I so wish to venture out for a
walk and escape Mrs. Hegwood’s tiring employment of making unsolicited
decisions on my behalf. You must not
think me ungrateful for her help, for I certainly am not, I am only tired and
made shortish of temper in my missing your company very dearly.
Lt. Ramsey informs me in his last letter that the Acasta has
been somewhat successful these past few weeks.
I do hope that this success continues and that as little casualties are
to be had as possible, for it does make me low to hear of such miserable things
in the newspapers, and I live in dread of finding the names of any of our
acquaintance among them, or worse yet your name. The dear Captain must be a truly formidable
leader, though, and I trust in him as much as I can.
As I have nothing else of any interest to tell you, our goings-on
are hardly worth writing, I shall leave off with Mr. and Mrs. Hegwood giving
all their love and wishes for a hasty return of yourself, and I send even more
of mine to you. Do remember to write me;
and my love to all of our friends aboard the Acasta.
With all my love and affection, I remain to you, ever your
beloved;
Emily Waterman
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| Photo take by Rick Murray |
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