to Mrs. Jenkin

December 5th, 1892.

MY DEAR MRS. JENKIN,—. . . So much said, I come with guilty speed to what more immediately concerns myself.  Spare us a month or two for old sake’s sake, and make my wife and me happy and proud.  We are only fourteen days from San Francisco, just about a month from Liverpool; we have our new house almost finished.  The thing can be done; I believe we can make you almost comfortable.  It is the loveliest climate in the world, our political troubles seem near an end.  It can be done, it must!  Do, please, make a virtuous effort, come and take a glimpse of a new world I am sure you do not dream of, and some old friends who do often dream of your arrival.

Alas, I was just beginning to get eloquent, and there goes the lunch bell, and after lunch I must make up the mail.

Do come.  You must not come in February or March—bad months.  From April on it is delightful.—Your sincere friend,

Robert Louis Stevenson.