⁠⟨⁠page or pages excised⁠⟩⁠ taking long walks together every fine day— It is rather an impediment to his becoming intimate with her Aunt ⁠⟨⁠most of a page excised⁠⟩⁠

The moths still occasionally visit the purple flowers & shew a most marked preference to them over the yellowish leaves though both are equally adorned with gilding—² In my other account I spoke rather inaccurately as if the only gold was in the middle of the flowers—³ What I want to find out is whether in another room they (as one seemed to me to do) go to a yellow flower with a dark middle rather well painted, as it w^d help me to judge whether they attend to form or colour by seeing whether while they reject the yellow leaves they try the yellow flowers— It is impossible for me to judge whether the great attraction of the purple is in its darkness or brightness— I do not see how they can help having some perception of colour as they certainly see the difference between the purple & light brown of the paper unless to distinguish between light & dark is quite a different thing—

I cannot think after seeing the way they dash down on the little red flowers that grow on evergreen bushes in these gardens that they c^d possibly do so so decidedly without distinguishing between the colours of flowers & leaves—

My Father will fill this up   Lena’s best love—⁴ Your most affec nephew | E. Langton

Just come from church   a humming bird moth was a long time examining the black letters on a marble tablet

My dear Eliz^th

As Edmund has probably told you all our news I merely add a line respecting himself— his cough, or rather clearing of his throat, which it most resembles, is so seldom that I should think it almost ridiculous to refer to it in any other case—and also in his if he did not look so delicate;—but I think in this respect he has improved— The Baby⁵ changed quite suddenly yesterday morning into a little lobster—later in the day blue as well as red— She appeared quite well and Young felt certain free from fever— this morning she has faded considerably though still very blotchy.— a third tooth is all but through— Her little song when composing herself for sleep with her head on one’s shoulder is the prettiest sound I ever heard—the very quintessence of innocence.— Our American friend M^rs. Curtis is very amusing for her innocent credulity, I told her as it is leap year I wished a very pretty Canadian girl would propose to me, on which she seriously asked is this really the custom in England, and then added to Lena she should think the difference in age too great (which being 50 years) was what she might safely “calculate.”⁶

I hope you will think it prudent to tempt your Aunt Fanny⁷   I think it would answer well to her— Tell her with my love I believe her right about John Bright⁸

Ever yours CL